Restoring heritage timber structures
Timber structures of castles, churches, manor houses
The timber of a heritage building is not a part to swap out — it is history. I take on restoration by saving the original material — from windows and doors through staircases and parquet floors to the entire interior furnishing, from design to completion.
Why replacement isn't the answer
Whoever is responsible for an old building sooner or later faces the same question: is it worth saving the deteriorating timber structure, or is it simpler to order a new one. After forty-three years, I can tell you: replacement is the most expensive decision, because once something leaves the building, nothing brings it back.
The hundred-year-old window grew slowly, was made from tightly grained wood, by hand, for that exact opening in the wall — today's reproduction can, at best, resemble it. The value of a heritage building lives in the original material.
“My work begins where others would already be ordering the skip.”
What I take on in a building
Windows and doors
Restoring old windows and doors, keeping the wood that can be saved and filling in the missing parts with matched timber.
Wooden staircases
Restoring worn, loosened, incomplete staircase structures.
Parquet floors and other flooring
Saving old flooring, and completing it where needed.
Great gates and verandas
Restoring and protecting the structures most exposed to the weather.
Interior furnishings
Restoring the furnishings of castles, churches and manor houses, and where needed, making new pieces from design to completion.
Wood preservation with my own methods
Restoration is only half the job if the wood keeps deteriorating from within. I have worked in wood preservation for forty-three years, and with my own methods and inventions I have managed to save many heritage buildings and artefacts.
The goal is always the same: that the structure not only looks beautiful on the day it is handed over, but is still standing when it becomes the next generation's responsibility.
The standard my work is held to
I am a Hungarian Heritage Award (Magyar Örökség-díj) and Pro Architectura Award-winning master — what that means, and where the forty-three years come from, I have written about on the Travelling Joiner page.
Request a quote for heritage work
I know a decision like this isn't made overnight — and I won't rush you. Write to me about the building, what is deteriorating and where things stand, attach a few photos, and I will give you an individual quote.