Friday, February 22, 2019

SO UNSEAMLY: How To Get Rid Of Those Annoying Grooves In Your Table!

Do you have a table with deep seam lines between the wood planks, and it's driving you nuts? 

Well hold on to your prosthetic foreheads, my friends, because I HAVE A SOLUTION.

Fair warning: this isn't a terribly exciting DIY project. In fact I never intended to post about it, but I had so many requests for a tutorial on Instagram that I guess I'm not the only one with this problem!

If you're lost, then these are the kinds of table seams/lines/grooves I'm talking about:
  

 I took that photo AFTER John and I re-finished the table, but here's a close up of what it looked like before:

Blech.

Those deep grooves were constantly filling up with dust, crumbs, paint, you name it - plus they would catch on things, and made writing or tracing patterns a pain. We are ROUGH on our work tables, so it was also covered in paint, glue, chips, and scratches. Definitely time for a refresh.


 
There's a "wood polishing" joke in here SOMEWHERE, I just know it.

This also isn't a quick project, but at least it's easy. All you need - if you want to do what I did - is some Apoxie Sculpt, gloves, a razor blade, and a good show to listen to while you work.
Apoxie Sculpt is a kind of epoxy clay that cures rock-hard, sticks to almost anything, and is fantastic for crafts and cosplay and - in my experience - minor furniture repair. :D It even comes in black, which would be ideal for table-line-filling, but I used the gray stuff since I already had some. 

One pound tubs cost about $23, or - the better deal - you can get 4lb tubs for $42. That's a ton of epoxy, though, so if you're only planning to use it for seam filling, grab this little $15 pack  instead:


That claims it's 1/4 pound, so it *should* be enough to fill a tabletop worth of seam lines. The little pack only comes in white, though, so you'll have to paint in your lines afterward like I did.

I don't have process photos of this, but it's simple:

- Mix together a palm-sized amount of Apoxie at a time
- Roll a long skinny snake of the clay
- squish it in the table grooves (which you DID vacuum out first, right?)
- pack it down with your thumb, overfilling a little
- shave the groove smooth with a razor blade to clean off the excess
- smooth the clay with a damp rag or fingertip, if needed

Make sure you work in small sections, since the Apoxie will start to dry and get a little more crumbly as you go. That's also why you shouldn't mix too much at a time.

Again, my Apoxie was gray, so you can see my filled lines REALLY WELL, ha:


Our table is pretty big and has an extra leaf in the middle, so it took me two nights to fill all the lines. I don't mind tedious work, though; I just watched Critical Role while I worked.


Once the grooves were filled I scraped all the old paint and glue off the rest of the table, then John lightly sanded the whole thing to get the old clear coat off:


This is only a veneer top, so we couldn't sand any deeper. We did our best to touch up any chips with brown or black paint.

I spent the third night painting all my freshly filled groove lines with a tiny brush and some black exterior primer paint. (I recommend using something stronger than craft paint, especially if you're not adding a clear coat.) Again, SUPER tedious, but the lines vary in width enough that I didn't want to try taping them off.

Once that was finished, John brushed on a coat of clear satin polyurethane over the whole table. Bing bang boom DONE:

Oooooh. Aahhhhh.

That extra shine actually makes the grooves still look like they have stuff in them from certain angles, which is a little annoying:

IT'S SHINY NOT DIRTY. Honest.

The important thing is the lines are flush and don't *actually* catch dust and crumbs anymore, though, so HALLELUJAH.


I hope this helps, gang! If you have any questions hit me up in the comments, and John or I will do our best to answer them.

Now before you go, let's announce this month's art winners!

So... [drumroll, please]

The winner of Baymax is Ebany
The winner of Ariel is Melody Tenney
And my wild card winner is BSM7!

Congrats, you three, and please e-mail me your mailing addresses!

45 comments:

  1. Great idea! I have to admit, I finally got rid of my big heavy table since the grooves just made things too much of a pita. Course, it also was so heavy it made moving difficult, so with me moving around a lot at the time, it was only a short mourning period at the time. These days I miss that heavy behemoth of a table.

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    1. Ours weighs a metric ton, too! It's actually why we used a brush-on clear coat instead of a spray; too hard to get it outside. :D

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  2. I tried the gray stuff. It was delicious.

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    1. That made me literally LOL.


      Now please, NO ONE EAT APOXIE SCULPT. (The lawyers insisted.)

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  3. I won and I'm totally doing a happy dance at my desk!!!!!
    Happy Friday to me, thanks Jen!!!!

