Our Services
Refinishing
Stripping
We hand strip using a liquid or semi paste stripper depending on the furniture piece we are stripping.
For the do-it-yourselfer, we offer a strip only service.
Staining of your Furniture
All furniture to be stained or finished goes through a sanding and small defect repair process. The amount of sanding depends on the kind of wood and how light or dark you are having your furniture stained.
We work with several types of stains again depending on the wood, and the look you are trying to achieve on your furniture.
You can bring us a sample of the colour you want your furniture matched to and we will match as close as possible. If the piece being refinished and the colour sample are different woods, then the colours will be close, however the different wood grains will give a different overall appearance. We will show you the colours before proceeding.
If you want to just pick a nice colour for you furniture, we can show you colours right on your stripped furniture and then you can pick the one you like best. We will ask you some questions to help you zero in on some colour choices.
Once the colour is selected we apply the stain by hand with brush and cloth, to get into all the detail carving and corners.
Finishing of Your Furniture
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- Clear Coat Finishes
These are the final steps after your furniture has been stained, and when you are just putting a protective coat on the stripped furniture without any stain. This would be the same process used on newly built furniture.
After cleaning any fine dust off your furniture, a sealing coat of lacquer is sprayed on using a high quality spray system.
Once the sealer is dry it is sanded using a very fine sand paper.
Now the first coat of finish is sprayed on. This also gets finely sanded after it is dry. Then further coats of finish of the desired sheen (satin, semi-gloss etc.) are sprayed on and sanded until the proper amount has been applied. You would pick the sheen for the look you want and also depending on how your furniture will be used. - Paint Finishes
If you would like special pieces of furniture painted, we also spray on paints for you. Using high-end primers and quality paints, we can apply any colour you want. Depending what you are having painted, we will tell you the kind of paint required and how much. You will then select your colour and we will do the painting.
We have you select the colour as there are so many shades of every colour including white. - Oil Finishes
Some pieces of furniture can be finished in a hand rubbed oil. Usually this is applied to older pieces of furniture or teak furniture. - Brass Lacquer Finishes
This is a special kind of finish that is used on brass beds or lamps after they have been polished. - Exterior finishes on House Doors
We use a special finish with U.V. protection to extend the durability on exterior doors. This is a slower drying finish that is only used on the exterior of your house door. - Other Specialty Finish
If you have a special project, that you think might require an unusually resilient finish, talk to us. We can probably help you.
Repairs
On solid wood furniture, any type of repair is usually possible.
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- Veneers:
Veneer is a thin slice of any kind of wood. Since the 15th century, refined furniture has always been dressed with veneer. Sometimes it is the same kind of wood as the case or a more decorative wood veneer has been added to the tabletop, dresser top and drawer fronts. Sometimes the veneer can chip off, or bubble up from moisture as the furniture ages. We can do small veneer repairs or replace and entire piece of badly damaged veneer. - Chairs
This is the most common type of repair required due to the daily use most chairs get. Usually the glue dries out and then the stretchers (rungs between the legs) come loose. Sometimes a leg is broken or cracked. Maybe the top of the chair gets broken just above the seat. All of these damages can be repaired. - Spindle Turning
We can turn any type of spindle that has been broken or missing. - Carving and Missing Parts
Sometimes part of the raised carving on furniture can go missing. We can make a new piece from the outline of what was there, or a corresponding sample that is still on the furniture.
Over the years, doors on cabinets or drawers can go missing as your furniture has been passed down. Sometimes the harp from a washstand or a mirror frame from a dresser is gone. We can rebuild any of these missing parts. - Alterations to Furniture
Whatever alteration you want made we can probably do it for you. Sometimes tables need new or missing table leaves made. Sometimes the table needs to be longer and can be outfitted with longer table slides.
You may want a quality stereo cabinet converted for another use.
Dressers look great made into bathroom vanities with inserted sinks or counter top sinks.
Bring us your ideas. It never hurts to ask! - Scratches, Burn Marks, Water Marks
Sometimes these types of repairs can be touch up without refinishing. Other times the surface area where the damage is has to be refinished after the marks are repaired.
Chair Seat Weaving
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Some of the older chairs require having a new seat made. Some of the types we do for you are:
- Hand caning - This is where we take individual strands of cane and recreate a woven cane seat with the same pattern as what was on the chair. Even if the old material is missing, we can produce the same pattern that would have been on your chair originally. The frame of the chair seat has holes drilled through to allow for the weaving of the cane.
- Pre Woven Cane – This is installed on your chair seat or back of your chair, from a sheet of cane that was woven by a special loom for weaving cane. For this type of caning, the frame of the chair seat or chair back has a groove around the centre where the cane is wedged into. It is held in place by a spline that is glued into the groove.
- Canoe Seats – The same cane can be used for canoe seats, or a plastic material is available by special order.
- Fibre Rush Seat – This is a twisted paper fibre that is woven over round or oval shaped side rails and front and back rails.
- Sea Grass Seat – This is used on the same seat frame as above, however we use twisted sea grass instead. Not a very popular type of seat as both dogs and cats love to chew on it!
- Splint Seat – There are a variety of patterns that can be applied to a frame similar to above, using ash splint or regular splint material. The patterns are similar to basket weaving patterns.
- Pressed Fibre Panel – These are usually found on old rocking chair seats. We have several patterns that are still made using the presses from the 1800’s.
- Wood Panel Seat – This is made from a flexible layered wood panel, and usually has a star pattern of holes drilled through it.
Wicker and Rattan Repair
The older wicker and rattan chairs are usually worth the cost to repair any of the broken woven reeds. The first step is to look at the structure of the chair, and see if the frame and legs are solid.
Baby and doll carriages made of the older wicker can also be repaired.
Brass Polishing
Some of the older brass items such as beds and lamps have quality brass that can be polished.
Newer items that have been brass plated cannot be buffed and polished. If
you are not sure what kind of brass you have, bring it in to us and we can
help you.
