Furniture polished back to an even finish, without replacing the piece.
Wardrobes, doors, dining tables and cane pieces stripped or keyed back, repaired, colour-matched and recoated to the sheen you choose, in your home with the dust contained, or in a workshop where the film can settle clean.
- Free site inspection
- Written, itemised quote
- 1-year workmanship warranty
- Same-day callback
At a glance
What does furniture polishing involve?
Furniture polishing means recoating wood, usually in melamine, polyurethane or shellac, once the old finish has been dealt with. The visible part is the last coat. Most of the work comes before it: working out what's already on the piece, degreasing, sanding or stripping, filling dents, and matching the stain so old and repaired wood read as one colour.
When this is the answer, and when it is not.
Sending you to the wrong service wastes your money and our time. This is how to tell.
This is likely right if
- Solid wood or veneered pieces whose finish has dulled, scratched or gone patchy, but whose joints are still tight
- A dining or centre table marked with heat rings, water stains or ink that sit in the old coating
- Wardrobe and kitchen shutters that are sound underneath and only need the finish and sheen brought back
- Pieces collected over the years, or moved from another home, that you want brought to one family of tones
Something else comes first if
- The piece rocks, or a joint has opened at the tenon, the frame has to be knocked apart and re-glued first, because a hard film bridged across a moving joint simply cracks along it
- There are pin-holes with fresh powder underneath, which means live borer inside the timber, treatment comes first, since polishing over it only seals the surface and the insect keeps working
- The shutter is laminate or foil-wrapped board, or particle board that has swollen with water at the bottom edge, polish won't bond to laminate, and swollen board can't be sanded back; those panels need refacing or replacing
What the service includes.
Piece survey and coating test
We identify the substrate, solid timber, veneer, cane or board, and test the existing coating in a hidden spot, because old shellac, melamine and polyurethane each need a different route.
Dismantling and protection
Handles, hinges, knobs, glass panels and mirrors taken off, drawers and shelves pulled out and numbered, fabric masked, floors sheeted and the working area tented against dust.
Degreasing and stripping
Wardrobe and kitchen fronts degreased before any abrasive touches them, then either stripped back or de-glossed by hand so the new coat has something to key into.
Repairs and filling
Dents raised where the timber allows, chips and nail holes filled to tone, lifted edge banding re-bonded, and open grain filled where the finish needs to sit flat.
Stain and sheen matching
Trial patches made on a hidden face of your own piece and seen in your own light, so the tone and the sheen are agreed before the whole item is committed.
Sealer and topcoats
Sealer, then coats to the agreed system, with the surface cut back between coats so each one grips the last rather than sitting loose on it.
Not included, or quoted separately
- Carpentry, re-gluing loose joints, replacing broken members, new edge banding or re-webbing cane seats; quoted separately when it has to happen first
- Termite and wood borer treatment, and any fumigation of the piece or the room
- Upholstery work, removing, refoaming or recovering seats and headboards; we mask fabric and leather, we don't strip or replace it
- Supply of new hardware, glass, mirror or laminate; we remove and refit your existing fittings but don't source replacements
- Emptying wardrobes, cabinets and drawers, clothes, crockery, books and papers need to be out before we start
The sequence.
Inspection, piece by piece
We look at every item, test the old coating, and decide which can be scuff-sanded and recoated, which must be stripped, and which need carpentry before polishing is worth doing at all.
Onsite or workshop
Loose furniture usually goes to a workshop, where the air can be kept still while the film is wet, dust that lands on a wet coat stays in it. Fixed wardrobes and kitchen carcasses stay where they're and we work around them.
Sample and approval
Stain and sheen tried on a hidden face of your own piece, inside a shutter, under a leg, and looked at in daylight before anything else is touched.
Strip, repair, sand
Old coating removed or keyed, dents and chips made good, surfaces sanded through the grades. This stage decides whether the finish looks flat and even or shows every earlier scratch.
