The DIY Guide to Finishing a Table Top (2024)

Step 3

Declare War on Dust

• Airborne dust is the wood finisher’s nemesis. It settles on wet coatings and creates ugly bumps in the dried finish. You can sand them out, but it’s better to minimize that labor by minimizing dust sources. Clean up the work area and change out of the dusty clothes you wore while sanding.

Step 4

Limit Air Movement

• If you’re using water-based finishes, control airborne dust by turning off forced-air heating or cooling, and by closing windows and doors. This doesn’t apply to oil-based finishes, for which ventilation is required to remove harmful fumes.

Step 5

Prop Up the Tabletop

• Set the top on screws so you can easily finish the edges.

Step 6

Customize Your Lighting

• Overhead lighting is great for most shop work, but it’s bad for finishing. Try this instead: Turn off the overhead lights and position a bright light 4 to 5 feet off the floor. The low-angle glare will highlight every flaw.

Step 7

Remove the Legs

• A disassembled table is much easier to move and the legs are easier to finish. On a typical table, removing each leg is as simple as unscrewing a nut.

Step 8

Vac and Tack

• A vacuum with a brush attachment will remove 99 percent of the sanding dust. But that’s not enough. This photo shows how much dust is left over. After vacuuming, wipe with a tack cloth (available at home centers) if you plan to use oil-based stain or coatings. If you’re using water-based finishes, use a lint-free rag dampened with mineral spirits.

Step 9

Avoid Regrets

• The very best way to avoid wood finishers’ remorse is to test your finishes on wood scraps of the same wood species as your table. Sand the scraps in exactly the same way you sand the table: Sanding lighter or harder or using different grits will change the look of any finish you apply.

Step 10

Do a Final Sanding by Hand

• A random orbital sander is perfect for most of the sanding. But do a five-minute final sanding by hand using the same grit. Hand-sanding with the grain removes swirls and torn wood fibers left by the orbital action of the sander.

Step 11

Sand Every Square Inch the Same

• Any variation in sanding steps can show up in the final finish. If, for example, you run out of 80-grit sanding discs halfway through the initial sanding, you might be tempted to switch to 100-grit. Don’t. Even after sanding with higher grits, the stain may look different in differently treated areas.

Step 12

Don’t Over-Sand

• Most professionals stop at 150-grit on coarse-grain woods like oak or walnut and 180-grit on fine-grain woods like cherry or maple. But that doesn’t apply to end grain. End grain shows sanding scratches more than face grain, so you may have to sand to 220- or even 320-grit.

Step 13

Skip Grits When Sanding

• You don’t have to use every available grit as you progress from coarse to fine. Instead, you can jump from 80-grit to 120- to 180-, skipping 100-and 150-grit.

Step 14

Inspect Your Sanding Work

• Stain will highlight any flaws in your sanding job (swirls or cross-grain scratches). Then you’ll have to resand — and sanding stained wood is a real pain. To find flaws before you stain, use low-angle light. Wiping on mineral spirits also helps to reveal problems.

Step 15

Avoid Blotches When Staining

• Most common wood species — pine, birch, maple and cherry — absorb stain unevenly. For a more consistent finish, apply a pre-stain conditioner.

Step 16

Start with High-Gloss Poly

• A few coats of semigloss or satin polyurethane look like a sheet of dull plastic over the wood. So build up coats of gloss poly first. Then, if you want less sheen, dull the finish by wet sanding or wiping on a couple of coats of satin or semigloss.

Step 17

Go with Polyurethane

• There are lots of clear finishes. But for a combination of usability and durability, you can’t beat polyurethane. Oil-based poly, which dries slower than water-based, is best for beginners because it allows more working time. The other important difference is clarity: Water-based poly is absolutely colorless, while oil-based has an amber tone, which can be good or bad depending on the look you want.

Step 18

Apply Water-Based Poly with a Pad

• Water-based poly dries faster than oil, so it’s even harder to brush over a big surface. The solution is a paint pad, which applies poly fast and smooth. Just dip the pad into a pan of poly and drag the pad across the surface. Be sure to smooth out any ridges pushed up by the edges of the pad.

Step 19

Work Fast

• Depending on the conditions, oil-based poly may become too sticky to work with after just five to ten minutes. Water-based poly dries even faster. So have all your supplies lined up and ready to go before you start. And once you’ve started, there’s no time for coffee or bathroom breaks.

