The task of hiring a company to handle the refinishing,
restoration or refurbishing of the church pew portion of a church renovation
project can be daunting. The companies that do the work come from different
origins and thus the format used to complete the work differs from one to
another. What seemed to be a simple task of finding someone to “do the pews” can
end up being a much more lengthy study. We’re here to help shorten that up.
Nearly everyone who refinishes church pews came to that work
as a tangent or offspring of other trades. Some were furniture refinishing
shops, others are paint contractors and still others evolved from church furniture
manufacturing. We, too, have come to church pew restoration/refinishing from a
background in historic wood preservation. This explains the reason for the
tremendous difference in process from one provider to another. Each has applied
their former or related trade experience to their format for refurbishing
church pews. It makes sense doesn’t it? A furniture restorer treats pews like
he would a chair or desk or dresser. A painter “paints” the pews and sprays finish.
A pew manufacturer divides up the work up into an assembly line and boasts of a
“25 step process”. We apply preservation
motifs and specifications for hand touch areas (stairway handrails etc) that we
wrote for public projects (ie The Ohio State Supreme Court) to church pew
refinishing/restoration. The decision about who to work with for your project
requires you to first learn the differences but to also take into account the
real world aspects of budget and narrow time frames for project execution.
Whew! “What did I get myself into?”
As opposed to describing each process and its’ deficiencies
or merits- it seems easier (and shorter) to describe the best method for church
pew restoration/refinishing and our reasons why.
Church pews are functional seating. Call them long wood chairs.
The wear and tear they get in an active church community is not unlike the
seats on a bus or train. But unlike those spaces the aesthetic matters. Church
pews are not solely functional. They are a contributing element to a church’s
design and liturgy. How they look and feel matters as you worship.
Thus the process for church pew restoration/refinishing not
only needs to result in durability- it also must take into account both the
visual and tactile experience of the liturgical celebration. This is a
sensibility that most pew contractors never consider given their history of
working on mostly commercial or residential spaces. This is why we see heavily
opaque paint-like stains and sprayed on surface finishes that are basically the
same as what is to be removed. They don’t value the visual and the tactile.
Thus you can’t see a resonant, warm, incandescent, aged wood finish that
reflects the history of the worship space and you feel glassy, thick finish
instead of God’s beautiful creation- the wood grain strata. The finish too
should be compatible with the hand rubbed wear it will get over time and be
able to be maintained with a lightly rubbed-on coat as opposed to waiting for
the day when a complete “stripping and refinishing” will once again be needed.
Think about it. How will you attend to scratches in the finish after a
furniture manufacturer has delivered your “like new” existing pews to the
church?
This is an example of pews that were "painted" by a furniture refinisher.
Given the volume and scale of the church pews in relation to the entire church interior- keeping in mind ALL these elements is the best way to insure the outcome of your long and much anticipated church renovation project will be favorable.
And, of course, we’d love to work with you! Email or call us
now. We’d love to hear about what you have in the works!
V Scott Beddome
262-527-8969 cell
