Dundean Studios' Refinishing of Antique carved oak panels

These carved French white oak panels came from a demolished building near the White House that was originally used as a carriage house for visiting guests. The Builder, who is a connoisseur of architectural items, salvaged the panels instead of losing them to a landfill. They ostensibly came from one of Napoleon's castles. The original painting contractor tried to stain the new oak to match the antique panels but obviously missed the mark.

The next painting contractor hired to re-finish these panels decided to bleach all the woodwork first and start from a uniform color. This is not a recommended solution for historically important woodwork.

The Contractor found out that 250 year old French quarter-sawn white oak and new American white oak do not stain the same. After an initial poor choice of stain (Minwax penetrating stain) the Contractor applied three more coats of stain and then 20 coats of colored varnishes to fix the problems. The finish was finally too opaque and still too orange in color for the customer.

I was asked to consult and I told the homeowner that the panels would have to be stripped yet again. Not an easy thing to say to someone who has already spent a tremendous sum of money. I was hired to refinish these panels to give the entire room a uniform look without losing the character or integrity of the carved panels. It was very enjoyable to to work on such marvelous craftsmanship.

After being removed, stripped, bleached, exposed to the air, installed and then stripped again, the oak planks in the major panels were dramatically cupped. The pores of the old oak were so open they looked wire-brushed. With great trepidation, I belt and hand-sanded them down and then re-bleached.

The stain color had to be close to both the ceiling color and the floor color

Cracks in the wood had to be filled with epoxy and grained to match

After a wash coat of shellac, five different tones of stain were used to keep the overall color uniform. Only a few areas had more than one application of stain because I kept working on each panel until they looked right before continuing on to the next.

After staining, varnishing and hand-rubbing down the sheen, the panels still needed a little extra work. On the right panel I used a traditional beeswax and rottenstone glaze to artificially "age" it.

With beeswax and rottenstone finish

Finished room except for the flat panels above the fireplace. I left these striped instead of fixing because I will grain and finish these with trompe l'oeil carvings in the near future. These panels came from a demolished building near the White House that was originally used as a carriage house for visiting guests. The Builder, who is a connesuir of architectural items, salvaged the panels instead of putting them in a landfill. They ostensibly came from one of Napoleon's castles

These panels came from a demolished building near the White House that was originally used as a carriage house for visiting guests. The Builder, who is a connoisseur of architectural items, salvaged the panels instead of putting them in a landfill. They ostensibly came from one of Napoleon's castles. I have been working as an architectural finisher for over 30 years but wood still remains one of my favorite materials to work with.