Frugal Fix: Typing Table (a Tale of DIY Don’t)

Frugal Fix: Typing Table or How I Repaired a Water Damaged Table the Hard Way

I have been getting a little restless with the decor in my home as I mentioned when I redid the pictures in the upstairs hallway. By the way, that project came out so good, my husband wants me to move those pictures to the living room and the family pictures upstairs. Or maybe he just doesn’t like looking at our relatives…

Anyway, this post is about the typing table. I inherited this from my grandparents, which is the only reason I knew what it was. There is a matching chair in another room.

About a dozen or more years ago, I had a tabletop fountain on the table that leaked and by the time I noticed had ruined this table. I couldn’t just toss it because of the sentimental value. So, we’ve kept it covered so no one would see the damage. Of course the laminate top was still buckled making it precarious to place a drink on it without fear of it toppling.

I decided it was time to try to remove the damage and stain it, if possible. My back up plan was to cover it with tile or wood if the water damage was too bad or the wood underneath was ugly. But, I was really hoping the stain would work because it was cheaper and easier. I pried the easy part off with a screw driver.

This is where the DIY fail comes in. Well, not really a fail because the end result was a win. Maybe a DIY Disaster? Probably a DIY don’t. I am sure there is a better way to do this, but all I could come up with that I had in my house was a hammer and a flat head screw driver.

For two hours I chiseled away and removed as much of the damaged layer as possible. If you want the specifics, I held the screw driver at about a 25-30 degree angle and tapped it with the hammer. Only missing and hitting my hand few times.

I then sanded down the remnants for a nice smooth surface

For the most part the top was in good shape. I could live with the two different colors, as a matter of fact, I think it added character. What I didn’t love was the gap between the boards and the big gouge I made when chipping off the top. I wanted the top to be as antiqued looking as the rest of the table, but that gouge was pretty deep. So, I filled in the spots with gobs of stainable wood filler and sanded it down once it was dry.

Then I stained it. And it was beautiful.

A little too beautiful to match the rest of the well worn table. So I did something very painful to me after all of that hard work making it perfect: I scratched up that gorgeous smooth stained  surface with a screw driver and some sandpaper.

And now it is back in place as an end table and can safely hold a drink… on the coaster of course.

Next up in my remodeling efforts is the mystery behind the cloth sitting next to the table.