Replies

1. 
   riverr1 | Jul 18, 2003 05:03am | #1

   To the specific questions I don't think I can be of much help, but maybe you should consider as part of the repair, and of course the cost of the repair, an evaluation from an antiques dealer or appraiser. Would seem to make sense even to the owner if as you say, "sale is imminent" is true. Do what makes the most money from the sale. If new screws increase the value, use em. (rhetorical example)

   Don

2. 
   forestgirl | Jul 18, 2003 07:18am | #2

   >>>"I believe it to be made of pine and it appears to have been painted originally but more recently stripped...."  Well, if it was a good antique, stripping off original paint impacted the value nearly as much as the structural damage it's suffered, especially if it was old painted pine.  I hope the owner's expectations are somewhere in the realistic range.  This doesn't sound good to me -- my radar system started flashing warning signals when I read the 1st sentence in the 4th paragraph.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   YesMaam27577 | Jul 19, 2003 11:52am | #4

   I agree strongly with ForestGirl. I think that you are walking a treacherous path. The person who inherited the piece is only interested in how it looks, so that it can be sold. (And so it goes with today's society, sadly.)

   For me, some of the relevant questions are:

   Has it already been sold? Is there an identified buyer waiting in the wings? If yes, then what are that person's expectations concerning the repairs/restoration?

   If there is not an identified buyer, then what are the specific expectations of the current owner? Does the current owner understand that you are a woodworker, and not an antique restorer? Does the current owner realize that some of the best woodworkers in the world might actually detract from the value of the piece, in an honest attempt to repair it?

   As a woodworker, my gut always tells me to repair such items "back to new condition". This means that you replace broken pegs with new ones, and that you add fasteners (judiciously) where needed.

   I don't know what my gut would tell me if I was a trained restorer -- but I'm certain it would not involve bright new pegs, and shiny new screws.

   I think that you need to have an on-site (in your shop) discussion with the current owner. "Here's what I will do, if you approve........"

   Vast projects should not be founded on half vast ideas.

1. 
   forestgirl | Jul 19, 2003 07:15pm | #5

   ""Here's what I will do, if you approve........" and "please sign here"forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

2. 
   Kevin | Jul 19, 2003 09:53pm | #6

   Excellent point, FG!

   I'll never forget one particular The Antiques Roadshow episode that I watched several years ago. This old lady had brought a gorgeous, huge, very rare dresser to be appraised. She and her husband had recieved it as a wedding present some 40 years earlier. It was beautiful... and was appraised to be worth the princely sum of $75,000 in it's appraised condition. BUT... it had been stripped and refinished immediately prior to having been given as the gift. Had it NOT been stripped and refinished 40 years earlier, it's current (at the time of the show) value would have been $250,000!!

   A number of years ago I was approached by the owner of the commercial fixture shop I was working at to take a look at a GORGEOUS old antique Oak and Marble china hutch that he and his wife had bought at some estate sale. The top of the lower half was a solid 2" thick slab of marble. He wanted me to give him an estimate on what it would take me to refinish it. After looking it over thoroughly I refused to give him the estimate and instead strongly urged him to get it appraised by a professional. I told him that I would only consider refinishing it after he got it appraised. I never heard back from him about the hutch. I assume that he did get it appraised and, being the savvy business guy that he was, he decided to leave it as-is due to it's value. I had told him that I'd refinish it if that's what he really wanted. But, I wanted him to understand exactly what it was that he was asking me to do before I touched it.

   Regards,

   Kevin

1. 
   forestgirl | Jul 21, 2003 07:58am | #7

   Good instincts and good move, Kevin!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

2. 
   billyg83440 | Jul 21, 2003 06:41pm | #8

   The one episode I saw of antiques roadshow that I felt the worst for the guy. He as a kid had collected a full set of crackerjack (I think) baseball cards. He'd as a kid built a very nice display rack that showed them all off. But, he held them in the rack with a bit of glue on each of the 4 corners of the cards.

   Forget the values now, but very rare, very collectable cards. Because of the glue, they were worth about 5% of what they'd have been if he'd kept them in a cigar box. Poor guy looked crestfallen when told how much he'd destroyed the value of the cards with his display rack.

   Of course, if they'd been in a cigar box, they'd have probably been thrown away decades ago.<G>

1. 
   Kevin | Jul 21, 2003 08:23pm | #9

   Yep... I remember that one too. LOL poor kid...

   Regards,

   Kevin

3. 
   JohnWW | Jul 18, 2003 07:04pm | #3

   I think all of your instincts are on target here.  Only an expert can tell you what the value of the piece is and whether it would be made more or less valuable by the repairs you are discussing.  The piece could be worth far more "as is" than it would be worth repaired, no matter how carefully you do the work.  Try to talk your client into getting some advice before you start the job.

   John W.