Services
Every piece of furniture is unique as it is its condition and as such must be inspected in person. We regret no estimate can be made based on photographs etc.
Repair and supplementary work on damaged or missing veneers. Whenever possible, old veneer is used as it has a more similar texture when compared to a new veneer.
Repair and supplementary work on marquetry and inlays (inlay work).
Repair and supplementary work on damaged or missing wooden parts.
Repairing wooden joints: This work ranges from completely dismantling the piece of furniture, as is often in the case of chairs, to re-gluing some or all of the individual wooden joints, to making completely new joints if they are unusable or simply missing.
Desk drawer guides: Drawers often get stuck or are guided crooked. Barrel and molding strips need to be corrected. Drawer stops are also often missing, which means drawers slide in too far
Removing old upholstery and nailing down, i.e. removing the old nails from the blind wood in preparation for new wallpaper… this often results in…
… additional work on the blind wood in preparation for the furniture upholsterer.
Wood pest control: In most cases, the damage caused by wood pests can be seen, but the pest itself is no longer present. If a piece of furniture is nevertheless “inhabited” by the woodworm and not just in a specific place, but spread over several parts of the piece of furniture, the most efficient wood pest control is so-called fumigation, in which some companies have specialized.
Removing old surface treatments, either chemically or mechanically, up and including sanding all the wood.
Staining to match new wooden parts to old ones. Staining as a decorative agent was often used in Art Nouveau, where beech was often stained a nut brown or mahogany color or even in colors which have nothing to do with the wood. This can be clearly seen, for example, in Thonet pieces, which are mainly made of beech but are found in wide variety of colors.
Waxing: is suitable for oak and coarse-pored hardwood and for solid wood furniture. The pores of the wood remain open.
Retouching
Shellac hand polishes: Shellac polish is not applied with a brush, but with a polishing ball in many thin layers. First, however, the pores are filled with pumice powder, after this processing step, the shellac is applied and finally polished to a nice finish.
Shellac hand polish produces a glossy finish that leaves the wood grain transparent and has “depth” unlike painted surfaces.
Repair work on poliment gilding, e.g. on picture frames. Often not only the gold plating is missing, but also the poliment and even the chalk base. Depending on the damage, it must be “rebuilt” once more.
Felt or leather inserts for desks and secretaries. The insoles are often damaged, stained, faded and should be replaced.
Polishing fittings and brass parts.
Wallpapering showcases, drawers or shelves. First of all, the old wallpaper must be removed, the wood cleaned and, if necessary, smoothed. After this processing step, new wallpaper is then applied.
Viennese Wickerwork: The seat or backrest is re-covered;
I only do authentic manually made wickerwork, and never buy low quality pre-prepared per metre products.
