How to fix and level out an uneven coat

An uneven or unlevel coat almost always comes down to one thing: the surface the resin cured on wasn't level. Craft Resin's coating products are self-leveling within a pour, but self-leveling only smooths out minor texture in the resin itself — it can't correct for a table, board, or object that's tilted to begin with. If your cured coat is thicker on one side than the other, this guide covers why it happened and how to fix it.

Why coats turn out uneven

The most common cause is a work surface that isn't level. Even a slight tilt is enough for the resin to flow toward the low side before it sets, leaving a thin edge on one side and a built-up ridge on the other. Other causes include pouring more resin toward one edge than the other, working on a board or object that isn't itself flat, and moving or bumping the piece while it's still fluid.

A cold work area can also contribute. Resin flows and self-levels more slowly in a cold room, so if the piece is disturbed or the room temperature is inconsistent while the resin is still liquid, it has less chance to even out before it starts to gel.

Check before you assume it needs fixing

Before treating a coat as uneven, confirm the surface it's sitting on is actually level now — not just where the piece was originally poured. Use a spirit level on the table or stand, and on anything supporting the piece (a shim, a stack of boards, a lazy susan). If the current surface is off, the coat may look worse than it is simply because it's sitting crooked.

Fixing an already-cured uneven coat

There's no way to reflow resin once it has hardened — the fix is to sand down the high areas and pour a corrective layer on top. This works because a fresh coat is self-leveling: it flows to fill the low areas and cures back to a clear, level finish, with no visible line between the old and new resin once it's cured.

Product	Mix ratio (by volume)	Max layer per coat	Hard cure (25°C)
Arts & Crafts	1:1	6mm	24 hours
Table Top	1:1	3mm	36-48 hours

Use whichever of these two products matches what the original coat was made with. Deep Pour resin isn't designed for thin correction coats and shouldn't be used for this.

Step-by-step

1. Confirm the surface is level. Re-check with a spirit level before you do anything else — recoating on an unlevel surface will just repeat the problem.
2. Sand the high areas. Work fine-to-medium grit sandpaper over the raised or uneven parts of the cured coat until the surface feels even to the touch. You don't need to sand the whole piece back to bare material — just enough to key the surface and remove the high spots.
3. Clean off all dust. Wipe the piece down thoroughly and let it dry completely. Sanding dust trapped under a new coat is a common cause of cloudiness or specks in the corrective layer.
4. Mix and pour a new coat. Mix a fresh batch at the correct ratio for your product and pour it over the sanded area, staying within the maximum layer thickness for that product. Let the resin self-level — avoid touching or tilting the piece while it's still fluid.
5. Let it cure undisturbed. Leave the piece flat and level until it reaches a hard cure. Disturbing it early can reintroduce the same unevenness you just corrected.

Preventing it next time

The fix works, but it costs a sanding step and another full cure cycle — it's easier to avoid in the first place. Check that your work surface is level before you pour, not just before you start mixing, and make sure anything supporting the piece (risers, a turntable, shims under an uneven tabletop) is level too. See "How to prepare" for a full workspace checklist.

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