Step 20

Roll on Oil-Based Poly

• Coating a big surface with a brush — before the poly becomes gooey — requires speed and skill. Rolling is faster, easier and almost goof-proof. Rolled-on poly looks terrible at first, but the bubbles disappear in minutes, leaving a smoother surface than most of us can achieve with a brush. Beware of ridges formed by the edges of the roller and humps where you start and stop. You can minimize both of those flaws by applying lighter coats. We experimented with several kinds of rollers and got the best results with microfiber mini rollers. We also tried rolling on water-based poly; don’t do it.

Step 21

Sand Between Coats

• A quick hand-sanding between coats flattens our flaws before the next coat. Polyurethane tends to gum up sandpaper, so use paper or pads that resists clogging (320-grit). On shaped edges, use synthetic steel wool, such as Scotch-Brite pads, labeled ‘very fine.’

Step 22

Wet-Sand Before Final Coats

• Load a sanding block with 600-grit wet/dry paper, dribble on some soapy water and rub the finish smooth. Then wipe the table dry, look for flaws and rub some more. Don’t stop until you achieve perfection. Smooth shaped edges with synthetic steel wool.

Step 23

Apply at Least Three Coats

• With a thicker layer of protection, damage to the underlying wood is less likely — so your tabletop will look better longer, and reviving the finish will be easier. Some finishers apply four or even five coats.

Step 24

Clean Off the White Stuff

• As the table dries after wet-sanding, a white residue will appear. Be sure to clean it off completely. Residue left in the grain lines of coarse-grain wood will be trapped under the final coat and haunt you forever.

Step 25

Don’t Sand Through

• If you sand through the polyurethane and remove some stain, you can touch up with more stain. But the repair won’t be perfect, so take pains to avoid that mistake. Sand very lightly after the first coat, just enough to remove the dust whiskers. After the second coat, you can sand a little harder to flatten larger flaws. Always be careful around the edges of the table; that’s where it’s easiest to sand through.

Step 26

Fill the Grain

• The deep grain lines in woods like oak or walnut will telegraph through the clear finish, no matter how many coats you apply. And that’s fine; it’s part of the character of coarse-grain woods. But if a perfectly smooth surface is the look you want, use a grain filler. You’ll find several products online or at woodworking stores. With most, you wipe on the filler, squeegee off the excess with a plastic putty knife and then sand after it’s dry for a smooth-as-glass surface.

Step 27

Wipe Away Drips

• After the table is completely coated, wrap a rag around your finger and wipe off any drips along the underside.

Step 28

Keep an Eye on Edges

• Regardless of how you apply poly, you’ll likely end up with some runs on the edges. So constantly check the edges as you work and be ready to smooth out runs with a brush.

Step 29

Spray the Legs

Table legs — especially shaped legs — are almost impossible to coat smoothly with a brush. So instead, hang them from the ceiling with wire and spray them.

Step 30

Pluck Out Problems

• Tweezers are an essential emergency tool. If a fly, brush bristle or piece of lint ends up in the finish, you can surgically remove it.

Step 31

Wipe on the Final Coats

• Wet-sanding leaves the surface perfectly smooth but dull. To restore the shine, apply two coats of wipe-on polyurethane (available in gloss, semigloss and satin). Wiping results in a very thin, fast-drying coat, so flaws like dust nubs or sags are less likely.

Step 32

Coat the Underside

• Wood absorbs moisture from the air, shrinking and swelling with changes in humidity. Polyurethane (or any coating) slows that absorption. So if you coat only the topside, the unfinished underside will shrink or swell at a different rate. That means a warped table. But one coat on the underside will stabilize the tabletop.

Step 33

Never Use Wax or Polish

• All you need for routine cleaning and care of your table is a damp cloth. When normal wear eventually dulls the finish, you can renew it in just a few minutes with another coat of wipe-on poly. But if you’ve ever used furniture wax or polish, a fresh coat of poly may not stick.

Step 34

Seal End Grain

• The end grain of wood soaks up finishes and often turns much darker than the face grain. Check for this on your test block. If you get an ugly result, pretreat the end grain with a dose of finish that will limit absorption (wood conditioner, sanding sealer, shellac or polyurethane thinned 50 percent). Apply the treatment with an artist’s brush and be careful not to slop onto the face grain.