French Polishing & Finishing Ltd

A sewing cabinet and the main dining room table were in a sorry state. When both pieces of furniture were returned they had been given a new lease of life. Re-lacquering and liming on the table was top rate and the cleaning and polishing of the cabinet was well done. I would recommend this company of skilled craftsmen highly.

There were areas of my dining table that had lost varnish and colour over the years and this spoiled the overall appearance of a much-loved item of furniture. I sent an email and photograph of the table to the French Polishing Company and asked about the possibility of repairing the damage. Andy contacted me and arranged to come to the house and inspect the table. Following the visit, he provided me with a written estimate, which I accepted. The table has now been returned to me and I am delighted with the quality of the work. The table looks like new. I have no hesitation in recommending this company.

I am a retired university lecturer and have taken up fine woodworking as a hobby. I needed advice on how to French polish properly. Sadly 'Night school" doesn't exist anymore. So what next, my neighbour got me in contact with Andy who offered to give me a short tutorial. He called round to my house to inspect a Repro Georgian Hall table I was working on restoring. He pointed out my mistakes but best of all (the sign of a good teacher) showed me how to correct them, without any criticism of my amateur actions. Andy is a really nice guy and a true craftsman who has worked at this craft all his working life, and was enthusiastic about passing on his wonderful skills. Would I contract him to do work on fine furniture at my home? Yes I would and will recommend him to my friends. I will undoubtable contact him again for further advice.

I contacted Andy about restoring and repairing a Victorian dining table which was badly marked. He visited the house promptly to look at the table and from the outset, I trusted his recommendations of what should be done. He was easy to talk to and ready to answer every question - he obviously knew what he was talking about. In spite of lock down, he kept me informed as to how the work was going and when he delivered the table I was thrilled with the result. I had asked him to remove castors from legs of table which actually made the table too low but he was more than happy to help and will make pads to raise the table. Andy's brand of professionalism, expertise and 'approachability' belongs, sadly, to a past era. As the saying goes: they don't make 'em like that any more. I couldn't recommend him enough - I feel so fortunate that I found him.

I contacted Andrew for job fixing my wooden countertop. He came back to me with a detailed explanation of why in this instance sanding would not be the right solution and potentially cause more damages, which was great advice and allowed us not to waste money on the job. He also offered a potential alternative solution through replacement of the countertop, by putting us in touch with one of his joiners contact.

Andy brought back to life a second hand coffee table for me. Such a good job that I doubt it looked as good as it does now when it was new! He is very reliable and professional - a real old style craftsman and clearly has a passion for what he does. Pleasant to deal with and I would thoroughly recommend him.

We gave The French Polishing Company a call to explain we had a very old desk that we'd like to reuse if possible, a melamine shelf/stand that we use for our speakers and computer screen, and a couple of small pieces of worktop that all go together to house our mixing desk. Andy visited the studio to take a look at the repairs we needed, he quickly understood that sustainability is really important to us and made really helpful suggestions and recommendations. He completely refurbished the desk - it now looks new. He also sourced a piece of old unloved wood and matched it to the desk - to replace the melamine shelf and completely refurbished the small worktops. We are delighted with the results, especially as we thought the items we had might be impossible to repair. Everything was completed on time, his service and standard of work represents excellent value for money.

The French Polishing Company (Andrew Stonebridge) did an excellent job french polishing our handrail and newel post. The colour match was perfect and we were very pleased with the high quality finish. Andrew was also very pleasant to deal with. I would not hesitate to recommend the company.

I had a broken jewellery box given to me which I wanted to get repaired for my daughter. I contacted Andy after seeing some of his jobs he had done previously to see if it was something he could do. I left the box with him and collected a few days later. Andy and Jay did a fantastic job and would never have known it had even been broken. My daughter now has something to cherish for years to come. Thank you so much I can’t recommend you enough!

Andy fixed a bedroom door which had come off its hinges. He arrived as arranged, was very quick and efficient and the door is now repaired, rehung and working fine! As Andy is a singer in the community choir I lead (low bass!), we bartered and he did the work in return for me including a specific song in our forthcoming rehearsals! Andy is a superb craftsman, utterly trustworthy, helpful and considerate. I recommend him highly as an experienced, skilled tradesman and a lovely human being.

