“In October 2020 we had a house fire!! On top of the damage to the house from the fire we also had a late 1930s early 1940s Chippendale dining room set that was badly damaged due to heat smoke and water. Not having ever had a fire before nor this type of damage to furniture my wife and I did some research and asked who could handle something like this to fix it.”
The furniture handling on this loss was unique due to the age of the home giving us no more than a half inch clearance from the main level ceiling, making it quite the challenge moving a full-sized Chippendale China Cabinet back and forth without any mishap.
What type of fire damage happened to these pieces of furniture?
This damage occurred from a fire in the upper-level attic and/or roof. We are not always acquainted with the source of each fire loss, this could have been from a lightning strike that burned into the upper walls traveling down into the heart of this small country home. The furniture sustained some light soot damage but most apparent was the water and wet debris damage that fell from the ceiling causing some spotting, discoloration as well as dings, scrapes and gouges.
“Joe at “A Quality Finish” was recommended to us by our contractor. Joe came out took a look at the pieces which included a dining room table 6 chairs, China closet, demilune, and an antique roll top desk that was in another room, as well as a 100+ year-old stained-glass window and Joe said to us “I can fix this” and he went on to say “you worry about the house I’ll worry about the furniture” those were his words. We were skeptical as to the results Joe was going to have with the furniture based on the damage that we saw. Joe and his crew came and picked the items up from the house brought them to their shop they invited us to come out to the shop to visit our furniture during processing which I did.”
“I was very pleasantly surprised when I found my skepticism was unfounded. Joe and his sons Owen and Joel and the rest of the crew took the time, patience and care to strip our furniture down to the wood and refinish every piece including upholstery on the chairs to the point where they looked better than I’ve ever seen them look before when we were ready to get it back and put it in the house they delivered it and set it up in our house very carefully.”
What type of restoration did we complete on this furniture?
The McCool’s furniture was photographed and inventoried prior to removal. We started the restoration of these items early 2021 and had the items ready before the contractor had completed the home re-construction. The basic process involved with these items included dismantle, stripping and sanding, repairs and fillings, base-tone staining, sealing and top coat color match toning followed by our durable clear coat finishing. Each piece is then reassembled and then set in our clean storage area ready for the delivery day.
“If you’re looking for someone to take care of your family heirlooms after they’ve been damaged or just to make them look as good as they’ve ever looked, seek no further this is the place for you.”