Category: Furniture repair

Furniture restoration in Surrey, pine furniture and boxes

Not all fine furniture has to be ‘brown’ (mahogany, oak, walnut etc.)! Indeed, pine furniture can look superb, particularly if it is aged and does not have the horrid (almost orange) lacquer common to much modern, mass manufactured pine furniture.  In fact, the antique restoration in Surrey that we undertake frequently involves pine furniture – which can be made to look fantastic! Of course, a lot of pine furniture has been painted (sometimes not very well) which completely hides the colour and texture of the wood.  This is sometimes a shame as, once stripped and properly restored, antique pine furniture can look magnificent.  Indeed, it is often the perfect type of furniture for flats and houses that lack a lot of natural light. Sadly, many people throw away perfectly good pine furniture because it is heavily painted and looks terrible!  This is a shame as the restoration of pine furniture…

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Furniture repair in Surrey, tables and chairs

Most of the furniture repair in Surrey that we undertake relates to tables and chairs.  This, of course, should come as no surprise as tables and chairs get constant use throughout their existence, irrespective of whether they are relatively new or genuine antiques. Repair of tables and chairs tends to centre on two distinct areas: construction problems and surfaces Construction problems are often where a table or chair has become unstable.  Over time glues can lose their adhesion and sometimes woodworm can eat into joints and the legs of tables and chairs.  The latter problem can be particularly awkward to resolve as new turnings frequently have to be made and fixed to the sound part of the table or chair concerned by using dowels and hidden screws.  This involves very skilful work – if the furniture repair, once completed, is to be invisible! Needless to say, the surfaces of tables…

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Furniture repair in Surrey, how much will it cost?

Of course, the concern of anyone who needs furniture repair in Surrey (or elsewhere!) is: how much will the work cost? Well, unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question – as so much depends upon the objects needing repair and the extent of any damage.  Equally, antique restoration can sometimes be more expensive than a simple chair repair, for example, or the repair of an item that does not have delicate filigree or require the specialist turning of some ornate spindle. Certainly, no-one skilled in antique furniture restoration would ever be able to give a standard list of prices for his work.  Usually that can only be done by seeing an individual item, assessing the work required and then providing a  cost for the repair or restoration.  Certainly, there are few occasions when a skilled artisan cannot give a fixed price – but this really is reliant upon…

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Furniture repair in Surrey, French polishing

French polishing is an almost daily part of our furniture repair in Surrey and it is, of course, an essential skill for anyone involved in antique restoration in Surrey – or elsewhere! French polishing is a ‘dying’ art and a skill that is particularly difficult to master.  It became popular in the 19th Century together with mahogany furniture and was used extensively for a long time.  However, it is very labour intensive and requires extensive training to achieve a satisfactory finish.  This meant that French polishing became uneconomic as furniture making moved into the mass production age. Certainly, by the 1930s French polishing was being replaced by all the major furniture manufacturers by sprays and lacquers.  These were much quicker to apply, required less skill and, generally, were more robust. However, few people would deny that wood that has been sprayed or lacquered looks as beautiful as a piece that…

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Furniture Repair and restoration in Surrey

Do you need furniture repair and restoration in Surrey? Have your antiques suffered over the years and lost their past glory – are they tarnished or scratched, wobbly or losing their veneer? Worse still, has your furniture or antiques suffered from impact damage, water ingress or fire or smoke? Well, at Snelling Associates we can help you! We specialise in antique restoration in Surrey and have our workshops in the lovely village of Shere, where our specialised team of antique restorers work. We also repair contemporary furniture – although our real passion is for antique repair and restoration. We have a team of expert restorers who can do anything from French polishing to re-colouring, to turning and matching veneers, caning chairs and rebuilding decorative plasterwork on picture and mirror frames etc. If you have a problem and need furniture repair or antique restoration then contact us. We have been long…

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