Removing the Scalloped Wood Valance Over the Kitchen Sink

A few weeks ago I posted that I removed the scalloped wood valance over my kitchen sink, but I didn’t show you how we did it.  I received so many emails since then asking me to please explain the process.  I was not at home when Ed did most of the work so I didn’t get many photos of the process, but I think I have enough to share so that the process will make sense.

So here is the post… just in time for the weekend.   Removing a scalloped wood valance is a perfect weekend project since it does not take a long time to complete.

Do you remember the before? The scalloped wood was hiding a 2 tube-fluorescent light fixture.  And the after I posted last week.

Do you remember the kitchen in my previous house?  Before I starting blogging, I had removed the scalloped wood valance above the sink in this house, too. It was a long oak scallop. It was easy to remove as it was simply screwed on. Yours may be simpler than you think to remove. Look up and underneath it to see of you can see and screws or brackets holding in up. 

When I removed it, it did leave a section of unfinished wood where the valance met the cabinets. To fix this, I spackled, sanded and then painted the area to match the cabinets. If you have stained cabinets, you can try to match a stain or use a stain stick to help blend the newly exposed wood with the finished wood around it

I was hoping removing the valance would be as easy in the lake house kitchen, but it was not. The scalloped section was part of one large piece of wood. To remove the whole thing was out of the question.

So instead, we decided to cut away just enough to allow us to add a new light fixture above the sink.

How to Remove a Scalloped Wood Valance Over a Kitchen Sink

supplies needed: 

• Jigsaw with a wood cutting blade
• Spackle or Joint Compound
• Electric sander
• 60, 100, and 220 grit sandpaper
• Outside Corner Spackle Knife
• Flat Spackle knife
• Straight edge
• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Flat finish paint
• Paint brush or roller

This is the jigsaw blade we used. It cuts through wood quickly, but does leave a rough edge.

1. Using a measuring tape, we measured up on the left and right cabinets that were between the scallops to the point where we wanted to cut the scallops off and placed a pencil mark. We then used a straight edge to connect the two pencil marks to create a level line across the valance. This line is what Ed followed when he started cutting away the wood.
2. When he got to the corners he made a round cut since a jigsaw can cut on a curve.  Once the scalloped section fell out, he went back to each corner to make straight cuts to get 90 degree angles.

This is what it looked like after using the jigsaw.

The exposed cut wood was quite rough.

This drywall tool made that rough area go bye-bye.  It is an outside corner mud/spackle knife. There are also inside corner knives. They are shaped a bit differently. We needed to create a nice smooth outside corner along the outer edge where the scalloped valance once was and this tool helped us do it.

Before we Spackled, we used 60 grit sandpaper to start smoothing the cut areas of the wood. Once there were no more ragged edges, we changed the sandpaper to 100 grit sandpaper to start smoothing the surface a little.

I don’t have a photo of Ed doing the spackling since he did it when I was not at home. I had him demonstrate on the finished area so I could take a photo and you could better understand how the outside corner spackling tool works.

• First use a regular (flat and wide) spackle knife to apply a thin coat of spackle to the bottom and front edge of the cut area.

• Then run the outside corner knife along the edge to smooth the Spackle while at the same time creating a new smooth finished corner edge. Let dry.

• When the first coat of spackle is dry, sand the area with 150 – 220 sandpaper to smooth.
• Repeat the spackling/sanding process a few times until you have achieved a smooth new edge. Let dry before painting.

We got the front and underside as as smooth as we could we the spackle and sanding, but to help lessen being able to see any flaws I painted the underside where the light is using paint in a flat finish. Flat paint does not reflect light, so you don’t see the imperfections.  I used the  semi-gloss paint I used on the cabinets to paint the front and side sections so it blended in with the cabinets and crown molding.

If you have a scalloped wood valance that is simply screwed in, your removal  job is easy. If you need a jigsaw and don’t have one but dearly want to remove the scalloped wood valance over your kitchen sink you may want to purchase one They are not expensive. A basic model can be bought for around $30.

I will have the full kitchen wrap up post for you next week.  :-)

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