    -BSM7

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  4. Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm always a bit freaked out at the thought of any refinishing/home improvement projects as a first time home owner, and this makes me much less nervous about tackling a project my husband and I have been discussing since we bought our table!

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  5. This, this is an epic redo. How clever - I'll be passing this along to everyone. Thank you!!!

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  6. My father made our childhood dining table (seated 8 kids for every meal!) He used Formica as the tabletop. Paint, hot glue, hot pans, spills of every kind imaginable, play dough, sewing projects, dropping heavy tools, that thing is indestructible! He chose a butcher block print, which coincidentally had exactly 1 inch lines. I have it now, and I use those lines to eyeball "straight lines" all the time. 40 years later the only thing I don't like about it is that it's way too big for my kitchen.

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    1. We considered replacing our table top with Formica! Such a good work/craft surface. And I've done the same with our lines; super handy for lining up right angle cuts and rulers.

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    2. This is amazing and touching. I'm so glad you still have it, and that it's not only indestructible, but useful for crafting, too!

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  7. I acquired a table like that (mine had cantilever leaves on the ends) recently from a neighbor. Apparently the table had been her kids craft table at one point so the grooves were filled with paint, glitter, and moon sand I believe. I spent hours with a small screwdriver scraping out all the gunk in the cracks. I didn't bother filling the cracks because I turned the main part of the table into my cutting table for my sewing room and it has a cutting pad attached to the top of it now. However, hubby turned the two leaves into small desks that I have put around my sewing machine desk to make it U shaped. I think I am going to go fill those cracks to help the fabric slide across them better. Thanks for the diy Jen! <3

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  8. Would it be possible to mix some paint/gel food coloring when mixing the apoxy to color it prior to using it? I've never mixed apoxy, so I don't know what mixing it up entails or if that would affect the product's functionality.

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    1. Hmm, that's not a bad idea, but I wouldn't risk it; adding anything might mess up the cure, and the last thing you want is gooey epoxy clay stuck in your table. That said, you could experiment with a small bit of scrap clay, see what happens!

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  9. That is such a great idea! I had to look everywhere to find a smooth top table because I hate cleaning grooves! Of course now I still never use it for crafts because it has become the hotspot in my house to drop bags and stuff the minute you walk in the house.

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  10. This would have been a fantastic tutorial about 4 years ago when I attempted something similar with wood filler (it didn’t really work at all). Ours was a cheapy veneer as well, so not too much love lost! The best part of this tutorial is that it opens up a world of possibilities for my husband’s brew room table. We’ve been looking on Craig’s list for far too long for something that fit the bill and kept coming across things that were almost perfect except for the “dust collectors”! So thanks for helping a girl help her husband out!

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  11. I was waiting for the part of the fix that included a rock to wind a piece of string around... ;)

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    1. Because EVERYBODY WANTS ONE.

      ::knowing wink::

      ::secret fist bump::

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    2. ... I forgot the point that I was making?

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  12. I ordered a piece of glass from a local glass company for my table with groves. I have fun putting table clothes under the glass for a pop of color that can survive the kids and cat!

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  13. I used to live in an apartment where the contractor's "signature" was reclaimed wood. Both the floors and the countertops were made of the stuff. Very pretty and eco-friendly, but the dude didn't seal the cracks in any of it. REALLY smart for a kitchen counter. My former roommate still lives there. I might have to send her a link to your tutorial....

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  14. Ooh, this would also look awesome with the copper coloured epoxy stuff you can get. Some of the brands you get at the hardware store (for fixing leaks in metal pipes) are a proper metallic colour, not just 'copper orange'. It's an all-in-one type deal as well, so no measuring and mixing, just chop off the right amount, knead it thoroughly and apply :-)
    One day I will do a decent repair on the lovely reclaimed wood coffee table I picked up at the local second hand store (all the old nail holes etc are filled with plain cream filler), and I plan to use that stuff.
    Kahurangi, New Zealand

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  15. What are your thoughts...I’d like to fill the grooves on our table with the black version. It’s a fairly new table though so I don’t really want to sand it down or lay down polyurethane. Would I be okay to just use the Apoxie?

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    1. Yes, absolutely! Just be sure to get the black Apoxie, so you don't have to worry about painting it.

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  16. I've found a great table at a resale shop I want to use for homeschooling the kids but it has these grooves in it which would make writing difficult. If I just fill with Apoxie and scrape smooth is the table top actually smooth or would the grooves still be noticeable while writing on thin paper? Your table looks great!

