Furniture repair

From my point of view, to make your furniture repaired you must do the following things.

Never repair your own furniture unless you are absolutely certain you are performing the right procedure. Many "homespun" repairs do more harm than good. One of the most common homespun repairs is on wobbling chairs. The amateur handyperson turns the chair upside down, squirts some glue into the hole, lets it dry and assumes the problem is solved. Sometimes, the person will hammer a nail into the area making matters worse. By this time the correct repairs will be even more expensive because the glue and the nail must be removed without further damaging the wood.

Insist that your furniture repairs are not only strong and look good, but that they are also repairable in the future. Choose a finish that not only looks and wears well but that is repairable and refinishable. Choose a repair that recognizes that next time it might break on the next layer of wood fibers.

Know how you want to use the piece before you restore it. There is a difference in restoring an item for everyday use and restoring primarily for decorative appearance. It is one thing to simply refinish an item, but is another to restore it or make it match another item.