So we have this very expensive wooden dining room table. It’s from a big-name furniture store and gives every impression of being very well-made. It has an inlaid top that looks to me like it was finished well (extremely shiny, never had any trouble cleaning normal spills off it, never got stained, etc.)
However, one of our cats decided to pee on the fabric table runner that we had on the table. We didn’t discover this until some number of days after the fact.
Now, very sadly, there is distinct pee oder coming from that area of the table, and a few of the inlays are lifting up just a tad at the edge.
Is there anything that can be done? I’m assuming that the pee somehow soaked through the finish and down into the wood, although there seems to be no noticable change to the finish itself (no cracks are visible, no discoloration, etc.).
Any suggestions or known ways to save the table?
Note to mods: I put this in GQ because I’m looking for factual answers. If this is not the apropriate forum, please move it rather than close it.
Well, IANAWW (wood worker), but I wouldn’t be surprised if the inlay had to be replaced. In my experience, most furniture finishes are water repellant, but can absorb some over a period of time. That’s why great-aunt Bertha had a stroke when she saw you putting a glass on the furniture without a coaster.
As to replacing the inlay, there are probably any number of furniture refinishers around who could do the job for not too terribly much money.
On the other hand, if you ignore it long enough, the smell will eventually dissipate until only another cat could detect it. At which time the other cat will then pee in the exact same place.
If you leave it alone, the smell will seep further into the wood. And the cat WILL smell it, even if you can’t, and WILL go back to it. I love cats, but their pee is some of the nastiest, most pervasive stuff short of skunk spray. Any of the wood it has gotten into will have to be replaced. If it’s only a surface thing, sanding it down and putting a sealer over it might be sufficient. But if the inlays are deforming, I’d say you need to replace those. If it’s a really good piece of furniture you’ll need to ask a professional.