How the work goes
Everything starts with an inspection. Then the piece is cleaned — soap and
water, before anything more aggressive — because a surprising amount of
what looks like damaged finish is simply years of build-up.
With the piece clean we can see what is really there. Damage is filled where it
needs filling, and the surface is sanded as far as it needs and no further. Then
we identify which product the piece calls for: lacquer, polyacrylic, a
water-based finish, shellac, or paint.
Most refinishing takes four to six weeks. A table top on its own is quicker
— three to four weeks, or one to two for a mock refinish, where the
existing finish is revived rather than stripped back to bare wood.
Your furniture stays with you until we are ready to begin work on it, so it is
not sitting in a workshop waiting its turn. Water- and fire-damaged pieces are
the exception — those are usually held at a storage facility.
What it costs
Prices vary with the piece. As a guide, a chest of drawers generally falls somewhere
between about $400 and $800.
Three things drive that figure: the size of the piece, how much damage there is
to make good, and the amount of detail. A plain surface is quick; mouldings,
carving and turned legs all have to be worked by hand.
More than thirty years of doing this is what tells us which of those a piece
actually needs. Send photographs through the contact form
for an estimate.
A job we remember
A painted armoire from the 1830s arrived out of square, with its top destroyed.
Rebuilding it meant building a new arched top from scratch, then staining the
interior so the new work blended with the original rather than announcing
itself.
The exterior was brought together with a water wash. The armoire now lives in
Washington, DC.
See more of what has come through the workshop.