When it comes to broken antique furniture, rely on skilled technicians to fix your beloved piece to use for years to come.
If you’re not looking to resell an antique piece, often, the value derived is based on your own personal attachment to it. And the good news: Damage isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker. If you’ve fallen hard for a wobbly flea market find or are looking to repair a well-loved family heirloom, it’s helpful to understand what kinds of damage are usually fixable.
4 Tips for Evaluating A Damaged Antique
When it comes to antique repair and restoration, Furniture Medic technicians have seen it all. For actual appraisal of value, we recommend consulting with a certified appraiser. But if you love a piece of furniture that shows a little (or a lot of) wear and tear, here are pro tips for an initial evaluation.
- Is your antique piece a showstopper? If it’s rare or created by a famous manufacturer or craftsman, it may be worth your time to seek a professional appraisal of value to properly weigh the impact of any repair or restoration.
- Do you plan to display or use the antique furniture? If you plan to display only, then minor damage may be hidden or obscured without repair. But if you plan to use it as a functional piece, consider the extent of damage. Broken legs, damaged drawers and missing hardware can be repaired or replaced.
- Would a careful, thorough cleaning give new life to the furniture? Often, small scratches, nicks and grimy dullness can be removed with a cautious cleaning.
- Are salvaged pieces easy to come by? Depending on the repairs needed, parts like nails, hardware or legs can be salvaged from other damaged furniture to remain true to the original.
Especially if the piece has sentimental value, it’s worth investigating your antique repair options.
Our Antique Furniture Repair Process
Your beloved antique furniture piece is treated with care from the moment we evaluate it to the time it returns to your home. Depending on the size of the piece and the type of damage we’re repairing, we’ll often move it to an off-site location.
First, we inspect your antique furniture for any structural or stability issues and then evaluate the condition of the finish. Then we carefully clean the piece, and touch up areas with damaged color and finish with specialty varnishes and color-matching techniques. For loose joints or broken pieces, we carefully mend with rebuilt or refabricated parts. Once all repairs are made, we restore the piece as needed.
When the repair and restoration of your beloved antique is complete, we’ll coordinate a time to deliver it based on your schedule.
Find an Antique Repair Expert Near You
Find your local Furniture Medic technician to learn more about your antique furniture repair options.