Last week, I helped Mary Ann, a 70-year-old newlywed, solve a vexing problem in a home she and her husband bought. In just 15 minutes, using my transcribed phone call service, I saved them perhaps $5,000. I shared a time-tested way they could match the stain on a wood-paneled room.
Their problem was sun damage to the walls of a wood-paneled room. Framed pictures, diplomas and certificates had shielded some areas of the paneling from the sun, which were revealed once the original owner moved out.
Some wood species — cherry, for example — are photo reactive. Some clear wood finishes, especially oil-based ones, also change color in response to sunlight or even artificial light. Sunlight is the most destructive, as some of the invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays contain destructive photons that crash into furniture, carpets, wood paneling, etc., wreaking havoc on a microscopic level….