Dan Alleger Custom Woodworking : New Orleans, LA : Custom Furniture : Refinishing, Repair, and Restoration : Chair Caning : Rush Weaving

This area contains examples of some major restorations I've undertaken over the past few years. A "major restoration" includes items that have taken an extraordinary amount of time, effort, or unexpected turns to arrive at the end result. Complete restoration often involves repairs, construction of replacement parts, and finish work.

Those items marked with

were damaged as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

The day it arrived and the day it left. It's hard to tell from the photo on the left, but only the front two legs were attached. There were big casters and a broken leg dangling underneath.

The top is not attached in the photo on the left. Termites did so much damage that there was no good material for the hinges to secure properly.

This beautiful secretary had a broken front, lots of missing veneer, finish problems, missing pieces, and a whole lot more. A lot of hours go into a piece like this.

This antique trunk needed so much work. The exterior was refurbished, handles and straps replaced, all metal polished, interior restored with new fabric, and a custom insert tray made out of cedar.

This old cabinet had many layers of paint on it. It's a lot of work to make something like this beautiful again!	The day it arrived and the day it left. It's hard to tell from the photo on the left, but only the front two legs were attached. There were big casters and a broken leg dangling underneath. The top is not attached in the photo on the left. Termites did so much damage that there was no good material for the hinges to secure properly.

This early 1900's Columbia Grafonola Deluxe was the most extensive restoration I've undertaken. Apart from being covered with layers paint and faux finished to resemble... I'm not sure what, it had extensive termite and moisture damage.

The day it arrived and the day it left. It's hard to tell from the photo on the left, but only the front two legs were attached. There were big casters and a broken leg dangling underneath.

The top is not attached in the photo on the left. Termites did so much damage that there was no good material for the hinges to secure properly.

This was the better of the two sides, but was still a mess.

It wasn't initially obvious that there was so much damage going on under the veneers. When I removed the to top section of the main body, termite dirt poured out everywhere and it started falling apart. The paint was holding it together.

Many of the original veneers were removed to repair the substrate, trace and fill all termite tunnels, and get it suitable to receive the veneers once again. In some areas, the damage was so severe that some new veneer sections were used. The entire bottom was remade as well as one of the feet. I'm told there are only a handful of these left, so this was a pretty important restoration.

I found what was left of the original logo artwork under all the dirt. Many areas were damaged and some missing. All of it was covered with various layers of finishes. After carefully cleaning the interior, I removed the layers one at a time so as not to further damage the original material. After consulting a number if other Grafonola photos, I recreated the original design by hand. This area alone took in excess of 30 hours to complete.

This shows some of the termite damage. It was like this throughout much of the piece, and in some areas they had eaten all the way through. Many sections had to be entirely recrafted, and many hours were spent tracing every tunnel and rebuilding the structural integrity of the piece.

The mechanical portion of the Grafonola was being rebuilt elsewhere, but this shows how the upper unit was rebuilt to receive it once complete. I also crafted a new support mechanism for the lid.

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These chairs were very water damaged, warped, and full of rusty nails from previous repair attempts. They were refinished and I wove new rush seats for them.

This cedar chest was pretty well destoryed during shipment. Some parts were crushed, others broken, veneer was missing, joints were beaten apart... it was a mess.

Apart from every joint being knocked loose, there were large sections of veneer missing.

This photo shows how the end was crushed and falling apart.

The chest had been wrapped in bubble wrap, then subjected to some intense heat which caused the bubble wrap to melt right into the finish on the top. One end of the top was completely broken off.

These Victorian walnut chairs were in pretty bad shape. They had both been through some pretty shoddy repair work, the finish was damaged and they were unstable. A lot of hours went into these to make sure every detail was given full attention. I restored them and then they were off to an area upholstery shop for their finishing touches.

The upper part of this chair back had broken off at some point and was poorly reglued. After that was repaired, the muddy old finish was carefully removed to reveal the beautiful walnut.

Here's a closer look at the chair frame once disassembled.

Once these are properly upholestered, the restoration will be even more spectacular. Here you can see the difference a few repairs and proper finishing can make.

A view of the back of the second chair.

Both of these chairs had been previously poorly repaired. Great care was taken to rebuild the inlays and create a perfect repair. Numerous upholstery jobs had weakened the perimteter of the back, so these areas were all repaired as well in preparation for new upholstery.

Second chair - before and after.

There were over 400 nails in each of these chairs. That makes a lot of holes and a lot of damage to be repaired.

There was a large amount of material missing in the center detail which had to be recrafted and blended into the old walnut.

The chairs back at home, complete with new upholstery and the third chair of the set.

These chairs went through the flood and were falling apart. Every joint failed and most of the wood was in pretty bad shape. After complete restoration, I made new seats for them and upholstered them as well.

This massive back bar started as pieces from an old cypress back bar that had been stored for several decades. It was poorly built originally, and what was left was falling apart. Using salvaged cypress from 3 other cabinets I collected, the entire piece was reworked. New doors were made, custom beveled mirrors installed, and lighting was added. It is now in use at the Magazine Street Barbershop.

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This child's rolltop desk flooded during Katrina, then sat in a damp garage for 4 and a half years. Some pieces were missing, all the joints were split, and the tambour pieces were in a pile. Everything was stained, dirty, and warped. After all the wood was treated, I rebuilt the tambour, recreated the missing pieces, repaired all the joints, and finished it as it was originally.

