Romani Restoration

Wood Restoration Pasadena CA

​Wood Restoration in Pasadena: Our Home Base

Pasadena is where we’re based, and it shapes how we work more than any other city we serve. Wood restoration in Pasadena mostly means Craftsman houses: paint over fir, oak darkened by a century of varnish, and built-ins nobody has touched since the twenties. Our founder started refinishing antique furniture in San Francisco in 1986, studied traditional stain mixing and French polish in Florence in 2000, then settled in Pasadena and has spent the years since working in the houses this city is known for.

The houses

Greene and Greene’s work, especially the Gamble House, set the standard for how wood gets treated in a Craftsman interior: joinery shown instead of hidden, every surface finished by hand. Most of the Craftsman houses we see are more modest than that. They’re bungalows in neighborhoods like Bungalow Heaven, but they borrowed the same ideas: exposed beams, built-in cabinetry, paneled walls, and doors with real thickness. Alongside those, you get Spanish Revival houses with heavy plank doors, and mid-century homes where the paneling is the best thing about the place. What nearly all of them have in common is that someone has already been at the wood. A coat of paint in the sixties, a bad stain job in the eighties, a replacement door that doesn’t match. Undoing that without damaging what’s underneath is most of what we do here.

The award

Doors are the most common call: wood door refinishing, including sun-damaged front doors and exterior doors that take the western sun all afternoon. Next are wood floor refinishing, kitchen cabinet refinishing, and full Craftsman home restoration, where we do the paneling, trim, and built-ins together so the stain matches from room to room. We also restore furniture, which is how we started the business.

Around Pasadena

Much of our work is a short drive from here: South Pasadena, Altadena, San Marino, and Arcadia, all gathered on our Pasadena and beyond page. We also work in Glendale and across the rest of Los Angeles and Orange County.

Pasadena questions

Do you restore Craftsman homes in Pasadena?

Yes. It’s most of our work here. That includes paneling, built-ins, beams, trim, doors, and floors, with repairs in matching wood and stain to match the original.

Interior refinishing usually doesn’t. Exterior changes on a landmark home or inside a historic district can require approval, especially a change of color. Check with the city before changing anything exterior, and we’ll share what we’ve learned from past jobs.

Yes, with the right method for the wood and the paint. Older paint can contain lead, so we cover and contain the work area and take stripping in older homes seriously.

Call (626) 372-7079 or use the contact page. Estimates are free.

We’re open Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 5:30, and Saturday, 8:00 to 2:00. Call (626) 372-7079 or send us your project details.

Free Estimates Always

Ready to Bring Your Wood Back to Life?

Tell Marco about your project — doors, floors, cabinets or an entire Craftsman home. Estimates are always free and honest.