Interior woodwork staining and refinishing
Interior woodwork staining and refinishing in Atlanta
Stained wood trim, doors and paneling are hard to replace once they are painted over. Refinishing keeps the grain, repairs the wear and brings back the color the wood had when it was new.
Calls answered 24/7. Crews staged from the Atlanta service office.
- Natural wood kept
- Color matched
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Quick answer
Interior woodwork refinishing in Atlanta means cleaning decades of grime and wax off stained trim, doors and paneling, repairing scratches and dents, matching the stain where wood is bare, and applying a fresh clear finish. Sound original finishes can often be cleaned and recoated without stripping, which keeps the wood's aged color and costs less than a full strip.
Updated September 2026
The job
Refinish, recoat or strip
Not every piece of stained wood needs stripping. Many original finishes are dirty and dull rather than failed, and cleaning plus a scuff-sand and new clear coat brings them back while keeping the patina.
Where the finish has failed or the wood is damaged, we strip, repair and restain using Minwax, General Finishes or Old Masters stains matched on a hidden spot first, then seal in a durable clear coat.
What moves the price
What moves the price of woodwork refinishing
- Recoat or full strip
Cleaning and recoating costs far less than stripping.
- Amount of woodwork
Linear feet of trim, number of doors and paneled area.
- Damage and repairs
Water stains, dents and missing pieces add work.
- Stain matching
Old wood that has aged unevenly takes more color work.
- Height
Beams and wood ceilings need staging.
- Lead-safe prep
Pre-1978 finishes need containment before sanding.
What we handle
Woodwork we refinish
Stained trim refinishing
Original stained baseboards, casings and crown collect grime, hand oils and old wax, and their clear finish wears through at corners and edges. We clean the trim with a finish-safe cleaner, test whether the existing finish is sound, then either scuff-sand and recoat it or strip the worn sections. Dents and gaps are filled with color-matched wood filler, worn spots are touched in with stain, and a new clear coat ties the whole run together so repaired areas do not stand out from the rest.
Interior wood door refinishing
Stained interior doors take the most handling of any woodwork in the house, and their finish wears around knobs and edges first. Doors are taken down, hardware removed, and the finish cleaned and assessed. Sound finishes are scuffed and recoated; worn or water-damaged ones are stripped, sanded, restained to match the house and sealed. Laying doors flat gives an even finish without runs. Hardware is cleaned before it goes back on, and doors are rehung only after the finish has cured enough not to stick.
Wood paneling and wainscot refinishing
Wood paneling and stained wainscoting in dens, libraries and dining rooms often look darker and duller than they really are because of years of grime and yellowed finish. Cleaning alone can lighten them noticeably. Where the finish has failed, we strip and refinish panels in place with the room protected, matching the stain across boards that have aged differently. If you are deciding between refinishing and painting paneling, we will show you a cleaned and recoated test section first, on a panel out of direct view.
Exposed beams and ceiling wood
Stained beams, tongue-and-groove ceilings and wood soffits are hard to reach and easy to drip on, so they need staging and careful masking below. We clean them, sand where the finish has failed, and restain or recoat to match. Beams with water stains from old roof leaks can often be bleached and blended rather than replaced. Clear finishes for ceilings are chosen to resist yellowing, so a light wood stays light, and the work is planned before any wall painting in the same room.
Your options
Recoat, refinish or paint
Three ways to deal with tired stained woodwork.
| Option | When it fits | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Clean and recoat | Finish dull but intact | Original color and patina kept |
| Strip and refinish | Finish failed or damaged | Bare wood restained and sealed |
| Paint | Wood damaged or style change wanted | Grain hidden; hard to reverse |
Around Atlanta
Original woodwork in older Atlanta homes
Original stained trim survives most often in older houses, and DeKalb's are older than the metro average: homes sold around Decatur and Druid Hills from 2020 to 2024 had a median build year of 1959. Woodwork that has survived that long unpainted is worth keeping, and finishes from before 1978 are tested and handled with lead-safe care before any sanding.
Coatings and materials we work with
Step by step
How a woodwork refinishing job runs
- 1
Test
Finish tested for soundness and color on a hidden spot.
- 2
Protect
Floors, walls and furniture masked off.
- 3
Clean and repair
Grime and wax removed, dents and gaps filled.
- 4
Stain and match
Bare and worn areas stained to blend.
- 5
Clear coat
Fresh finish applied and left to cure.
Questions
Woodwork refinishing questions
Not always. Cleaning and a new clear coat revive many original finishes.
Yes. Stain is tested on a hidden spot and adjusted before it goes on visible wood.
Refinishing keeps the wood; we can show a cleaned test section before you decide.
Often. Many can be bleached and blended rather than replaced.
In pre-1978 homes the finish is tested and sanded with lead-safe methods.
Also in Interior Painting
Related work from the same crews
- Interior House Painting
- Cabinet painting in Atlanta
- Trim, door and baseboard painting in Atlanta
- Ceiling Painting
- Skim coat after removal
Before you book, read our woodwork guide.
Keep the wood, lose the wear
Call any hour and tell us which woodwork you want to keep.
Call (470) 887-8741Answered 24/7 from 565 Tift St SW Ste b, Atlanta.
Where we start from