Being that it’s old, doesn’t mean that you’ve got gold. This is a tough part of an assessment, but it’s the most important part. It is as much up to the seller as it is the buyer to understand quality craftsmanship. But I would easily give it a 6 out of 10 from the looks of the pictures. I really can’t give it too much of an assessment seeing how I can’t touch it.

The piece in this blog is in pretty fair condition, and, as far as I can tell, looks to be fairly well crafted. However, all of these factors impact pricing of a vintage redwood table. There are a million things that separate the “ok” from the “great” pieces of functional art that sustain value over time. If the sanding quality is bad the top may have been warped in travel. If the table legs or base are loose if the slab is a missed cut (Meaning cut 3″ on one side and 5″ on the other). Any way you choose to look at it, craftsmanship is key. Maybe it was purchased from a less than reputable dealer, and the quality doesn’t meet the price. Often, the table has been built by a friend or family member or has been passed down from several generations and lands in an unsuspecting family member’s hands. Pricing a Vintage Redwood Burl Table & Craftsmanship The piece pictured here has some real nice burl in it. This was even true in the 70s and 80s but is more so in today’s market. Limited to pretty much the North Coast of California, Redwood burl can be very hard to get. The more of this figure, the better the quality of the burl. They also blur into 3D-like patterns around the wood. When a piece has a great burl, the patterns look like bird’s eyes. This means the grain varies widely in pattern and character. This is necessary to know when you attempt pricing a vintage redwood table. It is true that it may have a live edge, may have some really nice color, and may even have some great patterns, but it isn’t a burl. Many times a simple piece of root wood is sold off as burl. This may sound crazy, but not all pieces that are sold as burl are actually burl. If it has finish drips (little bumps around the edge of the table), or you can visually see where finish drips had been sanded off, then you have Envirotex. Another way to tell right off is to flip the table over on its top. Here is a general rule of thumb: if the finish is thick and super glossy, it’s Envirotex. The table in the pictures for this blog has a lacquered finish applied to it – at least by what I can tell from the pictures and the information I received on the table.

So hopefully your table has been finished with a lacquer or oil finish. Especially if you want to get the highest dollar. This makes for a need to refinish the table. If nothing else, the finish will have started to yellow or fade. Also, there are always going to be scuff marks and dings in the finish on an old vintage table. Envirotex is very difficult to remove.įurthermore, if your table had a live edge before, you can expect it to have a shaped edge once it’s re-finished. It’s just too many hours of work to get that stuff off, and I feel bad charging the customer for so many hours. When I see these pieces come into our shop, I try my best not to refinish them. If your table has this on it, the cost of refinishing the table is very high. It is even said that Sears & Roebuck in the San Fransisco Bay Area carried redwood burl clocks.ĭuring the 70s and 80s boom, one of the most commonly used finishes was a two-part epoxy resin called Envirotex, which is basically plastic. Redwood burl was at the very top of the wave of primitive design in America. For those of us in the industry that era was from about 1976 to 1989. What condition is the table in? Most vintage tables were produced in an era of a huge boom for live edge and primitive natural furniture. Condition Is Key When Pricing a Vintage Redwood Table Hopefully, this helps you in determining the value of your vintage Redwood burl table. That said, when I try pricing a vintage redwood table I ask a few questions. They are a great example of what would have been considered when it was built (and today if re-finished), a high-quality redwood burl table. The pictures in this blog were sent to us via our website. Because of this, we feel it might be beneficial to our readers to devote an entire blog post entirely to this question. We receive a lot of questions about pricing a vintage redwood burl table. Guest Post by Adam Dias Pricing a Vintage Redwood Burl Table

Burl coffee tables