How do you fix the fake wood finish on a desk?

Question

I have a desk that's covered in this fake wood paper (that's the finish mounted on plywood I guess). It was $30 for the desk (very cheap quality too). I keep accidentally putting tape on the desk and as I lift up the tape dispenser, it tears off the finish. I don't like my furniture looking raggedy, so can I fix it with some type of cover up? I tried old English but it won't soak into the plywood. HELP!!

Answer 1

hi

Answer 2

Well, for $30, what youve got there is most likely a paper veneer over particle board... thats why the "old english" won't soak into it... the surface is either paper, vinyl, or a thermofoil / melamine print.

You could try painting the top, but I suspect tape would cause it to peel too, and it'd be a bit of work to prep the surface to accept the paint... you'd have to sand it to scuff it up a bit, prime it, and then paint.  And that's assuming youre not trying to match the fake wood grain.

I'd recommend you try a self stick veneer.  This is very thin layer of wood, with an adhesive backer.  Once applied you can finish it to your taste, and all you need to apply it, is a sharp knife, and a roller, or block to help smooth it in place.  Rockler carries thiis type of product, here is the link - http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=...

The pressure sensitive backing would be the easiest type of veneer to apply for a first time user, but you could purchase veneer with no backer, and glue it in place.

If you brush your stain and top coat onto the veneer, then you may be able to do all this without taking the desk apart.  (If youre really careful, hehe)  Be sure to work in a well ventilated area.

You might also find some 'contact paper', or shelf liner, with a self-stick backing that you could apply over the surface, rather then the wood veneer.

One more option, would be to use a piece of laminate.  Most of the time, I'd suggest gluing the laminate to the core, in this situation tho, you might just want to use some double sided tape to stick it to the desk top.  There are lots of colors and patterns available.  If possible, have the laminate cut at wherever you purchase it from.  (I'm partial to Wilson Art laminates myself).  If you decide you want to glue it on, then you'll need to take the desk apart, scuff the surface with a sander, and apply some contact cement to the core, and the back of the laminate.  Let it set a few minutes....when you can touch the glue with your finger, and it still feels tacky, but doesnt come off on your finger, then you can put them together.  (The glue will come off onto your finger if it is still too wet).  When glueing laminates to a core, you leave the laminate cut a little bigger than the core, all the way around... and then trim it off with a router.  Thats probably more work than you want to put into a $30 desk... so you may want to just use double sided tape to hold the laminate down.... its not permanent, but it would last a good long while.  Oh, you might want to file the edge of the laminte just a bit, to dull any sharp edges.

Have Fun

Answer 3

You can't make chicken salad with chicken ****.

Well, you can, but it's still going to taste like chicken ****.

You'll have to either live with it or buy a qualty desk.

Answer 4

you can buy a formica type sheet that you can cut to size and glue to the top.  But that will probably cost more than the desk is worth.   How about a sheet of 1/8" CDX plywood cut to size and screwed into the top and then finish with a polyurethane stain?  Again, you'll probably have $30 into the materials, but it would stop the problem with peeling