Did your favourite dining table arrive in Hong Kong with scratches or dents on the side? Or did the springs of your mother's antique sofa finally break?
If the warranty on your furniture has expired, there's no need to throw the piece away, as there are repair shops and freelance repairers in Hong Kong who can help fix the problem.
The first step is to take a picture of the damaged piece of furniture and send it to professionals who will then decide whether it can be repaired.
Most local repair shops focus on fixing solid-wood furniture, as it is much easier to handle than other materials. 'Wooden furniture is easier to work with. For example, it is easier to alter the colours of the piece compared to other furniture materials,' says Clarence Chan, owner of The Birdcage, a Chinese antique-furniture repair shop.
The most common problems are scratches, dents and water marks. Although the damage can be fixed, it comes with a price.
'The repairs could cost clients from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the amount of work that has to be done. Sometimes, the price puts clients off because they might [end up paying] the same amount [as they did buying the] original piece,' Chan says.
However, he says the amount charged may be a small price to pay as a tiny scratch on a table may require the repairer to sand the whole surface down.