We often get phone calls asking if we do house calls for grandfather clocks. The callers often sound reluctant to ask -- like they fully expect the answer to be "no".  We can understand this. In many fields, house calls are a thing of the past.

Customers are pleasantly surprised when we tell then them that not only will we do house calls on Grandfather clocks, but it's required for grandfather clocks. So, why is this? Let's take a look at the process for having a grandfather clock repaired.

Step 1: We speak with you about your clock:
First, we speak with you on the phone, via email, or in person. Here is our contact information. We try to learn what we can about the clock. Here are the kinds of things We would  like to know about your grandfather clock. Not everyone knows the answer, so don't worry, the information just helps our technician prior to coming out to your home:

• What brand is your Grandfather Clock?
• How old is the Grandfather Clock?
• Is it driven by falling weights? How many?
• Does it play a song (chime)? How many?
• If it plays a chime, does it play it on wire rods or long pipes hanging in the clock?
• What is the grandfather clock doing or not doing?
• Has your grandfather clock been serviced before?

Step 2: First house call to clean the Grandfather clock

We will send out a technician to your home or office to service your Grandfather clock. Typically a good cleaning and re-oiling of a grandfather clock movement will take care of many problems, such as slow or no chiming or the grandfather clock simply won't stay running anymore.

Our technician will set up a small shop right next to your grandfather clock. They will cover your floor with a large soft tarp, set up a table and chair and they will have many tools to perform the work required. They will remove the grandfather clock's movement, clean and re-oil the movement and make any adjustments.

Once a good cleaning and re-oiling is performed, the technician will be able to asses the condition of the Grandfather clocks movement.

Sometimes your grandfather clock may require additional work that would be best if the technician brought the grandfather clocks' movement back to our shop. If your Grandfather clock needs additional work that cannot be performed in your home or office, the technician will discuss the problem with you to let you know exactly what is wrong with the Grandfather clock and what it will take to fix it, and most importantly the exact cost of the repairs to your grandfather clock.

So if you are ready for your Grandfather clock to start working again, or to keep your Grandfather clock running at its peak performance, give us a call or contact us to set up a time for us to come to your home to service your Grandfather clock.

Many of our customers ask us questions about their Grandfather Clocks Moon dial, how it works, what it does and how to read it. Hopefully we will answer all the questions about the moon dial in this posting. 

The first item one needs to know is the numbers on the dial represent the "DAYS OF THE  MOON" and not our calendar days.

When the moon is "new" or there is no moon, the dial will indicate a picture of a house, a ship or some theme the Grandfather Clock manufacturer had in mind as pictured above in this post.

As the moon in the sky progresses, so will the moon on your Grandfather Clock dial.  Every 24 hours the moon gear on your Grandfather Clock will advance one notch, which means the moon gear will advance slightly up the numbered scale, indicating the "day of the moon" or how old the moon is. The way to read the moon phase on your Grandfather clock, is to line the center of the picture (or painting) of the moon with the number on the scale.

​ The picture to the right indicates that the moon is 14 days old, one day from a full moon, which a full moon is 15 days old. 

Our website has an on-going moon calendar for our customers, if you click here, the link will take you to our home page for you to see the current phase of the moon. 

When clocks were first introduced to homes, the phase of the moon was extremely important to our ancestors. By knowing the phase of the moon, one would know the best time for traveling, as well as planting a garden and many other chores throughout the month.

The moon dial on a Grandfather clock also gave the manufacturers of the clocks to add a personal touch to their Grandfather Clocks. Many of the older Grandfather Clocks or English tall case clocks, as many people called them, had a painting on the dial along side of the moons (each dial has 2 moons to keep the calendar accurate). The paintings often indicated something personal to the artist, clock maker or the customer that was having the Grandfather clock made for their home. We have seen several older Grandfather clocks moon dial have a painting of the actual home that the Grandfather Clock manufacturer made for their customers. 

This was not done often, however several Grandfather Clock manufacturers would provide the artist for the customer and let them choose the painting of the moon dial. We serviced one English tall case clock that had 3 homescapes on the actual face and moon dial. The first home on the moon dial was the original homestead the Grandfather clock was made for.  The other 2 paintings of homes were paintings of the homes that the Grandfather Clock was passed down to as time went by.  

 Sligh Grandfather Clocks were one of the finest clock companies around in their time. One of our customers has us service her Sligh Grandfather Clock every year. Although this Sligh Grandfather clock is no longer made, due to the quality of this Grandfather clock and the fact that the customer has this Grandfather clock serviced on a regular schedule, their grandchildren will inherit this beautiful clock with many years of life left in it.

