Overheard a dealer bragging about 'restoring' a vintage dresser with polyurethane

I was digging through a booth at the local flea market over by Route 9 last Saturday and caught two antique dealers talking near the back. One of them was loud about how he took a 1920s solid oak dresser, sanded it down with 80 grit, and just glopped on a thick coat of glossy polyurethane from Home Depot. He said it looked "good as new" and flipped it for $400. I walked over and checked it out later and yeah, the grain was basically ruined and the finish was so shiny it looked like plastic. It made me think a lot of people buying at antique stores don't really know what a proper restoration should look like. They just see a smooth shiny surface and think it's high quality when really it's covering up all the character. Anyone else notice more of these fake refinishes popping up at your local antique spots?

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patricia_lee6d ago

Has anyone else noticed that polyurethane actually ages worse than the original shellac or lacquer would? I bought a dresser last year that had that same treatment, and six months later the polyurethane started peeling off in big plastic sheets. The original finish underneath was wrecked from the rough sanding, so I had to strip it down to bare wood and start over. That "restoration" cost me an extra weekend of work. Meanwhile a proper shellac job can be touched up with alcohol for decades, but people think plastic is better because it's shinier right now.