Many of us have pieces of furniture at home that we aren’t too attached too, but we also have those select few pieces that we would take with us anywhere and be absolutely decimated if we lost them. For those cheaper items that you don’t really care about, once you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of them they generally just aren’t worth refinishing, or you may just be ready for something new. The more sentimental and special items though, may be well worth refinishing. Furniture repair is a fantastic service; it can truly take your old furniture from drab to fab. The final product should look like it just came straight off of the assembly line.
Furniture Restoration
When it comes to something like furniture refinishing, it’s a very specialized field that takes years of practice and expertise to get right. Not just anyone can hop into it and do it at home as their leisure, it’s just not that simple. These jobs require specialized tools, and you need to be able to source the exact materials that you need. A pro is going to have all the tools and supplies they need on hand, or be able to easily get what they need. Basically, you risk permanently messing up the piece and costing yourself a lot more money than just paying for professional refinishing.
A lot of people DO use these words interchangeably, but they do have different meanings. Restoration is generally more along the lines of light cleaning and minimal cosmetic repair. The end goal here is to maintain the antique piece’s structural integrity and outer appearance so it retains it’s value and keeps looking good for years. Refinishing is generally more involved and involves stripping the piece of its current finish. With wood pieces, the wood is generally treated with a chemical stripper and then sanded, stained, and refinished. Certain pieces MAY lose value from refinishing, if that’s something you care about you need to do your research before making a choice.
Refinishing Service
Watch out for MDF and particleboard. It’s cheap, mass-produced, and not worth the time to try and refinish. Paint won’t even adhere well to the smooth plastic-like surfaces. Honestly when it comes to true antiques with real value, you just want to avoid having it refinished by Alpharetta furniture repair if you want to maintain the value. The best candidates for refinishing are sturdy solid wooden pieces of factory-made furniture. Being that these are usually mass produced, you aren’t risking someone’s handmade labor of love or ruining a true antique.