We have put some information together about the Sligh Clock Company. This is just an outline on the company. 

The Charles R. Sligh Co. was started by Charles R. Sligh Jr. and O.W. Lowry, both former executives of the huge Sligh Furniture Co., which closed in 1933. Charles R. Sligh’s experience as a traveling salesman and treasurer with that company complemented Lowry’s knowledge of engineering and production efficiency. Their new company was opened in the former Thompson Manufacturing plant in Holland, Michigan with only 45 employees, in a deliberate attempt to operate a smaller, leaner company than their 1,500-employee predecessor. Charles R. Sligh Jr. served as president of the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers Association in the 1940s, and the Grand Rapids Furniture Makers Guild and the National Association of Manufacturers in the 1950s.

The Sligh Company was founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1880 as a bedroom furniture manufacturer," said chairman Rob Sligh.  Desks became the company’s principal line of products in the 1930s with the company’s move to Holland Michigan. Bedroom furniture was phased out altogether by 1957. When colleges built dormitories for the baby-boomers in the 1960s, dormitory student room furniture became a main line for the company. The Sligh Company  purchased the Trend Clock Company in 1968. As dormitory student room furniture demand faded in the 1970s, clocks grew rapidly, taking up the slack. Home office furniture has been a company growth engine since the early 1990s. Sligh entered the home entertainment furniture business in 2002."

"Grandfather clocks are not the growth market they once were and the economics are not there for us to continue in that business beyond the end of 2005," said Sligh. "Only about 15% of our furniture is made in Holland Michigan. So when we stop producing clocks, we’ll also stop producing furniture in Holland. After 2005, our focus will be on home office, home entertainment furniture and other growing home furniture categories."
125 years ago, wood home furniture production shifted from the eastern United States to the Grand Rapids area. The attraction was lower labor rates, abundant timber and access to the burgeoning west," said Sligh. "By the 1920s, depleted timberlands and rising labor rates in the Grand Rapids area encouraged a shift south to North Carolina and Virginia. A handful of companies, including Sligh, stayed in West Michigan and became known for furniture of the highest quality."

"Wood home furniture is labor intensive," Sligh continued. "That’s why wood home furniture production has always gravitated to lower labor rate regions. In recent years, wood home furniture shifted from manufacturing in the southern United States to manufacturing in countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, Vietnam and Brazil. Today, most wood home furniture sold in the U.S. is made outside of the U.S."

​These changes are difficult for all of us at Sligh since they’re impacting us at a personal level. We’ve worked together for many years and when we stop some of our operations, it means some of us aren’t going to work together anymore. It’s very difficult to say to some of the really wonderful people who have been part of Sligh that there are no longer jobs available for them, despite trying for the last few years to find a way to keep all Sligh employees working. It’s been tough," Sligh admitted. "All of us have a lot of pride in the high quality of clocks and furniture we’re producing in Holland. We’re determined to make the products we produce this year our best quality ever."

Grandfather Clocks at 30-50% off any Howard Miller's retail price. We are an authorized Howard Miller Clock Sales and Service Center. We offer our Grandfather clocks at a reduced rate. Our online store is located at www.howardmilleratlanta.com

Our brick and mortar store is located at 2745 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 110, Marietta, GA  30066. We stock several Grandfather clocks for you to compare sizes, shapes and features that Howard Miller offers on their Grandfather clocks. We also stock many Howard Miller wall, mantle and specialty clocks.

We understand that there are few places that have Grandfather clocks on their floor to show their customers the different features. We usually have several Grandfather clocks on special in our store and we can offer even better prices in our store. We would love for you to come by if you are in the Marietta area to check out all of the beautiful Grandfather clocks we have available. If you cannot come by, email us or call us to discuss any grandfather clocks we have on sale ready to ship free. Every Howard Miller Grandfather Clock we offer, includes free shipping and we will pay the taxes for you. We can ship any new Grandfather clock we offer to you in the continental United States.

One of the biggest problems we have after a clock has been repaired is the time of the clock needs to be regulated once it has been brought back home. We posted this guide to help regulate your clock or grandfather clock with a pendulum. If the pendulum bob is lowered the clock will run slower and if you raise the pendulum bob the clock will run faster. A slight turn about a 1/4 of a turn will gain or reduce the clocks speed by about 1 minute.