What to do ...

[Michael Wildt]

My father in law has a chair where the finish have started to peel off a bit. Its only on one spot on the arm rest, the rest appears fine. I'm far from an expert in finishes so I'm not fully sure what would be the best way to proceed.

Since it is a store bought chair, Peter Grant I believe, I bet they sprayed it with some catalyst finish. Can't tell if the clear coat is colored or the wood was stained first.

How to proceed making sure it wont get worse ?

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[Todd Burch]

"How to make sure it doesn't get worse?" Don't touch the chair? ;)

It appears the chair gets some amount of use, as edge of the wood seems to have a bit of wear on it. The finish doesn't look too thick, and it appears a stain was used prior to the finish (as opposed to a tinted finish being used). You may be lucky in this regard, as you can re-coat the arm without having to re-stain.

How well does the remaining finish around the chipping adhere? You can use a piece of clear tape to test. Just stick clear tape to the finish and pull it back off, looking to see if any finish comes off.

You best approach is probably to make a plan to refinish the failing finish.

[Michael Wildt]

The existing clear coat sticks good to the wood. It does seems a little brittle so it may not be a poly. Any precaution we should take when adding a poly on top ? I was suggesting to sand it a bit so new coat could adhere better, but not really the affected area since the stain could end up being sanded off. Then wipe with a mineral damp rag or similar, then use an oil based poly.

Does that make sense or am I complete off target here ?

[George Gyulatyan]

I am no expert, but from whatever (very limited) experience I've had with similar situations is if you apply finish w/o taking the old finish completely off you're going to run into issues. If you partially sand the finish around the peeled area (sort of feathering it from non-finished to the finished area) you're going to have an ugly ring around the sanded area where the new finish will partially soak in and appear darker than the area that is finished.

If it was me, I'd sand the whole chair down completely to bare wood and finish. It may appear to be a lot more work, but the results will be much more successful.

[Scott Holmes]

Wipe it with mineral spirits to see the color shift when it's wet... this should give you an idea of what the varnish will look like on the arm of the chair. If the bare wood doesn't look right, then a refinish may be the only way to fix it. If the color is OK, then you may get away with an easy fix with just varnish. It still may not blend perfectly.

[Michael Wildt]

Greatly appreciate the guidance, which I'll pass a long. I may take on the project next time I'm at the in laws.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I wouldn't risk sanding that since it would be all to easy to go through, what appears to be, a stain on the wood
What I would do is mix up some oil based varnish* cut 50% with mineral spirits, then blot the area with it on a rag, then wipe it off the "high spots". (The areas that are still intact).
It may take 4 or 5 coats.

Substituting VMP Naptha for mineral spirits will speed up the dry time in between coats.

Once a sufficient film has been buit on the worn area, very, very, very light sanding may be done.
Personally, if I were doing it, I'd "sand" with either a piece of rough burlap or a brown paper bag.

If it's any comfort, I've seen worse that have been restored to acceptable levels.

*oil based poly can also be used. Varnish would be my first choice though.