At Ackerman & Sons Furniture Workshop we provide the highest quality craftsmanship. Our team is committed to helping customers understand the ins and outs of furniture repairs.
If you don’t see the answer to your question on this page, contact us directly. We’d be more than happy to chat about furniture repair, refinishing, and upholstery in Denver with you.
To receive an estimate, you can either bring your furniture into our showroom or we can come to you.
We do our best to provide detailed, written estimates and we encourage our customers to read our estimates carefully to ensure all the details are correct and clear. Please keep in mind that seeing a piece in person will help us provide a more accurate estimate. Our estimates are good for up to one year. After one year, furniture will need to be reviewed again by one of our estimators.
Each project is unique, which makes it difficult to give an exact timeline without knowing what needs to be done. All projects are completed on a first-come, first-served basis. Projects are added to our queue after estimates are signed, and fabrics are ordered, paid for, and received. We try to give approximate timelines based on our current workload, but these are only approximates and cannot be guaranteed.
Furniture constructed with veneer is sometimes assumed to be lower quality. This is often not the case – some of the finest quality furniture is wood veneer over a plywood substrate. Veneered pieces are much more stable through changes in humidity and temperature compared to solid wood furniture. It takes a higher level of craftsmanship to manufacture pieces with veneers.
We believe it is often worth restoring veneer furniture and specialize in veneer furniture restoration in Denver, CO. Our team can provide more in-depth solutions during your in-person estimate.
We’ve repaired a lot of veneer pieces and can likely do it again for your furniture. Veneers are a thin layer of wood so extra care is required when working on a veneered piece. Loose or cracked veneer can be glued down before stripping a piece of furniture. And missing veneer can have new, closely matched veneer added back during the prepping process.
Yes. If you want to refinish a piece on your own, we are happy to strip your wood furniture. We have the largest stripping facility in Colorado, and we strip furniture daily.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that your piece will need sanding, repairs, and more work after it’s been stripped and before you apply the new finish. If your furniture is ornate or unusual or you have complex repairs to do, consider having your furniture professionally refinished by our team at Ackerman & Sons.
Yes, if your furniture has broken or missing pieces, we can repair or replace them. We are typically able to repair and/or reproduce any part or section of a piece of furniture made of wood. In fact, our craftsmen often use the same time-honored techniques that the original manufacturer or furniture maker used to complete our approach to wood furniture repair in Denver.
To care for your refinished furniture, we generally recommend dusting each piece weekly with a slightly damp, clean cloth. Be sure you don’t leave behind any excess liquid after cleaning. Approximately once every three months, use a fine polish like Guardsman. This polish is silicone-free and will not build up on top of your finish. Always apply the polish per the manufacturer’s directions.
If you have an antique piece of furniture that you think has significant value, we recommend having one of our estimators inspect it before deciding to refinish it. For pieces with historical value, we use industry-standard and approved restoration techniques that will not devalue the furniture.
In most cases, having an antique refinished will actually add value to the piece. If a piece of fine furniture has a failing finish, that finish is no longer protecting the wood below and that can result in warping, cracking, and breakage. In some cases, that resulting damage is not repairable and can devalue the furniture. If the finish itself is in poor condition due to scratches, sun-fading, or peeling, the value of the piece is already lowered. Removing the old finish and applying a new one that matches the original will once again protect the piece and increase the value.
No, dip stripping is not a part of our approach to furniture repair in Denver, CO. We hand-strip each refinishing project we work on. While dip stripping is technically faster, that technique can also irreparably damage the rosin content of the wood. Dip stripping also affects and loosens the glue joints, and the whole piece will then need to be re-glued. Hand stripping allows us to ensure that we get the old finish off without damaging the wood or accidentally leaving the old stain in any small nooks.
Absolutely. We restuff cushions all the time. We offer several high-performance, professional-grade foam options for cushions, and our large foam selection helps ensure you get the grade of firmness you desire in a cushion that will last for decades. We are the only upholstery company that utilizes closed-cell latex foam, which is the highest quality available. The latex used in our foam is expensive, but it lasts up to 10x longer than conventional polyurethane foams that break down each time you sit on them.
We quote each item to be refinished to the original color and sheen. About 95% of furniture today is finished with a satin sheen, which is generally recommended for most pieces as it is the most practical for everyday use. Unless specified otherwise, your piece will be restored using a pre-catalyzed furniture-grade lacquer with UV protectant to ensure the color stays the same for many years to come.
If requested, we can, of course, change the sheen of any piece if you’d like – from flat or oil sheens to a hand-buffed mirror gloss. The choice is ultimately up to you!
Missing hardware is no problem for our furniture craftsmen. If you want to replace missing or broken hardware, we’ll walk you through multiple hardware catalogs that offer a variety of options.
