Can you just strip my
furniture and let me do the finishing?
Yes! And this is much cheaper than full refinishing too! With our no-dip process it will leave the wood in very
good condition too. Our method doesn't harm the wood,
joints, or veneer. The wood will need very little or no
sanding after we have stripped it. Some pieces are
easy for the do-it-yourself finisher to do and we are available to
help our clients with tips and information. We sell
some finishing materials and we can even
blend stains for you! Complex or unusual pieces,
depending on the skill of the do-it-yourself finisher, may need to be
professionally finished.
Can you repair
broken or wobbly chairs?
Yes! Chairs are
the items that most often need repair work. We have repaired thousands of chairs.
The longer chairs wobble on loose joints, the more damage
occurs and the more work is necessary to repair them.
Catching loose joints early and having them repaired right
away saves you money. If the joints are not very loose, most
times it's possible to repair them
without refinishing.
How long will it take to
restore my furniture?
It
varies from job to job, but on larger projects like dining
room and bedroom sets we tell people an average of around 90
days for complete restoration. We try to accommodate
everyone’s time frame and get their furniture to them when
they want it. We’ve been very successful at doing that over
the years.
Can you repair broken or
missing pieces?
We are able to repair
and or reproduce any part or section of a piece of
furniture. We are great at repair work! We try to make
repairs invisible whenever possible and most of them are.
"If it's made of wood we can fix it!"
Can veneered furniture be refinished?
Yes. Veneered furniture cannot be dipped and that is where the
myth that it can't be refinished started. We do not
dip, so refinishing veneer is no problem for us, except on
some of the newer pieces that are veneered over particle
board or MDF. Even some of those pieces can be refinish, but
it has to be done a certain way. The older furniture
is veneered over a solid wood substrate which is never a
problem to be refinished. Some of the nicest furniture
ever made has veneer on it. Veneer is used to make very
fancy pieces and it dates back to the earliest years of
furniture construction. One of the ways to make
a magnificent looking piece is to use veneer. The idea
that if furniture is veneered it is cheap is not true in many
cases.
Can you repair chipped, warped, or missing
veneer?
Yes! We have been working with veneer almost everyday
for the past 20 years. We are excellent at veneer
repair and if you look closely at some of our before and
after pictures the repairs are often invisible. If you'd
like to see an interesting video on how modern veneer is
made click this link.
Will my furniture have a very shinny finish
if I have it refinished?
If you want it to, but most people do not.
The
type of the sheen
is entirely up to the client, but by far our most popular sheen is
satin, or as some people refer to it, the "hand
rubbed look”.
Is it possible to change
the color of piece from what it is now?
Yes. After a piece of
furniture is stripped, the wood usually returns closer to its natural color
(which is usually lighter) and can be stained many different
colors. Wood can always be stained darker than the natural
color. We can match just about any color you wish.
Do you do caning?
We have professionals that do
all types of caning and rush for
us. They pickup and drop off pieces to our shop.
They do very good quality work and have many years of
experience. However, if you just need caning, we refer
you directly to a caner and you may
email us for a referral.
Do you reupholster
furniture?
We can upholster some smaller simple pieces, like dining chairs seats. Larger items we have professional upholsterers that we
work with. If people don't need refinishing work or
exposed wood repair work, we just send them directly to an upholsterer.
Email us for a referral if you just need upholstery work
alone.
Can scratches and dents
be repaired without refinishing?
There are people that drive
around with touchup kits to do minor repairs
on-site, but we don't normally do them for anyone that isn't a
customer of larger work we are doing.
If you want someone that specializes in on-site touchup
work,
email us for a referral.
If you have nicks or dents
that occur to a piece we have restored
previously, we can clean and respray your piece to bring it
back to how it looked when we restored it originally.
Without nearly the expense of complete restoration.
What can be done about a sticky finish?
If the finish
itself is sticky; that means that the finish has
deteriorated and softened. Waxing can provide a temporary
solution, but a soft sticky finish is not usually repairable.
The item needs refinishing to correct the problem and provide protection to the wood.
What can be
done about white water rings?
Any time you see a whitish, milking looking
blotches or white ring marks, this is an indication that
the finish has deteriorated as evidenced by the moisture
that has impregnated it. We've heard toothpaste can help with
rings, but we have never actually tried it. Always
test anything in an inconspicuous area before putting it on
a large visible area. Most of the time it takes a professional
to remove these rings successfully.
What can be
done about dark water rings and stains?
Dark rings and stains are in the wood and
the finish will need to be removed before a repair can be
made. It will need to be treated with a special chemical, or sanding,
or both. You'll probably need a professional for this type
of repair. Many times we can remove all evidence of an old
dark ring or stain.
Will my furniture's hardware look
shiny and brand new?
If you want it to.
We can polish it to be bright all over, or polish it leaving darker areas in the
details of the hardware (some people call this the antiqued
look), or just
leave it as-is,
anything to match your style.
What if my piece is missing
hardware?
You can choose from a
large selection of hardware reproductions
from our catalogs to match or
replace many types of hardware. Unfortunately some
hardware can't be matched or must be custom made (which can
get expensive). Some people like to update the
hardware in order to give a piece a more contemporary look
or to replace incorrect hardware that was changed, and there are lots of styles to chose from.
Do you resilver mirrors?
Sort of. There is a method we can use sometimes to
make the sliver good on a mirror again, but if an actual
resilvering is desired, we suggest you do a search on Google
to try and find someone you can ship your mirror to be
resilvered.
There isn't anyone locally that does it. If your mirror is not beveled or etched,
it's really better just to replace it. Also the old flat
mirrors are usually quite thick and heavy. The newer mirrors
are much thinner and lighter which lessens the stress on old
frames.
Do you repair picture frames?
If they are made
of wood, yes. Many frames, especially the fancy ones, have
"plaster of paris" or some other composite material added to
them. We only work on a certain kinds of those, and you can
email us for a referral to find someone that works on the very
fancy ones.
Do you buy old furniture?
Rarely, because we do not deal in antiques. We usually
recommend people sell their pieces by auction. We
suggest you do a search on Google to
for an auctioneer
or you can always try ebay.
Is a gloss finish more
durable than a satin?
It is slightly more
durable, but it also shows scratches easier.
