Antique Restoration - Martin Custom Woodworking & Antique Restorations

We restore antiques from any period, in any state of disrepair

and turn them into beautifully finished pieces of furniture that you’ll be proud to display. Your 100 years old heirloom hutch is missing a door? We honor it’s history by using our salvaged antique lumber to build the replacement.

For very old pieces with original finishes, we’ll deep clean the surfaces and French Polish in lieu of refinishing. The technique of French polishing with shellac resin was refined in France during the18th century and was considered the highest quality wood finish for fine furniture and musical instruments such as pianos and guitars.

See how we restored this Empire sideboard (1830) from the The Latimer House Museum--the official home to the local Historical Society since 1963 in downtown Wilmington, NC.

Replacing

One of the scrolls on this capital was broken off and lost forever. We completely rebuilt the structure and carved a replacement scroll.

Rebuilding

The underside of the sideboard top required some new structural pieces that were made to match the old. Wow, look at those large cracks! They will need lots of careful, skillful attention.

Duplicating

A replacement for a broken finial was created on the lathe to match the other existing ones.

Repairing

The damage to the delicate, fine wood veneers was patched, repaired, and re-glued with clamps.

Refinishing

Your entry door is one of the first things guests and neighbors see. Is yours aesthetically appealing or in need of rehydration and refinishing? We completely strip your door, sand it and apply three coats of water based polyurethane, gently sanding between each coat. Ours is a furniture grade finish, very much unlike a factory finish.