Q: One of our grandchildren knocked over a floor lamp recently, breaking the top part of the lampshade. We are trying to find a replacement. The broken piece was a three-inch-high glass ring that tapers from 12½ inches across at the top to eight inches across at the bottom, fitting onto a metal ring with another piece of glass below. The lamp doesn’t show the manufacturer’s name, only this: SKU #82067.
Silver Spring
A: Many styles of replacement glass shades for torchiere lamps are available. But scrolling through numerous online catalogues didn’t turn up anything like what you need. The shades typically taper down to an opening only a few inches wide, not eight inches.
That leaves you with three options: Commission a custom-blown shade. Hire a glass-blowing shop to customize an off-the-shelf replacement shade so it fits your lamp. Or replace the whole lamp.
Advertisement
Two places that sometimes make custom-blown shades are Corradetti Glassblowing Studio in Baltimore (410-243-2010; corradetti.com ) and D.C. Glassworks in Hyattsville (301-927-8271; dcglassworks.com).
“Sometimes” is an important qualifier because people who inquire about commissioning a custom shade often decide not to proceed because of the price, said D.C. Glassworks Executive Director Dave D’Orio, who teaches glass blowing and glass and metal casting. “Generally, it’s just not cost-effective to try and reproduce these parts,” he wrote in an email. Making the replacement involves more than just blowing the glass, he explained. Whoever made the original shade probably blew glass against a mold. But someone making a replacement shade wouldn’t have a mold and would need to experiment to get the thickness, shape and color just right. And after blowing the glass, he or she would need to cut and polish the bottom edge so it fits exactly.
Yet a custom-blown glass shade sometimes does make sense, especially if the shade is very simple and small or if it's for an expensive or treasured lamp, or for an antique. D'Orio didn't give price estimates. Julie Corradetti, who runs the business side of the Baltimore studio where her husband blows glass, said custom-blown shades start there at $200. But for a large shade that needs cutting, as yours would, the cost could run to $500. For a firm quote, a customer would need to email her at studio@
corradetti.com.
Advertisement
The Corradetti studio can also customize ready-made glass shades, but you would need to email her for a price estimate. The online retailer Lampglass (lampglass.nu) has a few shades that might work as a starting piece, including the Faux Alabaster Torchiere Shade for $70 and the Acid Etch White Swirl Torchiere for $85.
Online, new torchiere lamps with iron scrollwork and a reading light start at about the same price. Normande Lighting has one model for sale on Amazon for $52.06. But other torchieres cost hundreds of dollars, so depending on what catches your eye, replacing only the shade might make sense.
An exercise ball was left on our dinner table too long. The plastic in the ball caused the finish on the table to literally melt. The topcoat and the finish underneath are now gone, and I am having difficulty finding someone who can come out to my home and repair the spot. The table is large, so it is difficult to transport. Do you know of a service that does this kind of work at the home?
Advertisement
Two companies that make house calls for furniture repairs are Furniture Medic by Karen in Northern Virginia (703-478-0080; furnituremedicbykaren.
com) and Schoenbauer Furniture Service in Charlotte Hall, Md. (800-955-7603; schoenbauer.com).
However, erasing the bald spot on your table will take more than a touch-up. “This sort of damage requires the entire table to be refinished (stripped, washed, sanded, stained and finished) in order to get a smooth, even result,” Erick Osman of Furniture Medic said in an email. Osman and his brother Mitchell own the company, which used to have a shop but now operates from their vans.
Katie Schoenbauer Morgan at Shoenbauer gave similar advice. “The existing finish would be stripped off, the top would be prepped, stained to original color, and the finish would be sprayed to match the original sheen,” she wrote in an email.
Advertisement
Osman said that they would move the table to a garage or patio for the messiest steps: stripping and sanding. They’d bring it back inside to apply the stain and finish, to ensure proper temperature for the finish to cure. He didn’t estimate a price but said it would depend on the size and whether the wood is veneer or solid and what kind of grain it has.
Schoenbauer has a full-service shop, so the company would fix your table there. The cost would range from $35 to $45 per square foot, depending on the type of finish and the sheen you want. The company would charge extra for pickup and delivery. Furniture Medic by Karen charges $20 to $40 per square foot.
Have a problem in your home? Send questions to localliving@washpost.com . Put "How To" in the subject line, tell us where you live and try to include a photo.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLmqssSsq7KklWS1sLnEaKmeqJyWsKZ5z5qprWWfm3qiecalmKyrXai1orDEZqanZZFiwbC%2BwqGgnqqVYrmiuc9oaWlpZWR%2Bc3uQbmacamebr6OEwmZwnWiWYn5ysZRmmZydZGKEcYTFnmpsnWNnhXmr0q2mq7FencGuuA%3D%3D