If your missing or broken hardware is unique, we may be able to mold or 3-D print new pieces using the old hardware as a template. Please note these processes are best for hardware that is ornamental only.
All the time. Our craftsmen can replace both flat and curved glass pieces in your furniture. We can also install glass tops for newly refinished items before delivering them to your home. Just ask for details during your estimate.
While we generally recommend complete refinishing for most furniture that we handle, it is not always required. In fact, we do partial refinishing jobs regularly. If you need just the top of a dining table or the doors of a cabinet refinished, we can help. We can also paint specific parts of your furniture, like the base of a pedestal table.
When it comes to matching an existing finish, our craftsmen can get very, very close. We rely on our experience, artistic eye, and the capabilities of the materials to get as close as possible to the original finish. Some furniture finishes require the original wood to be bleached to attain a color match. Others require a complex glazing process to replicate the manufacturer’s original finish.
Keep in mind, there is no “exact” with wood, but we employ the best finishers in the region and work tirelessly to satisfy our customers with wood furniture repair in Denver.
Across our sprawling 22,000 sq ft workshop, you’ll find hundreds of furniture pieces coming and going each day. Feel free to stop by for a tour to see examples of in-process and completed items! You can also visit our Instagram and our portfolio to see completed projects ranging from furniture restoration in Denver, CO to upholstery work and more.
Of course! Refinishing is just the top of a dining room table is one of the most common projects we handle.
To strip wood furniture, we use two different methods depending on the current state and construction of your furniture.
The first method is more traditional and uses a paste-based stripper that softens the existing finish to allow our team to gently remove the lacquer and preserve any existing thin veneers.
The second method uses our commercial-quality stripping system. This process is called a “flow-over process,” during which our team suits up with masks and protective body suits and uses a recirculating pump and brush that is continually supplied with a commercial stripping chemical that flows over your piece. This is a very efficient process that saves you money on your refinishing project. Once stripped, your furniture is washed by hand to remove any residual stripper and allowed to dry naturally in a climate-controlled room.
After stripping, the waste is collected and distilled to capture lacquer thinner from the original finish. This process reduces our liquid chemical waste by 85%, which is better for our local environment and the planet. The remaining solid waste is then sent off for tracked HAZMAT disposal.
Yes, you may supply your own fabric while we handle the rest of your furniture upholstery repair in Denver. However, please note that we will apply a $10.00 per yard cutting fee for all fabrics provided by customers.
Selecting an upholstery can either be a fun process or a daunting decision. We have thousands of professional-grade fabrics to choose from in our showroom, and you can even check out sample books to take home to ensure your final decision is the right one.
If you prefer to shop from home, you can explore the various fabric lines that we carry on our website. Once you find something you like, you can send us an email with the manufacturer, pattern number, and color, and we can drop ship samples to you for viewing in your home as well. Please note, there may be a shipping fee associated with this option.
In addition to the fabric, reupholstery projects typically include costs for foam, specialty thread, buttons, nail heads, and other small details. Any work on the wooden parts of the piece, such as re-gluing, staining, and cleaning the wood is an additional cost. Spring tying, double welt, and skirts are added onto the estimate. Please note that tax and shipping are additional required costs for all fabrics and materials purchased for the piece.
If your current furniture is comfortable, you like the style, and it has a good frame, your best choice is to seek out furniture upholstery repair in Denver. It will be tough to find another furniture piece that matches your style, provides similar comfort, and lasts for as long as your current sets.
Many manufacturers of new furniture are forced to use inexpensive wood and short-lived construction methods to keep manufacturing prices down. There’s a good chance your existing furniture would be very expensive to replace with something of equal quality. The finished product may cost as much as a moderately priced piece of new furniture, but you’ll have a customized piece that will last for years.
Fabric is a personal choice that depends on your needs, taste, and budget. If your furniture has endured heavy wear and tear, a highly durable fabric will wear well and last longer. There is no right or wrong way to choose fabric and our showroom team can help you with every step of the process.
As you browse fabrics, ask yourself questions like:
On conventional upholstery fabric, the pattern goes up the fabric roll. In other words, the pattern runs the length of the fabric, and not the width.
On the other hand, the pattern runs the width on railroaded fabric (i.e., sideways up the roll). This is important to keep in mind for sofas and bench cushions where seams would not look good on a long stretch of fabric.
Sinking sofa cushions are a common issue, but it can be easily remedied with our approach to furniture restoration in Denver, CO. Sinking cushions are generally due to internal webbing that has gone bad and needs to be replaced. It can also mean the springs have broken loose from the bottom of the sofa. In rare cases, the springs lose their “spring.” We can add new webbing to your sofa and/or replace or repair the springs to eliminate this problem.
There are many elements that go into furniture repairs, refinishing, or upholstering. It’s understandable to have a lot of questions. If you’re curious about something related to furniture repairs and restorations or you’re ready to jump into a project, contact our team today.