Bill’s furniture and fire restoration

Our family's furniture refinisher and restorer, Bill Heller lost his entire business to an electrical fire. He is utterly devastated. Bill told us that he needs to rebuild the structure himself as the insurance will not cover the expense of hiring professionals to do the work. While Bill is rebuilding his business he cannot work to make any income. 

Bill Heller and the firefighters on the night of the fire 
Bill’s work van was parked outside the building and was also consumed by the fire. It was an older model and not covered for loss. 

Charred van and back wall of Bill Heller’s refinishing business in Ambler, Pennsylvania
The photos of Bill’s amazing work were destroyed, including the ones stored on his cell phone (also gone). His daughter told me that there was a particular favorite photo of a restored carousel horse that hung in the shop. 

As his long standing customers, we want to support Bill in any way that we can, just as he has shown us kindness and consideration throughout the years. We decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to help Bill get on his feet and get back to the sole proprietorship that he has been expertly running for over thirty years. 

Won’t you help us help Bill?


A few of us pulled together our own photos of family heirlooms that Bill brought back to life.
As we collected and arranged the photos, the stories followed. We now realize that we all have come to know Bill Heller and consider him a friend, we refer to him as a “magician” with our family heirlooms and DIY finds and we see that he puts his heart and soul into every one of our projects. 

“Bill was referred to me in 1996 when I was in search of a refinisher to assist in evaluating whether my parents’ old dining room set was worth refinishing. While the set did not look like much, with wear and tear, tarnished handles and no real life to the wood, I grew up having holiday family dinners at this table all my life. When I met Bill with one of the drawers he immediately became very excited. He asked me how many pieces I had, he estimated the age, explained to me the history of the piece, the types of woods that were used and how they were used to give the grain a bookend appearance. It was quite the education on a very special and sentimental piece in my life. When the set was finally restored and delivered to my house, I was literally in tears. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the set could be restored to its original glory.”  – Customer Lisa S.
 “I wasn’t the only person that Bill would go out of his way to offer a helping hand or share his wealth of knowledge. I would often joke with him and tell him he should develop and sell tutorial videos for people and without hesitation he would say he is just happy to help someone who has an interest in learning. That’s the type of guy Bill is, always willing to help others, generous with his time and talents. I am blessed to know Bill, he’s truly a talented craftsman and friend.” – Customer Lisa S.
“Bill Heller took my mother's bedroom set that she got for her wedding in 1957 and restored it to a beautiful condition. It has been left in a storage unit and we were almost going to throw it away. He transformed it.” – Customer Lisa T.
“I’ve known Bill for over 20 years and he has restored numerous pieces for me— some big, some small and always with a sensibility for the piece and where it was going.  The red mahogany bedroom set was my Aunt’s.  Shortly before her death she accidentally used hairspray on the entire set after years of applying Pledge, so when I inherited it, it was in poor condition.  Bill worked his magic and softened the contemporary look by framing the mirror and different handles.  It has served my oldest daughter for twenty some years as her bedroom set, and I hope she will someday pass it on to her children.”– Customer Andrea
“I inherited this desk from a great uncle when I was around 12 years old. He was an ordained Methodist minister who founded an undenominational church. He lived in a small manse near the church and the desk was in his bedroom. All his sermons were written at this desk. While I was away studying nursing the desk was given by my mother to another relative. The desk went to a grandfather and then his son, my uncle, traveling from Springfield Delaware County to Philadelphia, Huntingdon Valley, Upper Dublin and Savannah, Georgia. It was returned to me finally when the last owners moved to a senior facility. I was so happy to be reunited with the desk, but it was in need of repairs and refinishing. I had used William Heller’s Furniture Restoration business before and was always pleased with his work. He made the repairs, etc. and the desk is once again in beautiful shape and a piece I treasure. PS, I never gave up the key.”– Customer Donna
"About 15-20 years ago we 'found' Bill who refinished our kitchen table that had survived our children through toddler and school age. We purchased a table at an antique show in a shopping mall while living in Virginia not realizing it would be THE family table all these years.  Bill did an excellent job ...fast forward to last year and again it needed a fresh finish. Bill is not only a craftsman but a teacher as he showed us various stain colors and helped me match up the colors. I also brought in our dining room table that also needed refinishing. Bill of course knew these were not 'valuable' pieces but treated them with care and respect. I am so lucky that all the memories of these two pieces can be kept with care and beauty!  Thank you Bill!" – Customer Susan
“Bill has helped me with many of my furniture projects spanning thirty years. He expertly restores and repairs the antiques to their original state, which then I sometimes finish myself with Bill’s support and guidance. When the pandemic struck I needed a cabinet to contain and transport my audio equipment between my basement studios. Bill was in the process of helping me to transform an old working storage unit with no apparent value in its appearance (left photo) into a contemporary portable media cabinet of ornate tiger oak (center photo). This was a work of art in progress. He was preparing to finish the original drawer fronts and make them dropdowns with handles and specialty hinges at the time of the fire.” – Customer Lois
Some of his vast collection of clamps were used repairing my antique library card cabinet this May.
All of Bill’s extensive inventory of handles and hardware were lost in the fire. Besides clamps, his hand tools, hand held power tools, a bandsaw and drill press are gone and in need of replacement before work can begin again. He estimates that the insurance payments will pay only for the supplies and materials to build back the physical structure of the business but not the labor to build it, the heater to heat it, nor the equipment to run it! A used conversion van itself will costs double that! Even so, we estimate that raising $20,000 with your help will put him well on his way hiring a building contractor in the fall to help him get going again. Please help in any way that you can - any amount is appreciated!