Furniture Restoration in Modesto, CA

Most of what comes through the shop is wood that somebody in the family cared about. Antiques and heirlooms — hope chests, grandfather clocks, secretaries, rocking horses, globes with brass meridians. Dining sets where the table has water rings and half the chairs wobble. Dressers and chests of drawers with drawers that stick, veneer that has lifted, or a coat of paint over good hardwood. Chairs of every kind, from a single side chair to a full set. Cabinets, buffets, sideboards, and casework.

We also take pieces that other shops turn down because they are awkward: odd shapes, mixed materials, or things that need a repair invented for them. Family-owned in Modesto since 1991 — roughly 35 years — means we have seen most of it before.

These three words get used interchangeably and they should not be. Knowing which one your piece needs is the difference between a fair price and a wasted one.

Repair fixes what is broken and leaves the finish alone: a re-glued joint, a replaced runner, a split rail, a chair that racks when you sit in it. If the finish still looks good and the piece is just failing structurally, this is all you need.

Refinish deals with the surface: stripping the old finish, addressing stains and sun damage, and putting a new finish on. Right for a solid piece that is sound underneath but looks worn out, or one somebody painted over.

Full restoration is both, plus whatever else the piece needs — veneer patched in, missing trim recut, hardware sorted, upholstery redone, and a finish built up and rubbed out by hand. This is what an heirloom usually gets.

You do not have to know which one to ask for. Show us the piece and we will tell you which of the three it needs and why, including when the answer is "less than you thought."

Assessment. We look at the wood, the joinery, the existing finish, and any previous repairs, then talk with you about what the piece means to you and how it will be used. Those two things together decide the plan.

Stripping. Old finish comes off by hand, with methods chosen for what is underneath. Veneer, inlay, and carved detail need a lighter touch than a slab of oak, and the wrong approach here is where pieces get ruined.

Repair. Joints re-glued and clamped, loose or missing veneer patched, splits closed, broken or missing parts recut to match, drawers made to run again, frames made solid.

Refinishing. Surfaces prepared, color matched where color is needed, and the finish built in coats rather than sprayed on all at once.

Finishing and detail. Rubbed out, hardware cleaned or replaced, upholstery fitted, and the piece checked over before it goes home. If there is a mark of history worth keeping — a date in pencil inside a door, a maker's stamp — we keep it.

The honest answer is that price follows the work, not the piece — which is why we quote each one rather than publish a list. Send photos of your piece and we will give you a firm price. Call (209) 524-6349.

Four things move the number more than anything else: how much old finish has to come off and how carefully, whether the piece is structurally sound, whether veneer or carving is involved, and how the piece will be used when it goes home. A daily-use dining table is finished differently than a display piece.

Text or email a few photos — the whole piece plus close-ups of the damage — and we will tell you what it needs and what it costs before you commit to anything. Estimates are part of the conversation, not a sales pitch: if refinishing is not worth it on your piece, we will say so.

Furniture stripping is where most restorations begin, and it is the step most likely to ruin a piece when it is rushed. We strip by hand with methods matched to what is underneath — a solid oak dresser, an old painted pine chest, and a walnut veneer buffet are three different jobs. Watch a chair being stripped in our shop in the video above.

From there the wood repair happens: joints re-glued and clamped, split rails closed, loose or missing veneer patched, drawer runners rebuilt so drawers glide again, broken or missing trim recut to match the original profile, and hardware cleaned, repaired, or matched. If you have been looking for wood furniture repair near you in Modesto, Turlock, Ceres, or Stockton, this is all done in one shop rather than farmed out.

Honest answer: restoration takes longer than people expect, and the reason is chemistry. Glue has to cure. Finish has to cure between coats. A hand-rubbed finish cannot be hurried without showing it a year later.

A straightforward repair is a short job. A refinish is longer. A full restoration on a piece with structural work, missing parts, and upholstery is a project measured in weeks or months rather than days. You get a timeline with your estimate, and if something inside the piece changes the plan once it is stripped, you hear about it from us before we keep going.

Nobody drives a dresser across the Valley because they need a dresser. They do it because it was their mother's, or it came west with the family, or it is the one thing left from a house that has been sold.

That is most of our work, and it is why this is still a family shop — Bob, Jenny, and Dick, in Modesto since 1991. There is no crew that rotates through and no piece that gets handed off to whoever is free. The same people who look at your piece are the people who work on it, and we would rather tell you a piece is not worth restoring than take money for a job that does not deserve doing.

You can see the results on the Before & Afters page — those are all our own pieces, photographed as they left the shop.

Our shop is at 301 Maze Blvd in Modesto, and we work throughout the northern San Joaquin Valley: Modesto, Turlock, Ceres, Riverbank, Oakdale, Manteca, Stockton, and Tracy.

Local pages with more detail: Turlock, Ceres, and Stockton.

Tables get their own page — see table refinishing and repair.

How much does it cost to refinish furniture?

Price follows the work, not the piece, so every job is quoted on its own. Send photos of the piece and tell us how it will be used, and we will give you a firm price. Call (209) 524-6349.

Do you offer furniture refinishing near me in the Central Valley?

Our shop is on Maze Blvd in Modesto and we work throughout the Central Valley — Turlock, Ceres, Stockton, Riverbank, Oakdale, Manteca, Salida, and the surrounding towns. Pickup and delivery is usually workable since we already run trucks for piano and furniture moves.

Is my piece worth restoring?

That is the first question we answer, and we answer it honestly. Solid wood, decent joinery, and sentimental value usually mean yes. Particle board with a printed veneer usually means no, and we will say so rather than take the job. Send a photo and we will tell you what we see.

Will restoring an antique hurt its value?

It depends on the piece. On some antiques, original finish and patina are part of what makes them valuable, and the right move is a careful repair and clean rather than a strip and refinish. On most family furniture, a proper restoration makes the piece usable again for another generation. We will talk through the trade-off before anything is stripped.

How long does furniture restoration take?

It depends entirely on the piece and what it needs — a repair and a re-finish are very different jobs from a full restoration with structural work and hand-rubbed finishing. We give you a timeline with your estimate, and we would rather quote you honestly than rush a finish that needs time to cure.

Do you do upholstery too?

Yes. Chairs, chaises, and dining sets often need both — the frame re-glued and repaired and the seat redone — so we handle frame repair, re-jointing, and reupholstery together rather than sending you to two shops.

Do you pick up and deliver?

We move pianos and furniture as part of what we do, so pickup and delivery around the Modesto area is usually workable. Ask when you call at (209) 524-6349 and we will sort it out with the estimate.

We write up what comes across the bench — water rings, loose chair joints, veneer, and whether a piece is worth refinishing at all — on the Nixon's Oak Tree House blog.

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