Is a rainy weekend of sanding and staining really worth it when you can just click buy and have it delivered in two days? In my experience, these refurb projects always look great in the guy's photos, then you find out he owns a random orbit sander, a shop vac, and a garage you don't have. Your neighbor makes it sound cheap, but factor in the sandpaper, stain, brushes, poly, and like 10 hours of your Saturday, and suddenly that $650 desk looks pretty fair. Old oak is also often veneer over particle board, and if you sand through that thin top layer the whole thing is trash. Plus a refinished desk still has whatever wobble and drawer problems it had before, so you saved money but kept the flaws. I get the appeal of keeping something out of a landfill, but calling this the easy or smart move for most people is a stretch, your mileage may vary.

Man, that stings worse because he didn't even say a word about it. Nine years of muscle memory working against you is a tough pill, but at least you caught it before something went sideways.