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| Oak Chair After |
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| Oak Chair Before |
We restore more chairs than anything else and the reason is simple. Everyone has them and eventually, they get pretty worn, damaged and no longer look good so they will require an overhaul.
Depending on the amount of damage a chair retains, refinishing can be “lightweight,” meaning a little clean up and perhaps touch-up staining to a total restoration which requires the chair to be stripped down to bare wood (the preferred method), sanded thoroughly, wiped clean and stained with the choice of the customer.
This is one of two identical chairs that needed complete restoration. This one had some water damage on the top, but was overall in pretty good condition. Still strong and not requiring gluing of loose joints, once the stripped and sanding was complete, we applied a fresh coat of English Chestnut stain and two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane. Not only did the refinishing repair the damage, it brought out the luster and beauty of the wood which had been hiding under years of water damage and grime. Never underestimate the power of refinishing a chair!
You’d be surprised how many people dumpster dive and bring us chairs that someone else had tossed and we made pretty again. The old saying “One man’s trash is another man’s (or woman’s) treasure,” is really true. It’s a shame to thing someone had tossed furniture away only to have it completely turned into a usable treasure, so keep that in mind when you look at an old item of furniture and think, “Is it worth it?” I can tell you with absolute certainty that it is always worth it if the furniture item has good bones. Furniture made of solid wood is built to last a lifetime. And not just the lifetime of a person, but several lifetimes throughout generations if it is taken care of. Maintaining the integrity and classic look of an old piece of furniture, be it a chair, table, dresser or cedar chest is keeping a part of history that we can learn from for generations to come.
