Fire Damaged Built-in Hutch. Need Help!

[Jason Strauss]

I need some advice.

A friend of mine, who’s a remodeling contractor (and not a woodworker), has asked me to determine if I would be able to restore a fire damaged built-in hutch. The fire occurred in a 105 year old home in the town where we both live. While this wasn’t a significant fire, there was significant damage to the interior of the home; most of it smoke related. (Unfortunately, one of the owners was seriously injured by smoke inhalation – apparently overcome while rescuing dogs.) Essentially, this is a gut job for my friend. He’s pulled down everything except the studs and this hutch.

Upon inspection, the lower half and interior of the hutch are in pretty good shape. The upper, glass front, doors and decorative surround sustained most of the damage. I brought one of the doors home to see what I could do with it. The damage appears to be fairly superficial. It looks like the old finish was cooked on the surface of the wood – which I believe is old growth pine (see close-up pic). There does not appear to be any direct fire damage or char. As you might imagine, this wood is quite dry, but does not seem brittle.

Here’s where you all come in…

• Before I put the sander to it or some other mechanical scrapping, does anyone have a recommendation for some sort of wood cleaner or stripper? I thought I would first try some warm water and mild dish soap and get more aggressive from there.
• So as to match the final appearance of the wood, would it be better just to sand everything down to bare wood and re-finish? You’ll note in the close-up pic that there’s some fairly intricate detail on the outer window stop piece.
• Could the wood be too dry to work with without further damage?
• Would it be better to just replace the frame and doors of the upper section and try to match up the finish?
• Overall, where do I begin?

The owner, who grew up in the house, and is now 65, is somewhat attached to the hutch. Basically, this hutch was the only thing that could possible be save from the fire.

I want to do this right, but not waist time trying to salvage unsalvageable wood. Because I don’t do this for a living, my time (to me anyway) is free. I’ll receive $800 for the job less expenses (this was the amount allotted by the insurance company).

Thanks, in advance, for your assistance!

[Terry Teadtke]

First let me say I’m not a professional at restoring furniture but I have restored a lot of old houses. Looking at the picture I think you have a pretty good chance to salvage most of the piece. If were me I would just start sanding and see how deep the damage is. You’re not going to cause more damage than what’s been done with the fire. Don’t worry about getting the piece absolutely perfect, minor imperfections will insure the piece has character as one would expect to find in a house that age. Minor flaws might even be a future conversation topic several years from now; “that was caused from the fire in 2010”. If some parts need to be replaced, I would strongly suggest using reclaimed wood (probably old growth pine in your case, old growth fir out here). Again, I’m not a professional but I have lots of experience with restoring older homes.

By the way, don't try to match the finish, redo the entire thing.

Terry

[Brian Greb]

That sucks... but I think you can bring it back with some elbow grease and some time.

I'd start first by vacuuming the piece... a strong shop vac with the brush attachment, This will remove the loosest charring. Then I"d try a mild cleaner(tsp) in a less visible corner... if you have luck the soot will wash off. Then look at the remaining finish. If its darkened or lifted then strip the piece, You don't want to scape or sand this will push the carbon black in to the wood fibers. After you strip it then you can sand and scrape the entire piece and then refinish. But if the doors are to far gone... you will know after cleaning then use some reclaimed wood and remake the doors.

This is just a ruff idea of what to do... My general approach is to inspect then make logical safe steps.

I have refinished a few fire damaged fine furniture pieces...most with good luck... one or two not so much. Fire damage is character It's also part of the piece's history now so respect it's story and don't make it "new".

[Jack Wilson]

I am with Terry on this one. You have to refinish the entire hutch, and you can't do more damage than the fire did. Ii would start out by sanding the worst of it and see where that takes you. Often I have found that the finish blackens and bubbles,but the wood beneath is quite salvageable if the owner wants to go that direction.

I have been contracted on numerous fire jobs, and this is, more or less what I do for a living. Experiment on your worst section, and start with the least aggressive approach, working your way slowly into chemicals, (often they just create a muddy mess that gets into the grain and pores). You already know that the entire hutch must be sanded/scraped, and re-finished to maintain continuity.

[Clarence Miller]

Hi,

In my hometown there was a movement in the last 15 years or so to save and restore the old train depot. The last time any major reconstruction was done on is was a renovation of the upstairs was decades ago. It is remembered by one of the workers that the project was started on the weekend of Pearl Harbor. But that is just a side note to what I am getting to. At some point some teenagers (alleged) started a fire in the ticket office. When the restoration of the building began, it was assumed that the flooring would be torn up and replaced. This was vetoed (rightly so in my opinion) that the scorch marks are the a part of the history of the building. I would start with a through cleaning. sand and refinish. using the scorch marks to accent the piece. This may sound odd but I was able to get the smoke smell (most of it anyway)out of a dresser that was in an unburned room of a house fire by using dryer sheets I put them in the drawers before finishing for a week or two. It doesn't get all the smell out and for the price it is worth a shot.
Please post updates of this project

[Steven Green]

Take a stiff bristle brush and knock off whatever scale and loose char that you can. Then try some denatured alcohol with some steel wool and see if it breaks the finish. If it does it's shellac and you can take it down that way. If it's varnish you might just as well sand it unless you have the time to use multiple coats of stripper.
I restore historic homes for a living but don't get into much fire damage.
Hope that helps

[Jim Rimmer]

First let me say I’m not a professional at restoring furniture but I have restored a lot of old houses. Looking at the picture I think you have a pretty good chance to salvage most of the piece. If were me I would just start sanding and see how deep the damage is. You’re not going to cause more damage than what’s been done with the fire. Don’t worry about getting the piece absolutely perfect, minor imperfections will insure the piece has character as one would expect to find in a house that age. Minor flaws might even be a future conversation topic several years from now; “that was caused from the fire in 2010”. If some parts need to be replaced, I would strongly suggest using reclaimed wood (probably old growth pine in your case, old growth fir out here). Again, I’m not a professional but I have lots of experience with restoring older homes.

By the way, don't try to match the finish, redo the entire thing.

Terry

+1 on Terry's comments. Several years ago I bought some chairs at an antique store (that they hadn't started on them yet) that were bought at an estate sale from a house that had burned. I bought 4 chairs and used parts to make 2 good chairs. They were scorched and mostly smoked. I used a mild (non-toxic stripper) and sanded and refinished and I am still using the chairs 15* years later.

[Jason Strauss]

Thanks, everyone! This is very helpful and encouraging! Keep it coming!

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Before I retired I was a Restoration contractor. dealing with water and fire restoration. There are a number of products that we used to clean and eliminate smoke odour. Here is a link to UNSMOKE as the name says they specialize in smoke damage. Having dealt with this company for 20 years I'm sure if you contact them they will provide you with expert advice.

Greg



http://www.prorestoreproducts.com/de...ookieSupport=1

[Paul Murphy]

I've read that shellac is used to seal in smoke odors in cases like this.