# Salvage Old Builtin Bookshelf?



## mikebal (Mar 3, 2008)

Our living room has circa 1980, floor to ceiling builtin shelving in one corner, about 4 ft in one direction and 5 ft in the other. It appears to be pine that was painted by the PO (and the knots are bleeding). My wife wants me to demo the whole thing. It goes against my grain to throw out perfectly good stuff, but it's really not very attractive as is. Any ideas what I could do to make this worth keeping? I'm not really keen on latex painted boards myself. Thanks in advance, Mike


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

You can seal the knots with shellac, or Killz, Zinzer stainkill, . Dont know beyond that . Once painted too much to try to strip . Oil base primer and good semi gloss about all i can think of


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## snowi (Mar 2, 2008)

By using shellac to seal the knots and stains, you can then apply 100% Acrylic Latex paint to match the color of your choise. Same can be done with either Killz, Zinzer or Stain Jammer.


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## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

Well, you can always try a chemical stripper on a section and see how easily it comes off. If it doesn't, you won't be any worse off than you are now.


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## bsharding1982 (Feb 25, 2008)

This is sorta similiar to a project I am doing now. This lady has built in book cases and wants them to look nicer. They are so built in that you can't really take them out, so I am taking off the metal runners (it has adjustable shelveves) and putting in a second side on the inside to put in permanant shelves. Unfortunately it will be painted just because stained and finished wood in this room would look out of place. 

Its kinda hard to describe I will post pictures after this weekend.


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