Furniture Refinishing — Staining, Lacquer & Varnish

A good piece of solid-wood furniture is worth saving. Tabletops, dressers, chairs, cabinets, banisters, and built-ins that have lost their finish to wear or sun damage almost always look better refinished than replaced — and you keep the joinery, the wood density, and the character of the original piece.

Our furniture refinishing process is hand work. We strip the existing finish, sand the wood back to a clean surface, raise the grain, and apply the new stain in controlled coats until the color is right. The clear topcoat — lacquer, varnish, or polyurethane — goes on in thin even layers and is sanded between coats for a glass-smooth feel.

We refinish single pieces in our shop and larger built-ins on site. Either way you get the finish you signed off on, not the finish that happened to come out of the gun that day.

For stains we work primarily with Minwax, General Finishes, and Sherwin-Williams BAC wood stains. Color-matching to an existing piece is done with custom blends rather than off-the-shelf colors when the situation calls for it.

For topcoats we choose based on the use case. Lacquer for furniture that will live indoors and never see water. Varnish or marine spar for anything exposed to the elements. Water-based polyurethane for dining tables and high-traffic surfaces — it cures clear, doesn't yellow, and holds up to plates, glasses, and cleaning.