During a recent renovation project, workers used our near-new mission oak dining table as a work area. After they left, we discovered a 4" whitish-grayish spot in the medium oak finish. We don't know if it was caused by heat, water or solvent. Rubbing it with spray wax didn't help. Is there some way we can fix it ourselves or should we get a new table top?
If they are responsible they should have it fixed. You shouldn't have to mess with it.
dave
Judy wrote:
A picture would be a big help in identifying the problem and suggesting a solution. It sounds a lot like moisture caused the finish to blush...
The following, on Jeff Gorman's site, may or may not help, but is worth a read:
Call your local furniture company and ask them for the name and number of the outside service that comes and repairs their damaged furniture. Usually they can come to your house and repaired the spot rather quickly and inexpensively compared to replacing the top.
What's the top made out of ?
What's the finish on it ?
What caused the damage ?
Sounds like they put some sort of hot and wet round thing down on the table, and most finishes will see some sort of bloom from this. 4" is a big coffee mug though. This is a very common problem and there are plenty of solutions, but someone who can see and handle the table needs to identify the orignal finish before proceeding. Maybe you can ask the original maker ?
In the meantime, photograph it and mail (don't phone) a letter and copies to the chief honcho of the renovators, asking what they intend to do to cover your repair costs. Don't ask "what they expect to do about it", or they'll send the same guy back, with a pot of poly varnish and a brush.
Whatever you do, don't let spray wax anywhere near it, Almost all make further finishing damned difficult, if not impossible. The problem is the silicones that most of them contain.
Possibly. Try rubbing the spot with a teaspoon of mayonnaise and a soft rag. If the spot disappears, it was a water mark.
Thanks to all who responded. I found the site below very helpful, and based on that and other advice I've read about curing moisture spots, I decided to try a remedy I remembered reading from about 30 years ago, and that was to place a piece of waxed paper over the spot and iron it. It worked beautifully! I set the iron to 3 (where 10 is max), folded a piece of waxed paper in quarters, and ironed it right on the table for about 30 seconds. It left a little waxy residue, but after I rubbed that off, it lookes perfect!
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