What goes to the bench: the joint that has to come apart to be squared.
Where the work happens
Some companies take every pew out of the building. Some never leave it. The right answer is a mix, and it is decided by the wood, not by the company's van.
Refresh and refinish work is done in the sanctuary, half the room at a time, with the pews still anchored. Only heavy structural repair, parts that need milling, and doors go to the bench.
The room never closes. Most churches never see an empty floor.
On-site work is only acceptable if the room is protected. Floors and carpet are sheeted, the organ and instruments are covered, and sanding is done with extraction at the tool rather than a shop vac afterward. Finishes are waterborne conversion varnish at roughly 250 g/L VOC — against 500 or more for solvent lacquer — so the room is usable the next day and the smell is gone by Sunday.
If a company proposes solvent lacquer sprayed inside your sanctuary, ask about the organ, the carpet, and the fire marshal. Then ask again.
Because moving pews is where they get damaged. An anchored pew that has not moved in sixty years does not want to be carried down a flight of steps into a truck. Every move is a risk to the joinery, the floor, and the volunteer holding the other end. Shop refinishing also means weeks with an empty room and a floor full of anchor holes. For the small share of work that has to leave, we move it ourselves, and we tell you before it goes.
Half the sanctuary is worked at a time. The other half is seated, clean and in use. A section starts Monday and is service-ready Friday. If a funeral lands mid-week, we clear the room and pick up after. Every section is ready by 6 a.m. Sunday or that week's labor is free — that is in the contract.
Questions we get asked
A faint one the day of, gone within a day or two. Waterborne finishes at roughly 250 g/L VOC are a fraction of solvent lacquer. Nobody has yet had to cancel a service for it.
Sheeted and covered before any work starts, and sanding is done with extraction at the tool. We photograph the protection before we begin and again when we are done.
Standard outlets and a utility sink. No compressor noise, no spray booth. If your building has neither near the sanctuary, tell us and we bring what we need.
Please do. We refinish one section while you watch as part of the free condition report, so you know what you are getting before you sign anything.
Part of the free condition report is one section refinished in your room, while you watch.
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