Seal, tint and coat
Sealer, tinting where the tone needs correcting, then the topcoats, with light abrasion between them and the area kept as still and dust-free as the setting permits.
Cure, refit and hand back
Hardware, glass and drawers refitted. A film is touch-dry long before it is hard, so we tell you which surfaces will take light use and which must be left bare and unloaded until the film has hardened, and we issue a written warranty with its conditions stated.
What moves the price on this job.
We do not publish a rate, because it would change once someone measured your property. These are the variables that decide it.
- Actual polished area, counting shutter insides, table undersides, shelf edges and turned legs, not the footprint of the piece
- Whether the old coating is scuff-sanded and recoated or stripped back to bare wood, stripping means every face, edge, shelf lip and turned leg is worked by hand before any coating goes on
- Substrate, solid timber, thin veneer and cane each demand a different amount of hand work and hand sanding
- How far the colour is moving, and whether repaired patches and new wood have to be matched into aged timber
- The system and sheen chosen; a high gloss needs more levelling and more coats than a matt or satin finish
- Whether pieces are polished onsite around your household or moved to a workshop, and how they travel there and back
Furniture Polishing — your questions.
Will sanding cut through the veneer?
Not if it is handled properly. Factory veneer is a thin skin of real wood laid over a board core, and once it is cut through there's no more wood underneath to sand, so we sand it by hand with fine paper and stop when the old film is dulled, not when we reach bare wood. Machine sanding is kept for solid timber and flat rails. Where a veneer has already been sanded through, that patch can't be brought back, it gets refaced or painted.
Melamine or polyurethane, which should we choose?
It depends on what the piece has to take. Melamine sits thin, keeps the grain feeling close to the surface and and a scratched panel can be scuffed and recoated on its own, without the whole piece being stripped, which suits wardrobes, beds and display units. Polyurethane builds a thicker, harder film that copes better with water and daily wiping, so it suits dining tops, study tables and kitchen shutters. Polyurethane also carries a stronger solvent smell while it cures. We recommend per piece, and it is stated in your quotation.
Can this be done while we're living in the flat?
Usually, with conditions. Loose furniture is better moved out, because a workshop lets the dust settle away from a wet film. Fixed wardrobes and kitchen shutters have to be done where they stand, so we tent the area, extract where we can and keep the room ventilated. Solvent smell is real and it lingers. If anyone at home is pregnant, asthmatic or very young, tell us at the inspection and we'll sequence the rooms around them.
Can heat rings and water stains be taken out?
It depends how deep they sit. A white ring is usually moisture trapped inside the old film, and it disappears when that film comes off. Spirit marks and heat blooms often go the same way. Black stains are different, that's the timber itself reacting with water and iron, and it sits down in the fibre. On solid wood we can sand or bleach into it; on thin veneer we can't. We tell you which you've before quoting.
Will all the pieces end up matching exactly?
Close, but wood is not paint. Teak, rosewood, rubberwood and veneer take stain at different rates, and an old piece has darkened with years of light and air in a way a fresh repair hasn't. We make trial patches on a hidden face of your own furniture and get the tone approved before going further. Where pieces are different species, we aim for a consistent family of tones rather than one identical colour.
Related services
- Furniture PaintingWhen the piece is laminate, board or too far gone to polish, opaque paint is the honest route.
- Door and Window Painting and PolishingNewly polished furniture makes tired door shutters and frames in the same room look worse.
- Wood Painting and PolishingFor fixed woodwork, panelling, staircases and railings, beyond the loose furniture itself.
Let us look at your walls first.
Tell us about the property and we will set up a free colour and wall inspection. You get a written, itemised quotation afterwards, with no obligation to go ahead.
- We call you back the same day to get a picture of the property and the surfaces.
- We agree a time and come out for the free inspection.
- You get the written scope and itemised quotation.
- Nothing starts until you approve it.