FURNITURE RESTORATION

Most people can name three things to do with a piece of damaged furniture: clean it, refinish it, or replace it. However, if the item is a pair of authentic Queen Anne side chairs, those three options might not apply. Cleaning is risky, refinishing would severely diminish the value, and replacement at $60,000 is not exactly an option to cheer about.

In this case, the process known as restoration would undoubtedly be applied. Restoration employs techniques designed to remedy damage which \retaining as much of the original finish as possible. The goal is to minimise the loss of authenticity and value.

Restoration is performed every day in hundreds of workrooms on art objects such as porcelain, lacquer work, books, clocks, fine arts, furniture and jewellery. However, another aspect of restoration is less well known because it is performed on ordinary household furnishings.

Insurance restoration employs techniques similar to those used by art and antique restorers, but applies them to ordinary personal property in order to return it to pre-loss value. Insurance Restoration encompasses a wide range of techniques that fall between cleaning and complete refinishing or replacement.