Stripped to bare wood, repaired where it needs it, sanded until it is silk, stained to the color you choose, and sealed in coats with the cure time a piece built to last actually needs. The full transformation for the solid wood pieces worth keeping.
4–8 weeks · Rogers, AR & all of NWA
A full ReFinish takes everything off and starts clean. Every layer of old finish, every stain, every failed repair attempt, every coat of paint somebody put on it in 1987 thinking that was a good idea. All of it comes off down to bare honest wood.
What happens after that is where the real work lives.
The wood gets evaluated with fresh eyes once the old finish is gone. Repairs that were hidden under layers of finish show themselves. The grain tells you what it will and will not accept in terms of color. The condition of the surface tells you how much sanding it needs and in what sequence. Every piece is different once it is stripped and every ReFinish responds to what is actually there rather than what the photos suggested.
This is the right service for pieces where the existing finish is beyond revival, where the damage goes deeper than the finish layer, where you want a completely different color or look, or where the piece has been painted over and the paint needs to come off to get back to the wood underneath.
It is also the most involved thing this shop does. It takes the longest, it requires the most steps, and it leaves the least margin for error at every stage. That is not a reason to avoid it. It is a reason to make sure it is done right.
Every ReFinish starts before anything is mixed or opened. The piece gets looked at carefully. Hardware comes off. Drawers come out. Leaves separate. Anything that can be worked as its own flat surface gets separated so every face gets proper attention rather than being worked around corners and edges that should not be there.
This step also sets the plan. What finish is coming off. What the wood underneath is likely to be. What repairs are visible before stripping and what might show up after. What color direction makes sense for the species and the grain pattern. The plan that goes into a ReFinish before the first drop of stripper is applied determines how the whole job goes.
A professional grade chemical stripper goes on thick and even across every surface. This is not a spray-and-wipe product. It is a deliberate application that sits on the surface, penetrates the old finish, and lifts it away from the wood without raising the grain the way heat or aggressive sanding would.
The piece gets covered and left alone while the chemistry does its work. The stripper needs time and it needs to stay wet to work properly. Rushing this step means leaving finish behind that will show up later as uneven color absorption or adhesion problems in the topcoat.
When the stripper has done its job the sludge comes off. Every bit of it. Scraped from flat surfaces, worked out of carvings and turnings and corners with steel wool and detail tools. This part is not glamorous. It is also not optional. Any finish left behind at this stage will compromise everything that comes after it.
The stripped surface gets neutralized with mineral spirits and wiped clean. Then it dries. Completely. The wood needs to return to its natural moisture content before sanding begins. That takes time that cannot be rushed without consequences.
Once the piece is stripped and dry the repair work happens. This is when hidden problems show themselves and when the structural integrity of the piece gets addressed before the finish work begins.
Loose joints get re-glued and clamped. Splits get stabilized. Missing wood gets filled. Veneer issues get addressed. Up to $100 of structural repair is included in every ReFinish. If something significant shows up that was not visible before stripping, work stops and you get a call before anything continues.
A finish cannot be done right on a frame that is not solid. This step is not a line item. It is a standard.
Sanding a piece for a professional ReFinish is not one pass with one grit of sandpaper. It is a progression through multiple grits, starting coarse enough to remove the last of the old finish and level any repaired areas, working through the intermediate grits to refine the surface, and finishing fine enough that the wood is genuinely smooth and ready to accept color evenly.
Flat surfaces get worked with a random orbital sander. Edges, profiles, carvings, turnings, and any area where a machine cannot go without doing damage get done by hand. Detail sanding on a carved buffet or an ornate chair is slow careful work that requires feeling the surface as much as seeing it.
Between every grit the dust gets cleared with a tack cloth. Fine sanding dust left on the surface will seal into the first coat of finish and show up as a texture that should not be there. Every grit, every surface, every time.
The finished sanded surface gets inspected in raking light before any color goes on. A bright light held at a low angle to the surface shows every scratch, every mill mark, every area that needs another pass. What looks smooth in normal light can look very different in raking light and it is better to find out before the stain goes on than after.
Before stain touches the actual piece the color gets tested. Not guessed at. Tested. The species of wood, the cut of the grain, the porosity of the surface, and the specific product being used all affect how a color reads on the finished piece versus how it looks on a sample board or a can lid.
Color testing is part of the process because getting the color right matters more than getting to the next step faster. A color that is wrong at this stage is wrong all the way to the end of the job.
Stain goes on with intention. The application method, the dwell time before wiping, and the wiping pressure all affect the final color. Consistent technique across the entire piece is what produces an even result. Inconsistent technique is what produces a piece that looks right in one spot and wrong in another.
Multiple coats may be needed to reach the right depth of color. Each coat gets evaluated before the next one goes on. The goal is a color that reads right from the distance someone actually sees the piece, not just under a work light at close range.
The topcoat is where everything either comes together or falls apart and it is the step that gets the most attention in this shop.
A professional topcoat is not one coat. It is a minimum of three, often more on surfaces that take real use like dining table tops. Each coat goes on thin and even. Thin coats level better, cure more completely, and build a more durable film than thick ones. A thick coat of finish looks good for a few hours and then it sags, runs, or develops fish eyes and has to come off and start over.
Between every coat the surface gets a light sand to knock down dust nibs and any imperfections, wiped clean, and inspected before the next coat goes on. The shop conditions matter here. Temperature, humidity, and airborne dust all affect how a finish cures. Controlling those conditions is part of why the work happens in the shop and not in a garage or a driveway.
The final coat gets evaluated in good light from multiple angles before the piece is considered done. If it is not right it gets addressed before it leaves the shop.
Dry and cured are not the same thing. A finish that is dry to the touch may still be soft enough to take an impression from a coffee mug or a stack of books. Full cure takes time that varies by product and by the conditions in the shop. A piece that is rushed back into service before the finish has fully cured will show it.
Your piece does not leave the shop until the finish has had the time it needs.
Hardware goes back on. Drawers go back in. The piece gets a final inspection as a complete assembled unit before pickup is scheduled. If anything needs attention it gets attention before you see it, not after.
ReFinish is priced at $40 per square foot of surface area being worked. Square footage is calculated on the surfaces being refinished, not the footprint of the piece. Intricacies like carvings, turnings, inlays, and detailed bases factor into the final number.
For typical ranges and full pricing detail see the Services page.
Send a few photos of the piece and tell me what you are hoping for. You will get a call from me personally, an honest range on Monday, and a real number before you owe anything.
Start My EstimatePhotos required · 4–8 weeks · Rogers, AR & all of NWA