Start by identifying the damage
Most repairs go better when you know what kind of damage you’re dealing with. Damage to wood furniture usually falls into a few groups: cracks and splits, dents, gouges and chips, loose joints, rot, and scratches on the surface. Each one needs a different fix, and using the wrong one can make the piece harder to repair later.
Before you buy any product, look at the piece closely and ask two questions. Is the damage in the finish or in the wood? And is the wood still sound around it?
Finish damage or wood damage
A white or gray mark that seems to sit on the surface is often only in the finish. A colored, raw-looking mark has usually reached the wood. Finish damage can often be treated with finish-level products, while damage to the wood needs filling or gluing. How to repair deep scratches in wood furniture explains how to tell the two apart.
Why wood cracks
Wood moves with changes in humidity. It moves mostly across the grain, and far more across the grain than along it. Furniture can shrink in dry winter air and swell when it’s humid, so keeping indoor humidity moderate, roughly 35 to 55 percent, helps limit the movement.
Cracks often form when a part is held too rigidly to move. A tabletop glued or screwed tight to its frame, or a breadboard end glued onto a top, are common examples. Fixing a crack without addressing what holds the wood in place can lead to a new crack nearby.
Cracks and splits
Splits that close: glue
If a split closes under light clamping pressure and runs along the grain, wood glue can often fix it. A clean, tight joint between two long-grain surfaces can be strong. The steps are to clean the crack, work glue deep into it, clamp it, and wipe away the squeeze-out. The full process is in will wood glue fix split wood.
Gaps: fillers and wood slivers
Glue won’t close a gap, and it needs wood-to-wood contact to hold. When wood is missing or the crack won’t close, the choices are a glued-in sliver of matching wood, which is often the least visible fix on solid wood, or a filler.
Epoxy is the strongest filler option and suits structural or outdoor repairs. One-part wood fillers are easier to use and suit small cracks before finishing, but most shrink a little as they dry. Which filler works best depends on the crack size, whether the crack moves, and whether you plan to stain or paint. What is the best wood crack filler goes through those choices. Oily woods need extra care, as how to repair cracks in teak furniture explains.
Cracks in an existing finish
Cracks in the finish are different from cracks in the wood. Small chips and cracks in a finished surface can be filled with wax fill sticks, which are easy to use, or with harder burn-in sticks, which last longer. Wax is soft, so it suits sides and legs better than a heavily used tabletop. For white rings, worn spots and other finish damage, see how to repair damaged wood finish.
Dents, gouges and chips
A dent is crushed wood fiber, and it can sometimes be raised with moisture and heat. A gouge or chip has lost wood, so it has to be filled. Steaming won’t fix a gouge. How to remove dents from wood furniture covers the dent method, and how to fix a chipped corner on wood furniture covers corners.
Corners need extra strength. Two-part epoxy putty usually holds its shape better than a one-part filler on a corner that gets handled. Before filling a chip, save the broken piece and reglue it if you can.
Loose joints, legs and rot
Chairs, tables and cabinets usually come apart at the joints first. A wobbly chair is often a loose joint rather than a broken part. Taking the joint apart, cleaning off the old glue, and regluing it is the lasting fix. Squeezing glue into a loose joint without cleaning it is usually temporary. For chairs, see how to fix a loose chair rung, and how to restore an old chair for the whole job. For older pieces with wobbly legs, see repairing antique furniture legs.
Rot is different. Wood needs to stay wet to rot, so fixing the source of the moisture comes first. The soft wood has to come out, and then the area can be strengthened and filled. Structural parts such as legs or rails often need splicing or replacing, because a filler alone doesn’t restore strength. See how to repair rotted wood furniture.
Veneer and surface scratches
Veneer is thin, and it’s easy to sand through. On veneered pieces, the least invasive approach is usually best: clean first, then revive, then repair, and refinish only if you have to. Lifting veneer can often be reglued with hide glue, which can be reversed later. Veneer repair on antique furniture and how to restore a veneer furniture surface cover those steps.
Light scratches in the finish can often be softened or hidden. Oil-based household products such as WD-40 only darken a scratch for a short time, and they leave residue. Does WD-40 take scratches out of wood explains why. Black and high-gloss finishes show scratches more clearly, and how to repair scratches on black gloss furniture covers those.
Warped tops
A warped tabletop has a different cause. Warp comes from uneven moisture between the two faces of the board. It’s usually corrected by rebalancing the moisture, not by putting weight on the top overnight. See how to flatten a warped wood tabletop.
Preventing new damage
- Keep indoor humidity moderate and keep furniture away from radiators and damp spaces.
- Let tops move. Use slotted screw holes, wooden buttons or figure-8 fasteners so the top can expand and contract.
- Keep the finish in good condition. A sound finish slows moisture getting into the wood.
- Lift legs off damp floors with glides or feet, and seal exposed end grain.
- Avoid nails and screws through visible faces. They split wood and lower the value of older pieces.
When to call a professional
Some jobs are better left to a furniture restorer. These include antiques where originality affects the value, large structural failures, veneer damage on a valuable piece, and any repair you aren’t confident doing. Refinishing an antique can lower its value, so it’s worth checking before you strip or sand anything. Antique furniture restoration covers what to keep.
Safety
Several products in this work need care. Epoxy and some glues can irritate the skin, so wear nitrile gloves. Polyester fillers release styrene fumes, so work in a ventilated space. Strippers and solvent finishes need ventilation and eye protection. Oil-soaked rags can heat up and catch fire, so lay them flat to dry outdoors or keep them in water in a sealed metal container.