There are many options available today with furniture that needs some “help”. The question is what is the best one?
Here are some available options:
- clean the furniture & polish
- “touch-up / spruce-up” the furniture by renewing the worn areas
- refinish – take the existing finish off and start new
The first step – Inspecting the Existing Finish – The purpose of a finish on your furniture is not only to make it look good, but it also needs to protect the wood from dirt, stains, moisture, scratches… and it can’t do those things – refinishing is going to be your best option.
“Issues” that can be repaired – There are a lot of problems on furniture that can be corrected or repaired with minimal disruption. If the finish is in good shape, touching the furniture up will save you the time, effort and money of a complete refinishing job. Here are just some of the problems that can be fixed by restoring:
- White or hazy marks in the finish
- Nicks, Scratches, dings & other blemishes
- Dull appearance to the finish
- Areas where the finish is worn
- Minor Dents
- Color Fading
- “Checking” or “Cracking” in the finish
Signs Refinishing is the Best Option – What to look for:
- Finish is sticky after cleaning it
- Finish is flaking or chipping off
- Large Scratches (more than 2 – 3 inches) down to the wood
Finishes can fail for a variety of reasons: Age, moisture, prolonged exposure to sunlight. Ultimately when the finish fails refinishing is the really your only option.
Now there are a couple of more questions to ask yourself prior to doing any repair or refinishing project:
- Do I like the piece of furniture?
- How long am I planning on keeping the piece of furniture?
- Does it have sentimental value?
- Does my piece hold any true value?
- Is it an antique? (An antique is older than 100 years)
Wood Menders offers a no cost Furniture Audit© that covers all of your available options on whether your furniture should be repaired, refinished, or in some cases replaced completely.
