8 Easy Steps And Items Needed To Restore Antique Wood Ceiling Panels
The antique panels of your wood ceiling add character to your room and contribute it to a sense of history. The finish on your wood panels tend to peel, fade & become dull over a short period of time, but restoring the finish and color can make them new again which is a better way to extend the life of your wood ceiling panels. Working over your head on wood ceiling panels can be tough and also time-consuming, but the given steps can help you to finish this task easily and without wasting your precious time. You need to collect the given items and need to follow all the steps which are mentioned below:
Items Needed
- Drop cloths
- Ladder Or Scaffolding
- Safety Goggle
- Dust Mask
- Gloves
- Mild Detergent
- Lint-Free Cloths
- Mineral Spirits
- Denatured Alcohol
- Stain
- Polyurethane
- Paintbrush
- Hand Sander
Steps
Here are the steps to perform this task:
- Drop cloths: In order to start your process first you need to lay some drop cloths on your floor and over furniture, electronics, and other items in your room with the wood ceiling.
- Safety Equipment: As we all know that dust and dirt can harm, our health so always use safety equipment, simply put on safety eye goggles, a dust mask, and hand rubber gloves to protect your health from any minor damage.
- Ladder: After laying drop cloths on your floor and wearing all your safety equipment, now you need to place a ladder under your first ceiling panel. Alternatively of a ladder, you can buy or rent a small scaffold from a home improvement store and this will work as your ladder, and you can easily reach the harder area of your wood ceiling panels.
- Clean: Make a solution of water and mild detergent to Clean your wood panels because this mixture will help you to remove dust, dirt, and grease spills or stains that have built up over the past years. Allow the wood panels to dry exhaustively.
- Mineral Spirits: Take a lint-free cloth and dip it into mineral spirits and rub the wood ceiling panels, by following the wood grain pattern. Make individual passes over the same area to remove any leftover grime as well as built-up wax. This will help you to remove the smoke discoloration, which could occur if the home has a wood stove or fireplace. Too many antique wood ceiling panels may have decorative textures, so take your full time and scrub the entire wood panel surface by using mineral spirits.
- Rub: Rub the wood ceiling panels with a cloth dipped in alcohol (denatured), you need to again follow the wood grain. The denatured alcohol cleans away the mineral spirits and helps bring out the main color of the existing stain on the wood ceiling panels.
- Wipe Off: Freshen the stain on the wood ceiling panels by painting a similar-colored (stain) onto them with the help of a paintbrush, perform this work in the same direction of wood grain and then you need to wipe off the applied stain with a clean cloth. The gel stain helps to keep the stain from dripping off the wood ceiling panels so use the gel stain and allow your stain to dry fully, it may take few hours.
- Paint: You can now paint a clear polyurethane coating over the stain by using a paintbrush.
Tip
For antique wood ceiling panels, it's best to avoid the sanding process and also heavy scraping to remove the existing finish if it is possible. The wood panels may be brittle or thin due to age, and any process that scrapes or removes the outer layer of the wood could easily damage the wood panel beyond repair. If you want to change the color of your stain on the wood panels then you must first remove the old stain from wood panels. Sand your wood panels carefully, removing just enough wood to destruct the existing stain. Paint on the new stain and then wipe it off, then coat it with the help of a polyurethane sealer.
Warning
Always remember to open all doors and windows when working with mineral spirits, stains, and polyurethane to help decrease the fumes in the home and room because these items contain harsh chemicals.