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Good Questions: How Can I Refinish This Wall Unit?

3.17room.jpgHello AT,

I need help. In my daughter's bedroom we have a built in wall unit that is about 12 years old.

I would like to save it if possible and fix it up.

Part of the wall unit is housing for the radiator.

The heat from the radiator has turned dark and parts of the veneer have come off...


 
 
(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.)

How can I refinish this? It is made of ash veneer.

Also, it is possible to paint the entire unit and if so how do I prep the veneer?

Thanks! Debbie

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painting, fixing & repair, Good Questions

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Comments (7)

I don't think this is a "slap a coat of paint on it" kind of job.

I'd contact a Kitchen Refacing contractor - they're the folks who can deal with repairing loose & missing laminate and replacing doors.

posted by bepsf on March 17th 2008 at 6:19am
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With all that damage to the enclosure around the radiator i'd be inclided to rip out the cover altogeter or replace it with something more durable... You could purchase a new sculputral radiator and not hide it at all depending on your taste.

Then you could sand and paint the rest w/o worrying about you work being undone.

posted by DahliaCactus on March 17th 2008 at 6:26am
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If you don't want to rip it all out look for a primer designed for repainting veneer.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

posted by http://badhuman.wordpress.com on March 17th 2008 at 6:29am
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Budget would be a big help to figure out options.

posted by phauxtoe on March 17th 2008 at 7:48am
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I'd think about coving the parts that are dark in some kind of paint. This would be the radiator cover and the horizontal, hiding the slots and giving some contrast.

posted by Jute Zak on March 17th 2008 at 9:03am
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Thanks everyone. I can't rip it out becoz it is part of a wall unit. So I guess I have to reveneer the part that covers the radiator. Oh I can see this isn't go to be easy!

posted by Deb on March 17th 2008 at 3:49pm
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Maybe you could just rip off the panel covering the radiator or get the same size made in steel maybe (or something else depending on your taste of course) then you could cover the top with foam and some fabric or leather so it becomes a window seat.

posted by Kristjana on March 18th 2008 at 12:13am
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