Wood polish for doors and furniture: what refinishing involves

Refinishing wood means taking a door, window frame or piece of furniture back to a sound surface and building a fresh protective film on it. On our rate card, wood polish for furniture or a door in lacquer or PU is ₹1,499, with materials charged at MRP and shown to you before work starts.

It is worth doing when the timber underneath is still sound and only the finish has gone — dull, scratched, patchy, or worn through at the handle and the leading edge. It is not worth doing when the wood itself is rotten, borer-eaten or delaminating, because a coating on failing timber only hides what is happening.

The three finishes, briefly

Melamine. The common interior finish for furniture and internal doors. Reasonable hardness, quick to apply, matt or glossy. Good indoors, less suited to anything that takes sun or rain.

PU (polyurethane). Tougher and more water-resistant, better on surfaces that get wear or moisture — main doors, tables, kitchen woodwork, bathroom door exteriors. Takes longer to cure and costs more.

Lacquer. Fast-drying, sprayed, gives a very smooth even film. Excellent on furniture and shutters. Less forgiving of surface defects, so preparation has to be right.

Enamel is the odd one out: opaque, hard, oil-based, and the sensible choice for grilles, window frames and doors where the grain is not worth showing.

What a proper refinish involves

1. Assessment. Is the timber sound? Tap it, look at the bottom edge of the door, check for borer holes and soft patches. Refinishing does not repair damaged wood.
2. Stripping or sanding back. The old film has to come off or be flattened right back. A new coat over a lifting old one lifts with it.
3. Filling. Dents, gaps and old screw holes filled with a matching wood filler, then sanded flush.
4. Sanding in stages, finishing fine. This is where the final smoothness is decided; nothing later fixes coarse sanding.
5. Sealer coat, then sanding again lightly.
6. Topcoats, usually two, with proper flash-off time between them.
7. Curing. The film keeps hardening after it stops feeling wet. Handles, hinges and heavy use should wait until it has.

The step people underestimate is number four. A polished surface reflects light, and light shows every scratch the sanding left.

Why Nellore is hard on wood

Humidity. High humidity for much of the year, and heavy air during the October to December monsoon, means timber takes on and gives up moisture constantly. That is what makes doors bind in the rains and shrink slightly in summer. Sealing all six faces of a door — including the top edge, the bottom edge and the hinge edge, which are almost always left bare — is the single most effective thing you can do.

Salt air. On the coastal side, salt attacks the hardware more than the wood: hinges, handles, tower bolts and locks corrode, and rust marks bleed into the finish around them. Refinishing a main door there is half a hardware job.

Sun on the main door. A door taking direct afternoon sun in April and May will chalk and yellow faster than an internal one. A UV-resistant exterior grade finish is worth the difference on that one door.

Borer and termite. Fine powder below a piece of furniture, or small round holes, means an active problem. Polishing over it seals the surface and changes nothing underneath.

What you can do yourself

• Wipe wood down with a barely damp cloth and dry it — do not let water sit on joints.
• Keep furniture off walls that have a damp history.
• Tighten loose hinge screws early; a sagging door wears its own edge.
• Oil or grease hinges and bolts, especially near the coast, before they seize.
• Do not use kerosene, thinner or strong cleaners on a polished surface. They soften the film.

When to call someone

Book a refinish when the film is worn through around the handle or the lock plate, when a table top has water rings that will not buff out, when a door has been repeatedly planed and the bare edges are exposed, or when a piece looks tired but is structurally solid. Call for an inspection rather than a polish if there is powder under the furniture, soft or spongy timber, visible borer holes, or a door bottom that has been sitting in water — those need the damage dealt with before any finish goes on.