I had an armchair frame in bits - unexpectedly! Andrew came to the rescue and did a terrific job of gluing it back together. He gave me the option of having the wood refinished, but also advice on refinishing it myself, which I appreciated. I would recommend Andrew in a heartbeat and will definitely be calling on his services again in future.

Andrew really saved us from a bit of a mess - we live in a rented flat and our cleaner damaged a corner of a large polished wooden kitchen surface with oven cleaner. After contacting several polishing companies, they all gave us huge quotes and would only offer to sand down and repolish the entire surface which was a much bigger job than we wanted. Andrew talked me through the repair process for the surface, and outlined the pro's and con's of the different repair methods. He sent me through a quote for repairing just the damaged corner, and did a fabulous job of it - a barely noticeable difference between the old and new surface. He also spoke with our landlady and explained the process to her. We are hugely grateful to Andrew and would recommend him to anyone!

Highly professional, great workmanship Andy carried out a tricky job renovating some dining room chairs which required stripping, sanding re-polishing and even making some new seat bases to match. Work was done beautifully for competitive price and within quite a time frame. Highly professional and delightful to deal with.

Andy repaired a damaged wooden floor for us, and the result is perfect. We will use his company again.

I found Andy to be helpful, informative, and honest. He set my expectations appropriately, kept me advised of changes to the scope of the job, and delivered in a timely manner. The spray finish is of a high caliber and a lovely colour. I will most certainly give him repeat business.

We have had a dark brown dining table for 20 years that my wife bought second-hand -one of those tables made in the 1940-s (?) by the million with pull-out leaf extensions. My wife had further "improved" it by spraying it one day with oven cleaner instead of Pledge , and despite a wobble creeping in to the table, she now wanted the table restored to something of its original state. Mr Stonebridge took it away , re-glued so no more wobble and repaired and restored the damaged top, looking like new and coated with a hard varnish able to withstand our clumsy family . My wife is very pleased with the table that was returned to us . High quality work, reasonable price and turn-round in an agreed time frame. Recommended.

I have a coffee table, in cherrywood, of a petal design that had had far too many cups of coffee on it over the years. The finish had deteriorated very badly, including many rings. Andy inspected it carefully and warned that not all of the rings may come out, although its appearance would certainly be very much improved with treatment. It was returned within the time Andy allowed and was quite perfectly restored (all the rings did come out!) and he charged exactly what we agreed. I’d have no hesitation in using Andy’s services again.

I am passionate about furniture and various types of wood, so it was a real pleasure meeting Andy, who knows his stuff. Having built an extension on my house, I had extended the original handrail from the first to the second landing. The lower handrail is original Victorian, in African mahogany. The new upper section is Sapele (as African mahogany is now protected). Andy did a beautiful job of restoring the lower section and colouring the upper section, before polishing up to make a soft gloss handrail that is a delight to touch. No mess, prompt timing. Great job all round.

My first experience working with Andrew Stonebridge. Great work and a polite and friendly. I would definitely recommend him and use him again. Very happy with the end result. Thank you

We discovered a tired and damaged parquet floor under an ugly old carpet in our recently acquired Edwardian Home. We called the French Polishing and finishing company in to give advice and a quote and were very impressed by their knowledge and friendliness. The job was done efficiently and well, on schedule, with the minimum of disruption. The floor now gleams with the multiple shades of the wood clearly seen when it had been masked beforehand. Areas of missing tiles were cleverly patched in with reclaimed wood. All in all, a lovely floor. We’re very happy with the work and the overall service, all done at a very fair price.

I had a newly laid wooden floor sanded, stained and lacquered by this company and they did a very good job. We wanted the floor to be a very particular colour as we are doing a renovation of a Victorian house and they were very helpful and patient with colour testing the various options for the stain and the finished floor looks beautiful. They were friendly, clean, efficient and professional and we were very pleased with the results.

Top quality work. Very accommodating. We had a number of items refinished, some of which had very fine veneer. Would certainly use again.