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After my mother died about 9 years ago, I inherited a beautiful solid maple breakfast table on which we ate nearly every family meal for 50 years, so it has high sentimental value. I took the table and chairs to what I was told was the best furniture refinishing company in the city, and they did a beautiful job of refinishing it.

Now, however, that company has gone out of business, and I’m having problems with the joints coming unglued. A friend told me the company must have “dipped” the furniture in a stripping compound that not only removed the old finish, but also weakened all the glue joints.

Now that I’m retired, I’ve been thinking of trying to split apart the joints, strip the finish from the various parts, reglue, and refinish. Has anyone out there encountered this same problem, and do you have any advice?

I’ve had very little experience in furniture refinishing. Is this something I could do myself, or should I find a professional furniture refinisher and pay a second time for it to be done right?

James Newton