El Sereno Furniture Restoration Shop Open Sundays: Dan's

Dan the Furniture Repair Man works from a shop at 5277 Alhambra Avenue in El Sereno, on Los Angeles' east side, close to the city line with Alhambra. It is an owner-operated furniture restoration shop that handles everything from a split dining chair leg to a heirloom secretary with lifted veneer, and it does something few repair shops in the city do: it opens on Sunday afternoons.

The shop's homepage describes the business as an owner-operated venture drawing on more than forty years of hands-on experience. Dan does not publish a surname or a founding date, but the project write-ups on the site show a family workshop in action, with Dan's son Arthur working alongside him on repairs. The tone of the site matches the work: plain descriptions of what was broken and how it was fixed, with before-and-after photos of chairs, tables, cabinets and antiques.

The shop combines a full workshop for larger jobs with a mobile service. A sofa with a broken frame or a dresser that needs drawers rebuilt comes into the shop, while scratches on a built-in cabinet, a gouged door or a nicked table leg can be handled where they are.

The service list covers furniture repairs, wood refinishing, upholstery repairs, antique repairs, modern furniture repairs, mobile wood touch-up service and cabinet repair and refinishing. The site also mentions work on glass, leather and mirrors as well as wood, which makes it a practical single stop when a piece has more than one problem, such as a china cabinet with a cracked glass door and a loose crown molding.

The Latest Projects page reads like a tour of Southern California living rooms. One job was an antique mahogany buffet from around 1850. Another was a mid-century modern desk with a Hollywood Regency flair whose burl wood veneer had faded, scratched and worn through its finish. Arthur restored an antique burlwood secretary by gluing back many broken pieces, fixing damaged veneer, filling cracks and voids and re-varnishing it, and a family heirloom chair went home with new fabric and a flat walnut color.

Other entries include three old dressers stripped of their varnish and color so each could take its own finish, an antique quarter-sawn oak table restored as a housewarming gift from a parent to a son, and an antique sewing machine cabinet. The pattern is clear: family pieces with sentimental value, brought back to daily use rather than museum condition.

The site's Wood Tips blog answers the questions people tend to ask on the first call. Recent posts cover whether water rings, heat marks and cloudy finishes can be restored, how long professional refinishing takes, seven signs a piece is worth repairing rather than replacing, upholstery repair versus full reupholstery, and why veneer bubbles, peels and chips at the edges. Reading the relevant post first helps you describe the damage and know whether to ask for a touch-up or a full strip and refinish.

The Los Angeles shop's posted hours are Monday to Friday 10 to 5 and Sunday 12 to 5, with Saturday by appointment. Sunday afternoon is the standout: it is one of the few times a working household can carry a chair into a furniture restoration shop without taking time off. A clear photo of the whole piece and a close-up of the damage will get you the most useful first answer.

If you are bringing a large piece, ask whether the shop or the mobile service is the better fit. Moving a heavy armoire twice is expensive and risky, and many surface repairs can be finished on site in an hour or two.

A few questions make the conversation more useful. Ask whether the original finish can be kept, since cleaning and repairing a finish preserves more of a piece's character than stripping it. For chairs, ask whether the joints will be fully taken apart and reglued or only injected with glue, because a full regluing lasts longer. For upholstered pieces, ask whether the repair covers the frame underneath as well as the fabric. And for antiques, mention any family history, which helps the shop decide how carefully to match old color and wear.

El Sereno is a hillside neighborhood of bungalows and small commercial strips, and the shop is close to two local landmarks. El Aguila Bakery on Huntington Drive is a long-standing neighborhood panadería, and a bag of pan dulce is a good reward after dropping off a chair. Cal State LA sits a short drive south, with its own Metrolink and Silver Line station, and its Luckman Fine Arts Complex hosts performances and gallery shows open to the public.

Address: 5277 Alhambra Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90032, in El Sereno. Hours: Monday to Friday 10 to 5, Sunday 12 to 5, Saturday by appointment. Requests can also be made through the online form on the website, and photos help with the first assessment.

Services: furniture and antique repairs, wood refinishing, upholstery repairs, modern furniture repairs, cabinet repair and refinishing, and a mobile wood touch-up service, with glass, leather and mirror work also listed. Ask the Karpo APP for a taquería in El Sereno or a coffee bar in nearby Alhambra while your piece is in the shop.