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    1. I literally took a piece of paper out to the table to write on it and find out, haha. Nope, the grooves don't affect writing at all! You can feel the lines with your fingertip, but they're level enough that the pencil didn't catch at all.

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    2. Wow, you are awesome and dedicated to your fans! Thanks so much for checking for me!

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  17. I have this exact same table and was looking up how to fill in those dumb grooves! (Love the table, hate vacuuming food out of the cracks 🙄) Thanks for this awesome tutorial!

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  18. Curious to know how the epoxy and poly have held up since it has been two years now. Looking at purchasing a new table with this exact issue and would love to do what you did. Our last table made it almost 16 years, so I do not want to do this and have to purchase another table in a year or two. Thanks!!

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    1. Hi, Melissa! The apoxy and the finish have held up phenomenally well; the only sign of wear after all this time is some of the black paint rubbed off on a half-inch raised section in one of the grooves. That's just the paint, though, so if you use black apoxy sculpt to begin with, you'll never have that issue. Hope that helps!

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  19. Soooo grateful i found this post!!! We have the same exact table as you and I was getting irritated over the years with how much gunk got stuck between! Irritated to the point where I was shopping for new tables (even though i love the size and look of the table) You just saved my table and a thousand dollars or so for a new one! You're the real MVP!!!

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  20. this is awesome! so the leaf part you just didnt do the grooves where the table meets? We have a store in table leaf and mine is a solid wood one, so like above comments i dont want to really sand it to try and do a match. what made you choose this method over wood putty?

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    1. Correct, the leaf is still removable! I used the Apoxy because we already had it and I'm more familiar with how it finishes. I know wood putty is extremely strong, but I imagine you have to seal it?

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  22. So glad I found this post. I have the same exact table and those grooves are driving me crazy. can you tell me what color you use to match the wood color (brown and black) paint. Mine has some scratches and water marks that I want to cover as well. or do you have any recommendations as to what stain I could use to possibly match it. Thanks!

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    1. Hiya! Color-matching wood is a tricky process, but for tiny spots you can sometimes use Sharpies in both black and brown. Put a dab of each color on the bare wood and rub in with your finger. For larger gouges and scratches your best bet is a gel stain in the closest wood color you can find. Use a tiny artist brush, and try to only get the stain on the bare wood.

      Watermarks are the WORST, but do some googling: I've seen refinishers use some kind of bleaching cream and also sometimes heat to lighten them up. Otherwise you're looking at sanding the whole top down and re-finishing to get rid of them. Or you could paint the top a solid color, of course.

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  23. I have a table, but it won't need to be painted and sanded. Can I just do the grooves, and be done? Or will I need to sand, therefore making it so it needs to be refinished?

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    1. Absolutely, you can just do the grooves! If you have to paint them, just make sure you use a decent quality trim or wall paint - not cheap craft paint like I used. :)

      (If you use black Apoxie then you won't have to paint the grooves at all, so I highly recommend that.)

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  24. Thank you Jen! I have been searching the internet because I just found an awesome all wood dining set. But the table top has grooves. My daughters have already worn out my last table so I'm going to refinish this one to make it last. I'll definitely use the black apoxy and I'm estatic that I won't have to vacuum my table every week. I need this table to last until my girls grow out of the "kinetic sand, play doh, slime, etc." phases. Thanks for the great solution!

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  25. If the table is painted as white, needs sanded and repainted, what would be the process? I was thinking sand the old finish off, repaint, fill in with gray, use razor blade for excess, re sand, and then seal?

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    1. If you want the lines to be a contrasting color like gray, then yes, that sounds right! If you'd rather the table be all one color with no lines, then I'd fill the grooves before painting - but it would take a lot of sanding work to make the lines completely disappear, especially for a white table.

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  26. That table looks like a twin of the table we have had for almost 20 years. I plan to refinish it this next week. Haven't taken on a project like this before. Thanks for sharing this info! Question: the grooves are best filled before the table is sanded? Or after?

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    1. We sanded afterward, but really it doesn't matter provided you fill the grooves perfectly level/smooth - which isn't hard if you use the same technique I did. Good luck with it!

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  27. Love this post and excited to try this on our table that has driven me crazy with the grooves for 10+ years! One question though, what kind of poly did you use? Oil based/water based/brush on/etc…I’ve never used it before so I’m having trouble narrowing down which to purchase. Brand recommendation?

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  28. I believe we used a wipe-on polyurethane by Minwax, in satin. That's oil-based, but you could also use a water-based clear coat for easier clean-up. Totally up to you!

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