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Bathroom Counter Protection
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Q: I want to install a wash bowl on a maple antique dresser to use in the bathroom. What can I use to protect the top?
Michael Dresdner: Understand that a dresser may go haywire in the alternately dry and very wet environs of a bathroom. A finish does not protect wood from moisture vapor, only from water itself, and it is the vapor that can cause enough wood movement for a piece not designed for it to pull itself apart. On the other hand, if all you are asking is for a finish that is highly resistant to heat and to spills like perfume, water and nail polish remover, the answer is oil-based polyurethane. Of course, that means removing the current finish that is on there. Also, if you cut into the top for the plumbing or inset a sink, be sure to seal all the exposed cut ends with epoxy before installation. That will help prevent water wicking through the end grain and delaminating the finish.
This article originally appeared in the Woodworker's Journal eZine.
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Copyright; 2010 Woodworker's Journal
All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval devices or systems, without prior written permission from the publisher.
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