Timber restoration

A hundred year old window frame is slow grown, dense, tight grained timber that modern fast grown softwood cannot match. That is why a sash window with two rotten sections is worth repairing and a five year old frame with the same damage often is not. So the first job is diagnosis. We probe the timber with a blade to find where sound wood ends, because rot travels further than the paint suggests. Wet rot is local, caused by water getting in at a joint or an end grain, and it stops when the water stops. Dry rot is a different animal: it spreads through masonry, it needs to be traced to its source and cut well past the visible damage, and anyone who patches over it without finding where the moisture comes from will be back. Woodworm is usually old and inactive, and fresh bore dust is the thing that tells you otherwise. Then the repair. Rotten sections are cut out square and spliced with new timber of the same species, scarfed and glued so the joint is mechanical rather than relying on filler. Resin repairs have their place for small, protected areas but they are not a substitute for a splice on a window cill that takes the weather. Sash windows get the boxes opened, cords and weights replaced, beads remade, glass reputtied and the whole thing rebalanced so it stays where you leave it. Stairs get loose treads wedged and glued from underneath, newels re fixed and squeaks traced to the actual joint rather than filled with talc. Floorboards get lifted, cupped boards turned or replaced from a hidden area, and the room sanded and finished.

Stairs, the job we do most

An old staircase is usually worth keeping, and it is the piece of joinery people notice first when they walk in. The common problems are all fixable: treads that creak because a wedge or glue block has worked loose underneath, a handrail that moves because the newel post has come away at its base, balusters that rattle or are missing, nosings worn round by a century of feet, and layers of paint hiding good pine or hardwood. We fix the structure from below before touching the surface, make missing balusters and replacement treads to match the originals, strip the old paint without dry sanding, and finish the treads in a coating that stands up to daily wear. Where spacing or handrail height falls short of what is safe for children, we tell you and show how it can be brought up without losing the character of the stairs.

Old paint, and how we take it off

Paint on anything predating the eighties may contain lead, and dry sanding it puts that into the air of the house. We do not do that. Old coatings come off with controlled heat below the temperature that releases fumes, with chemical strippers, or by taking the item off site where that is practical, and the dust and waste are contained and removed. It is slower than a sander and it is the difference between restoring a house and contaminating it.

Furniture, in our own workshop

We restore wooden furniture as well as the timber built into the house: dining tables, chairs, dressers, chests, desks and wardrobes. That work happens in our own workshop, where the piece can be taken apart properly rather than patched in place. Loose joints are cleaned out and reglued, and on older pieces we use a glue that a future restorer can still undo. Split tops are closed up, lifted veneer is laid back down, and missing mouldings, handles or legs are made to match. Old finishes are stripped by hand rather than dipped in a tank, because dipping soaks the joints and lifts veneer. The finish goes back to suit the piece and how it will be used: oil or wax where you want the grain to show and a repair to be easy, a harder lacquer on a table that sees daily meals, a traditional polish on an antique. The aim is a piece that looks cared for, not one that looks new.