Furniture Repair Drogheda / Leinster / Ireland

In this article, we’ll discuss the difference between furniture restoration services and furniture repair and refinishing services, talk about the different services that fit into each of these categories. Look at when furniture repair, restoration might be a good idea, and when it might be best to move on and replace furniture outright, as well as provide some tips for choosing the right furniture restoration services or furniture repair and refinishing services to meet your individual needs.

FURNITURE RESTORATION SERVICES AND FURNITURE REPAIR AND REFINISHING SERVICES – DIFFERENCES

First, it’s important to understand what the different terms – furniture restoration services, furniture repair services, and furniture refinishing services mean. In general, these are three distinct and different types of services that can be utilized to fix or refurbish furniture, based upon the type of damage, type of furniture, and options for repair. In almost all cases, however, companies that specialize in these areas alone are uncommon. Usually, a company will bill itself as one of the above types, or with a description just something like “furniture services” or similar. There are also other types of furniture repair or refurbishment services that are outside the scope of this article, such as furniture reupholstering services. 

In general, though, it is rare you will see individual specialized companies for each of the services above. On the off chance that you do, or you require specialized services, the general specialties of each of these types of companies can be described as follows:

• Furniture repair services companies are usually focused on repairs to physical damage, replacement of parts, and similar. They may include more aesthetic-type services offered by the other types of companies in this article.
• Furniture refinishing services are mostly concerned with resurfacing or refinishing the outer, aesthetic portion of furniture. That may include re-upholstering services. In most cases, the term refinishing pertains to wooden furniture, wherein the current coating and stain or finish are sanded or grinded down, and new coats applied. That can also be an opportunity to change the color or tone of the wood to give the piece a new look.
• Furniture restoration services may employ furniture refinishing, repair, and other features as part of their service offerings. These companies are generally focused on doing whatever is necessary to bring a furniture piece back to like-new condition. In some cases, however, these services can be exclusive furniture repair services and are primarily focused on the aesthetics of expensive furniture, and therefore would not be adequate to call for fixing the small physical damage.

As we mentioned above, however, most of these distinctions disappear in practice, with most furniture repair services, furniture refinishing services, or furniture restoration services doing all these things, and often more, as one-stop shops for repairing, restoring or improving existing furniture items. 

FURNITURE RESTORATION SERVICES AND FURNITURE REPAIR, REFINISHING SERVICES – WHAT THEY DO

Some of the typical tasks that furniture restoration services and furniture repair, refinishing services providers perform are highlighted below. That, of course, is by no means an exhaustive list. Instead, we attempt to provide a good cross-section of examples as to the kinds of things that these companies specialize in. As always, consumers are advised to specifically ask any furniture restoration services or furniture repair and refinishing services provider whether they do the kinds of things a consumer needs, when looking to hire one of these companies to work on their furniture.

Examples of common repair, restoration, and refinishing tasks include:

• Fixing broken furniture parts like table legs, decorative elements, or hardware,
• Replacing furniture parts too damaged to be repaired, such as shattered glass,
• Adding hidden supports, patches, and brackets to reinforce and re-join separated, cracked, or torn pieces,
• Sanding/grinding and refinishing wood furniture,
• Reupholstering textile or leather-finished furniture,
• Restoring furniture through cleaning, removal of stains, an addition of waterproof coatings, and similar,
• Patching holes, cuts, or rips in furniture,
• Fixing mechanical aspects of furniture that have become damaged (e.g., recliners in chairs and couches),
• Repairing minor surface and aesthetic defects.

FURNITURE RESTORATION, FURNITURE REPAIR AND REFINISHING SERVICES – WHEN TO REPAIR, RESTORE, OR REFINISH

Many consumers who love their current furniture are hesitant to get rid of it and replace it with something new. That is especially true with older or vintage furniture or for furniture that otherwise holds unique sentimental value. In these cases, furniture restoration services and furniture repair and refinishing services are often required to assess whether they can do anything for the client. In some cases, they must be the bearer of bad news, telling the client that the furniture is beyond repair or restoration.

At the same time, with modern technology and traditional craftsmanship skill, many seemingly-impossible repair problems can be fixed. Of course, the more exotic and detailed the work involved, the more expensive it is likely to be. Most furniture restoration services and furniture repair and refinishing services will provide free estimates up-front of what they believe the repair or restoration work will cost. Often, this ends up being the deciding factor for many consumers as to whether they can or want to pay for restoration and repair or move on and purchase a new piece of furniture. 

FURNITURE RESTORATION SERVICES AND FURNITURE REPAIR AND REFINISHING SERVICES – CHOOSING THE RIGHT COMPANY

When it comes to choosing the right furniture restoration services or furniture repair and refinishing services company for a given job, many consumers don’t know what to look for, especially if they’ve never dealt with one of these types of companies before. Fortunately, as with most home services companies, there are a few key areas worth considering before selecting any given company for the job.  In brief, these key considerations include:

• Services – what exactly do furniture repair and refinishing services companies offer? Do they explicitly list on their website/advertisement/other listings that they work on the kind or type of furniture at issue? Do they offer only specific services, like refinishing, or are they a full-service shop for furniture repair and restoration?
• Reputation – does the furniture repair and refinishing services company have a good reputation?  How are the reviews from customers? Do they have any complaints? Do you know anyone who has needed a furniture restoration services or furniture repair and refinishing services company before, and if so, who do they recommend? 
• Experience – how long have they been in furniture repair and refinishing services business? How many jobs have they completed? How many satisfied customers do they have? 
• Professionalism – do they promptly return customer calls?  Are they polite and courteous? Do they answer questions clearly and thoroughly?
• Time and Cost – how long do they estimate the furniture repair and refinishing job will take them to complete? Do they have parts and materials in-stock or need to special-order some/all of them? What is the cost estimate? How does this compare to other furniture repair and refinishing services companies? 

SUMMARY ABOUT FURNITURE REPAIR

Damage and wear-and-tear can render even the best furniture useless, or at least in need of some serious work to return it to like-new condition. Expert craftsmen from furniture restoration services and furniture repair and refinishing services can bring some techniques, materials, equipment, and skills to bear, and help to repair, refinish, restore the furniture to their former glory. In most cases, these companies provide free estimates of both the cost and time involved, so consumers have nothing to lose in consulting these experts. In the worst case, you may find it is more expensive to repair or restore a piece than replacing it, but at least you’ll know your options and be able to make an informed decision for yourself.