Dan Alleger Custom Woodworking : New Orleans, LA : Custom Furniture : Refinishing and Restoration : Furniture Repair : Flooded Furniture Restoration

Refinishing & Restoration

This table had a lot of problems including a split middle shelf and a top that had been nailed on. It definitely needed help!

This chair was passed through the owner's family and exhibited years of wear and poor repair work. The wobbly leg joints were remade, the broken back repaired, and then it was refinished and reupholstered.

Dining Room Table Modified and Refinished

In addition to being refinished, this table was converted to a drop leaf design and shortened to better fit the owner's home.

This table's top was damaged and two of the legs were broken. I remade all the leg joints as the original design was doomed to fail.

This antique high chair was pretty special. The last person who used it is now 70!
In addition to the broken arm and back repairs, it was refinished. The back was hand caned and pegged, and the seat was traditionally hand caned.

The photos say it all.
This table had broken legs and a damaged top.

This chair received some frame repair, a new rear slat, new finish, and new upholstery.

These two chairs were partially stripped, but all the worst of it was still there for me - a lot of paint. They got the works: refinished, recaned, and reupholstered.

This old rocking chair had been in the attic for many years. It came with brittle cane, missing veneer, and a mismatched arm. It left looking like it should with everything corrected: new cane, new arm piece, repaired veneers, and a beautiful finish.

Antique Rocking Chair Restored and Recaned

These chairs were water damaged, the joints were shot, and the wraps were a thick, ugly plastic material. After a lot of surfacing and treatment, they took a new finish beautifully and received authentic rattan wraps around all joints.

A lot of work goes into restoring some flooded pieces. Real binder cane wraps around the joints gave these chairs a much more polished look than the cheap plastic that was stapled on before.

This table was in pieces when it arrived and very damaged. I saw the potential immediately.

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This old sewing cabinet had been refinished by an amateur years ago. There was a pencil shoved into the side of the support mechanism that had finish applied right over it - so it had been there for awhile!

This table was wobbly, faded, and chemically damaged. Now it is strong and beautiful.

This table was wobbly and the finish was deteriorated. All joints were repaired, splits corrected, and damaged areas restored.

That nasty spot on the corner was from a spill some years ago. A combination of dyes and pigments made it disappear.

These chairs all came from the same home. Some had been dip stripped and were in horrible condition. Others had been stashed in an attic. All of them came out beautifully.

This chair had been dipped to strip the old finish and it severely damaged the wood (possibly because of the incorrect rinse afterwards). The wood was fuzzy, seat was split, and all joints were weak. The restoration was completed with my new eco-friendly finishing process.

This chair spent many years in the attic. The finish was a mess and poor past repairs were obvious. I remade the top section of the back taking care to duplicate the grain patterns that were hiding under the old finish. A new hand woven cane seat made it functional again.

This was another chair that had been dipped and was in the worst condition I've ever seen as a result. The wood felt like fur (likely because of how it was scrubbed with water after dipping) and there were splits and expansion all over it. It took an extraordinary amount of sanding and scraping to get the wood in a condition to accept a proper finish.

The damaged veneer details on this chair were repaired. I hand painted the grain details on the replacement veneer sections to exactly match the existing burl veneer.

This chair looks like it received a visit from a nasty belt sander some years ago as one side was pretty chewed up.

A hand caned seat completed this restoration as well as construction of the missing hip braces.

This set was in poor condition, but the owner wanted to renew their appearance to tie in more with her other furnishings. These pieces received a green, eco-friendly finish process.

This plant stand would not stand as much of the dovetailed joints at the column base were damaged or missing. I replaced the missing wood, refinished the base and rubbed out the top.

This Heywood Wakefield bed was in pretty good condition except for a crack in one end of the footboard. Unfortunately, it had been stripped by someone else with an oribital sander and left deep swirls everywhere.

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Worn top, paint drippings, and dirt... but much better with a little work.

This high chair was covered in old finish, dirt, and all manner of baby gunk! I recaned the seat with a smaller gauge in addition to refinishing the entire chair.

This table had been chewed around the bottom and water damaged across the top.

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This cedar chest had an old, worn finish. Exterior refinishing got the outside looking good, and interior surfacing got it smelling good.

This old writing desk was covered in brown paint as well as having its lower shelf split.

This old chair spent years in an attic before it found a new life again. I refinished it and then recaned the hand woven seat.

This old sewing machine cabinet had been painted gold at some point. It was refinished and the top damage was repaired. The sewing machine cap had so much paint and varnish on it that it was impossible to see what was under there until all was removed. It came out beautifully.

Another rocking chair showing the signs of age. Rather than hiding all the beautiful maple under that ugly brown finish, I chose to highlight the wood and let it shine.

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This old cedar chest was slightly flood damaged, but it needed refinished anyway. The previous "finish" was amateur at best.

This dresser had seen better days. It was old, dirty, and someone had replaced the original top with a cut piece from another cabinet. I decided to keep the top that was there, but remold the edges and build it up with a secondary layer underneath. Everything was refinished and some recycled hardware set it off nicely.

This unique coffee table had a lot of damage, but it came out beautifully after a lot of work.

This rocking chair had seen better days. I removed the deteriorated rush, surfaced the entire chair, recoated with exterior enamel, and re-weaved the rush weat.

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This Heywood Wakefield table had a giant gouge in the top as well as many coats of brown finish. While refinishing Heywood Wakefield pieces is a lot of work, it's worth the results.

This telephone table had a split top, loose joints, and the typical poor repairs from the past. Now it is as it was originally. It was fully repaired and refinished.

Another table that got water below and dripping from above.

This rocking chair was flood damaged and falling apart. Some pieces were replaced and new runners were crafted. A chunk missing from the seat was also repaired.

This dining room table had a worn finish and had stood in a few inches of flood water. Some pieces were missing and the extendable leaves did not function.

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This rocking chair was broken, banged up, and much of the original finish had chipped off. While I tried to retain as much of the original material as possible, some new finish was applied and areas re-stenciled. The seat got most of the attention as it was really beat up.

This antique white oak dental cabinet is a real treasure. It arrived dirty and worn out with various pieces missing, veneers damaged, and absent hardware. It left with all veneers repaired and missing pieces re-crafted. I was able to locate some of the matching hardware, but had to fume some brass pieces and create a false pearl inlays for the rest. The owners were not even aware that there was a hidden compartment!

Another chair recovered on it's way to the dump. I refinished the chair and replaced the rush seat. Turns out the owner wanted it back after seeing these pictures!

Bow Back Windsor Chair with Tail Restored

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This dining room set was covered in old dirty varnish. The customer provided the fabric for the chair upholstery, and I removed the old varnish in favor of a fresh finish.

This dining room table and sideboard were restored after years of neglect and layers of bad varnish, wax, and oil.

This old farm table had a deteriorating finish that was peeling, heat damaged, and not protecting the surface at all. With the proper finish applied, this rustic farm table will provide years of beauty and practical use.

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.

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These Heywood Wakefield pieces were both in need of some help. The TV stand finish was worn out as was the finish on the coffee table.

Heywood Wakefield Coffee Table Refinishing

These Heywood Wakefield end tables had been refinished with what appeared to be a "polyshades" finish (stain & polyurethane mix). This was the wrong finish for HW furniture and had suffered some damage over the years.

As this plant stand was passed down through the generations, many coats of paint and varnish had been applied. There were 12 coats of paint to get through (including a layer of aluminum paint!). The split top was repaired and the entire piece refinished.

This rocking chair was missing two of the slats in the back. I duplicated the originals using antique planes and shaves. All joints were reinforced and the chair was refinished.

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