This beautiful chair was falling apart, all the cane was gone, and many parts were deteriorated or broken. After a lot of work and many hours of hand caning, it came out looking fabulous.

This was the most ambitious and time consuming restoration of all the Katrina pieces. The armoire stands at 11 feet tall and had fallen over into flood water. It was a pile of pieces when I picked it up and I had no idea what it would look like when complete. Most of it is original although I did have to replace the side panels, rear panels, recraft the upper crown details, and re-veneer the doors.

This old armoire only got about 10 inches of water, but the doors had been ripped off and it was in pretty poor condition.

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This old trunk was a big project as it was pretty far gone. With a bit of patience, however, it got a new life.

This dining chairs were in Lakeview floodwater for weeks. Most of the chair parts were still there; others were remade including an arm, spindle, and various rails and supports. Following a prolonged treatment for the stains, each chair was meticulously surfaced and finished to the customer's order. I also re-rushed all 6 seats.

This desk chair was going to be thrown out, but it was just too cool to let go. The seat splits were repaired and everything refinished.

This chair got the works. The customer wanted it refinished, reupholstered, and the damaged cane panels replaced.

Chair refinished, reupholstered, recaned

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These carved doors are from another house in Lakeview. They were stained, split, and some elements had broken off. New wood was spliced in and carved. Splits were repairs and stains removed.

This round table was flooded. New bun feet and circular rails were constructed, top veneer replaced, and all refinished.

This old cradle was in pieces when it arrived. Many spindles were broken, pieces warped, and the finish shot. Now it's ready for another generation to enjoy!

This dresser was flooded and some parts had to be remade. It had poorly refinished some years ago, but the water took care of much of that. The customer wanted a darker finish to blend in with their other furnishings.

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This armoire was one of the tougher Katrina restorations. Many of the pieces were gone, and what remained was covered in dirt, mold, and whatever else stuck to it after the flood waters receeded. This was built by the client's grandfather and was important to her. I rebuilt most of the cabinet duplicating the exact details her grandfather employed. The face frame, dust panel frames, and a few drawers were all that remained of the old cabinet. The amount of damage even those pieces sustained made them nearly impossible to restore.

These pieces all came from the same home. The chairs were both broken and had been poorly repaired over and over again. The same was true of the rocking chair which was also missing its back upholstery.

The vanity proved to be the biggest challenge, though. There were so many nails, staples, screws, and glues that had been used over the years... it was an immense task to "right" the wrongs of past poor repair work.

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SPECIAL SECTION - STEP BY STEP RESTORATION

These arm chairs were a major restoration. Both had been flooded and had missing or broken pieces. They were both covered in layers of paint, water putty, caulk, and more paint. Some of the joints were held together with staples or tape! Restoration included repair, removal of water stains, refinishing, and upholstery.

This old pie safe had seen years of dirt, wear, and neglect. It had a rough start as it was poorly built, and after years of being moved around it just fell apart.

This small liquor cabinet was flooded. The entire door and sides were recrafted and veneered to match the originals. The drawer was also remade with a solid mahogany front and dovetailed joints.

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This bedroom set consisted of a vanity, dresser, wardrobe, bed, and two chairs. Someone had dumped a lot of varnish over these pieces years ago, and they were pretty messy! In fact, there were several coats of varnish over all the hardware, too.
The owner opted not to replace the faux grain accents which then put the focus on the beautiful veneers.

This dining chair one of a set of 4. They were completely submerged for quite some time. The stains were removed, the wood repaired, the finish restored, and cane seats were installed as they appear to have been originally.

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	These beautiful carved walnut doors were in a home that took on about 3 feet of water. The water heavily damaged the finish and stained the walnut.

This antique oak cabinet restoration involved paint removal, water stain removal, joint repair, split top and bottom repair, and crafting a replacement shelf.

This oak table restoration was a challenge. Water had taken all the life from the wood, parts were warped or missing, and it barely could stay together.

These two Arts & Crafts bookcases came from the same home. Both suffered severe water damage and had some pieces missing or parts that were very warped.

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These Heywood-Wakefield pieces arrived with many problems. They had been neglected for years and damaged by leaking water. Some pieces had splits and everything stained with water, ink, and grease. Duplicating the original "wheat" finish made this restoration a great success.

This pedestal table was so water damaged that many sections had floated away. The remaining pieces were split, warped, and covered with dirt and mold. This table has a high gloss French Polish finish that's depth and beauty is amazing.

This Arts & Crafts rocking chair sat in flood waters for some time. The owner was just starting to paint his home, and the flood waters tipped the paint buckets over on much of his furniture. Apart from years of wear, this rocking chair was heavily damaged from the water.

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This dresser arrived in many pieces. The pieces that were still joined fell apart as soon as it was picked up. Mold was embedded into the pores of the legs and interior support system, so many pieces had to be recrafted.

This secretary cabinet had been heavily damaged by flood waters and mold. It was in many pieces when it arrived, and was in desperate need of repair. All drawer bottoms, interior panels, and backing pieces were replaced. The broken glass panel was also replaced. The entire piece was deep cleaned to remove mold, conditioned and refinished.