# Difficulty for painting/finishing a 125 gallon stand



## sandandrocks (Apr 3, 2012)

I going to buy a 125 gallon fish tank stand tonight which is mostly complete, however, the doors are not hinged on (should be easy) and it is unpainted (still just plain wood).

What's the difficulty level of painting an entire 125 stand and how much would this cost?

The stand is $100 and looks great.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

What color are you going for? Have you thought about using stain or is the wood grain not nice enough?


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## sandandrocks (Apr 3, 2012)

I have an oak trim tank and there is no particular color i'm interested in. I just want the stand to have a solid finished look that's all. What are my cheapest and easiest options as i am not handy and would prefer to not have to do much.


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## sandandrocks (Apr 3, 2012)

Here is a photo of the stand.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

That looks very nice....since your trim is already a certain color then I would try to match with stain. The use a lacquer or something similar to seal it in.

Personally...I would not paint that wood....it appears to be very nice from the pics but I can't tell what it looks like up close. If it is indeed as nice in person as the pic above then I would just use a light stain.


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## sandandrocks (Apr 3, 2012)

I can paint right over it without having to sand or do any extra prep work right?


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

sandandrocks said:


> I can paint right over it without having to sand or do any extra prep work right?


Are you POSITIVE you want to paint it? If so then it depends on the finish you want. I would sand it down with a very nice sand paper and use a sand-able primer. Sand the primer smooth and wipe with lint free cloth. Then apply paint in several coats then wet sand with 600 grit sand paper and water. Let dry then add varnish. Apply several coats of varnish wet sanding in between each coat with 600 grit. The stand will shine and look very professional. The wet sanding the varnish is very important. It does take some time but it will make the stand look like a show piece as your aquarium should.


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## ryencok3 (Feb 25, 2012)

That is a nice stand. As Razor said, are you sure you want to paint that stand? It looks like it is a fir stand, or a similar large grain wood. I would persoanlly stain it rather than paint it. For staining you start with atleast a 120 grit sand paper, sand it smooth try to get rid of any imperfections at this stage with the coarser sand paper, wipe down with tack cloth or wet lint free cloth, switch to 180 grit sand paper, sand it smooth, wipe with tack cloth or wet lint free cloth, switch to 220grit sand paper, sand it smooth, wipe off with tack cloth or wet lint free cloth. you shouldnt really need to go much smoother than the 220 but if you want to you can.

As for staining. If that wood is Fir like I believe it to be you will need to condition the wood before you stain it. You can buy wood conditioner anywhere you can buy stain. when searching for your stain make sure to bring a sample piece of the trim your trying to match as they colors on the labels arent always accurate.

Stain applictaion is fairly straight forward. I used actually a foam stain that when you dispensed it you could stain vertical surfaces. It made staining my stand alot easier.(I wish I had a picture of my stand to show you  )Personally if you have raw wood like that I would not paint it, whats the point in a wood stand if you dont want to see the grain. Painting the stand you are going to loose any sort of grain pattern you have. If you didnt want the grain look you could have bought a MDF stand and painted it. IMHO wood grain looks 1000000000X better than a painted stand.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

ryencok3 said:


> That is a nice stand. As Razor said, are you sure you want to paint that stand? It looks like it is a fir stand, or a similar large grain wood. I would persoanlly stain it rather than paint it. For staining you start with atleast a 120 grit sand paper, sand it smooth try to get rid of any imperfections at this stage with the coarser sand paper, wipe down with tack cloth or wet lint free cloth, switch to 180 grit sand paper, sand it smooth, wipe with tack cloth or wet lint free cloth, switch to 220grit sand paper, sand it smooth, wipe off with tack cloth or wet lint free cloth. you shouldnt really need to go much smoother than the 220 but if you want to you can.
> 
> As for staining. If that wood is Fir like I believe it to be you will need to condition the wood before you stain it. You can buy wood conditioner anywhere you can buy stain. when searching for your stain make sure to bring a sample piece of the trim your trying to match as they colors on the labels arent always accurate.
> 
> Stain applictaion is fairly straight forward. I used actually a foam stain that when you dispensed it you could stain vertical surfaces. It made staining my stand alot easier.(I wish I had a picture of my stand to show you  )Personally if you have raw wood like that I would not paint it, whats the point in a wood stand if you dont want to see the grain. Painting the stand you are going to loose any sort of grain pattern you have. If you didnt want the grain look you could have bought a MDF stand and painted it. IMHO wood grain looks 1000000000X better than a painted stand.


I 100% agree.....


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## ryencok3 (Feb 25, 2012)

As for the price I would think that a small quart of stain would be about $8 or so, the foam stain I used retailed at about $13. I would suggest going with a darker stain like an Early American or Dark Walnut, maybe even a Red Cherry would look nice, or even if you wanted just get a natural stain that wood looks amazing as is anyways


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## sandandrocks (Apr 3, 2012)

Drove an hour each way to go see the stand last night, but ended up not buying it. For one simple reasons: it still needs a lot of work on it prior to use. As i've mentioned i am not handy and don't own many tools and don't know a thing about building.

For me the stand would've cost an arm and a leg as it would still require 2-3 hours of sanding and polishing and other small stuff. It is completely built (meaning i don't have to add any additional support to it as it is very sturdy).

Final conclusion: DIY's are not for me. Guess i'll just have to spend a little more and get a finished product.


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## ryencok3 (Feb 25, 2012)

why not just use the stand with finishing it? That truly is a beautiful stand


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## 123vb123 (Feb 10, 2012)

sandandrocks said:


> What are my easiest options as i am not handy and would prefer to not have to do much.


OH COME ON


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## Jayse (Feb 15, 2012)

sandandrocks said:


> Drove an hour each way to go see the stand last night, but ended up not buying it. For one simple reasons: it still needs a lot of work on it prior to use. As i've mentioned i am not handy and don't own many tools and don't know a thing about building.
> 
> For me the stand would've cost an arm and a leg as it would still require 2-3 hours of sanding and polishing and other small stuff. It is completely built (meaning i don't have to add any additional support to it as it is very sturdy).
> 
> Final conclusion: DIY's are not for me. Guess i'll just have to spend a little more and get a finished product.


You should go for it!

I am finishing up a stand that looked like it was from the 80's...actually I think it was!!! It looked like ****! I have no experience in doing woodwork, and very few tools for anything like this. With minimal money spent, this piece of junk stand has turned out to be a beauty just by sanding off all the old stain and laquer, staining a couple of coats, and polyurethaning a couple of coats, and a little in between stuff. I have also built a new canopy for it because the old one was trashed. I am EXTREMELY proud of this work and will be using this experience for my bigger tank stand. Believe me, If this little old, outdated stand can look like a beauty... that gorgeous stand you showed a pic of will look like a high end expensive piece of furniture!!!

BTW... any and all direction and help I got to work on mine was either from this site or youtube.! Surprise yourself!


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