Phoenix Furniture
I take on all types of woodwork but I won’t take a fence
Greg Sinclair
Phone: 01952 41 44 11
Mobile: 0787 6537 909
Email: info@phoenixfurniture.co.uk
+ Services
Restoration of antique furniture and small wooden artefacts.
This is a very broad term and includes a swathe of items made from wood. It does not exclude items that are not antique. The definition of ‘antique’ is generally accepted as being more than 100 years old. It does not matter if your furniture is 100 year, 1000 years, or just 1 year old, although any age of furniture can be repaired Phoenix Furniture has a preference for repairing very old furniture. ‘Wooden’ also includes items made partly from wood with other materials, and sometimes mostly other materials with only a small proportion of wood. The term ‘wood’ also has various meanings. Besides solid timber it could be MDF, plywood, chipboard, and other man made sheet material all can be veneer with natural timber or something that looks like timber, or a even plastic laminate, and on occasions printed textured paper this is very difficult to tell apart from the real thing.
Antique and modern furniture repairs and restorations.
There is a big difference between something being repaired or restored, they tend
to overlap, and there are different interpretations to each word. If I have a leg
of a chair and restore the chair to its original state, can it be claimed to be an
original chair when all but one leg is new. How extensive should something be repaired.
Generally it is expected that a repair should be indistinguishable from its original
pre-
Furniture stripping and repolishing.
Stripping is the removal of a surface coating, usually a clear lacquer, can be paint, or any number of surface treatments. Repolishing is the application of a finish suitable for a particular piece of furniture. How a finish is removed depends on what is being removed and what it is being removed from. Similarly repolishing is dependant on what is to be used as a coating and what it is going to be applied to. Thankfully antique furniture has a very narrow band of timbers and finishes and what needs to be done is reasonably simple to determine.
This is not our core service. It is carried out when it is necessary to remove upholstery to complete a repair or restoration. Small upholstery jobs are taken on such as chair seats, foot stools. Larger items such as sofas, armchairs, chaise lounges, etc, these are subcontracted to reputable companies.
There are times when it is not possible to buy a ready made furniture to fit a particular situation. Or you might need an extra chair or two to match an existing set. At Phoenix Furniture we are able to make anything between a doorstop to a dining table.
Sample boards for business and retail.
Phoenix Furniture are specialist sample boards makers for the architectural ironmongery manufactures. The pictures on this website are representative of past work. Sample boards include displays for lock components, door closers, pad locks, handles, security fittings
Gifts made for a special person.
A unique gift means so much more than something generic purchased from a shop. A wooden gift could be a jewel box, writing box, sewing box, bridge box. For a silver wedding anniversary boxes can be finished with silver coloured birch veneer. Other items can be trophies, coin cases, display cases, doll enclosure, picture frames. Almost any practical item can be designed and made
Specialist in fire and water damage repairs.
Fire and water can be the most difficult damages to repair, especially as so much modern furniture is constructed from man made boards that burn more readily and absorb far more water compared to solid timber. Generally there is nothing that cannot be repaired to become as useful and decorative before damage.
Cars up to the middle and late 1950’s often had coach built bodies using ash as the main timber. Ash is traditionally used with horse drawn vehicles because of its natural ability to bend and recover. Unfortunately ash and all English hard woods, ash is one of them, are prone to woodworm and fungal attack. Almost all cars can suffer from water leaks, and cars prior to 1960’s it was expected to leak. With coach built motor vehicles the effects of worm and water damage are hidden until the damage causes structural instability. New parts can be made to measure using the remains of the timber or taking measurements of where the timber is to be fitted. Interior trim fittings can be reproduced using an opposite piece or measuring the space it occupied. We can also cater for wooden and veneered parts when required for a new project
Veneering repairs and restorations.
Loose and damaged veneer should be repaired as soon as possible. Matching veneer is very difficult, any loose bits that have fallen off should be saved, bits about to fall of can be temporarily secured with clear sticky tape. Attempting to make a more permanent repair unsuccessfully can make a professional repair much more time consuming. In some cases, such as damage to the top edge of a table, it is possible to add a veneered edge to disguise it and add decoration.
DIY rescue -
Not everyone has a natural DIY ability. Knock down furniture is often a simple DIY project, but fixing kitchen cabinets to a wall can be very demanding. Phoenix Furniture has build whole kitchens and bedroom fittings in a number of properties
Insurance companies often require quotations. We supply this service for a small charge which is refundable once we have the repair to do
Outsourcing of specialist services.
We cannot do everything. For example some antique furniture comprise damaged and missing ceramics and brass fittings, or there may be painted scenes, or finished beyond our abilities. We know someone that can replace these things or can do the work for us
Phoenix Furniture
I take on all types of woodwork but I won’t take a fence
Greg Sinclair
Phone: 01952 41 44 11
Mobile: 0787 6537 909
Email: info@phoenixfurniture.co.uk