His and Hers Twin Rocking Chairs

 

Rockers Before Restoration

Rockers After Restoration

Twin chairs! This was definitely a first for us, having two identical rocking chairs to refinish at the same time. The most surprising feature of these chairs was the size. Each chair weighed in at 60-70 lbs., possibly more. This required both of us to unload them from the customer’s van and bring them into our work space. 

Having chairs such as these as heavy as they were, made working on them quite challenging. They were not only heavy, they were huge! We have a large rocking chair in our living room with a similar style, but ours isn’t nearly as heavy as these were, nor is it as tall as these were.

The keyhole cutout design in the back center of each chair was a unique feature that gave them personality, adding a nice detail. The front of the chairs’ seat had a very rounded and thickness that I could hardly wrap my hand around. Yes, definitely massive. One of the chairs had suffered dog chew damage on the lower right leg spindle. The chairs had been repaired by someone else for the damage prior to us doing the refinishing. 

The chairs were both fairly worn and really cried out to be stripped, sanded and stained. This process was very time-consuming due to the sheer size of these mammoths and the detail, mainly the spindles, which if you’ve read other articles in our blog you know that they require a great deal of time and attention to remove all that old finish. We use work carving tools which allow us to get into the nitty-gritty of the spindles’ curves and tight spot. You’d be surprised at how much stain there is on any item of furniture even though it may look worn. There’s still a lot to remove. And that takes time. There’s simply no getting around that part of this work.

When the chairs were all stripped and sanded, Jim used English Chestnut stain, followed by three coats of polyurethane which will protect them for years to come. Refinishing really shows off the gorgeous woodgrain that was unseen prior to refinishing. That’s the beauty of a full refinish. You can see the woodgrain that is normally not as visible when furniture comes from the factory. Their process is different from hand finishing, therefore has a different look. 

If you've ever wondered if that special piece of furniture you’ve held onto for many years because you don’t know if it’s worth restoring, take a look at the wood. More times than not, once it is stripped, it is better than new because the hand stripping process restores it to its original beauty that was likely not seen when done on the assembly line. The value is already there so refinishing is always worth it. Unless a piece really is made cheaply and has no sentimental value, having it restored/refinished is a great way to preserve a piece of your family’s history or create a new family heirloom for future generations.

Oak Chairs Refinished

Oak Chair After

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.