With Furniture Refinishing, You Have to Go With the Grain

"I always tell people, it's not rocket science, but you have to be in the right mindframe to do the work," Tanner says. "If you're in a big rush, don't do it. With refinishing, if you don't sand properly, everything else is going to be a mess all the way down the line."

TNT also fields more requests for "freshening up" work, which can include restorative silicone washes and lacquer sprays. The shop takes on the touch-up jobs reluctantly, as defining successful work can be a subjective matter. "People have a picture in their head of what the result should be," says Tanner. "It's always a dance with that stuff."

That stuff helps pay the bills, though Tanner prefers more inspiring fare, artisan's work such as crafting trim with wood putty such that you'd never spot the repair. The occasional instances where people refuse to believe that the pristine finished piece before them is the same heap they brought in "keeps you going through the bad times," Tanner says. "The one thing we always say about this business is we may not make a lot of money, but the satisfaction factor is there."

I knew I had found a talented firm upon getting back our front door, but I had been flying blind: My research hadn't extended beyond a quick Google search of local businesses. Noting there are no professional organizations to speak of in his field, Tanner suggests that would-be wood-fix consumers seek out longstanding, preferably larger-footprint shops.

"Little garage operations can hang around for a while because they have low overhead," he says. "But if you don't do this work well, you're generally not going to be around long. With any hands-on work, if you're going through the motions, it shows, and if you love what you do, it shows."

Inspired by Tanner's words, I decided to tackle stripping one of a pair of 1960s Baumritter lounge chairs in the back of the TNT shop, using an over-the-counter stripper, while Brian White did the other. The sweat on my forehead in the pictures alone tells much of the story.

It took me four-and-a-half hours (I skipped lunch); White was done in 20 minutes. But the deep sense of satisfaction I had both in the act and upon seeing the finished product after it had dried overnight means I'll definitely strip again.

Now all I've got to do is refinish the chair ... or maybe bring it back to TNT.

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