Submitted by kimchifarts123 t3_118jha4 in DIY
I'm doing a kitchen countertop replacement using oak veneer units from IKEA. Because of the length, a butt joint was required which was done using biscuit joiners, miter bolts, and wood glue. For some reason in spite of the biscuits there was a small vertical misalignment across the joint so I sanded it flush with 150 grit after the glue dried. I then lightly sanded over that area and all other counter surfaces with 220.
After sanding, the area at the joint appeared lighter than the rest (my guess is because the treatment IKEA puts on was removed). I then applied mineral oil sealer to the whole counter and the sanded area at the joint now appears darker as shown in the photo.
Should I re-sand the entire counter and re-seal? Or any other methods for getting even colour across the length of the counter?
I also did a 45 degree miter joint at corner on the other end which didn't require sanding at the joint and didn't have this issue.
https://i.imgur.com/fZ8qDfJ.jpg
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Edit: Thank you all for the responses. Super helpful. Because of the risk of sanding through I'm leaning towards leaving it. The original photo was at an angle and with lighting that made the difference most visible.
I still have some larger spare cuts of the countertop material and the sink cut-out so I'm planning to experiment on those. Will recreate the issue (sand down a section through stock coating then coat all of it with mineral oil) then I'll see if I can sand the whole thing down to untreated wood without breaking through the veneer.
Here are a couple shots in better lighting and showing current status. Put in a tile backsplash (not grouted yet), final step will be a new faucet.
AccomplishedEnergy24 t1_j9imj8c wrote
Using veneer for countertops is .. living dangerously already.
Sanding more is dangerous. This is 1/8th veneer, which stands some chance, but ...
Ikea also claims to use a UV cured finish on these. You will never match that, either in toughness, or in exact coloration, with a random mineral oil. If you want consistent coloring, you will have to resand the entire thing.
Depending on veneer thickness, and also what's under it, it's also unfortunately possible for the oil to soak all the way through the veneer and puddle a bit. Sort of like stains under your carpet.
Honestly, i'm not sure i'd try to fix this unless you are willing to redo it entirely.
A. It's very easy to sand through veneer if you aren't experienced
B. You will have to have strip the entire UV lacquer off (which will be very difficult) to get the color consistent with any form of oil (since it will need to soak into pores at an identical rate everywhere). This is going to be hard without sanding through the veneer, depending on the coating. Some UV coatings i have had to strip are tough enough that anything less than 120 grit takes forever. But once you are through at that grit, if you hit it for one more extra second you will destroy the countertop by sanding through the veneer.
C. You are going to take off a much more protective finish and use a much less one, which, on veneer, is going to dramatically shorten the usable lifetime.
This is pretty risky. I would also say - if you do go for it and accidentally ruin it, you can get wide plank red oak countertops (non-veneer) for reasonable prices if you look around. These will last basically forever and you won't have to worry about (you can steam out dents, etc).
You can also just get them in custom lengths/widths/etc made for you, so you have no seams in the straight part.
Example: https://hardwood-lumber.com/red-oak-wide-plank-butcher-block-countertop/
(this was the first one that popped up, there were a lot)