My bad experience with Bill from Fine Circular Stairs

In August, I got a reasonable quote to restore my parlor floor stairs from Bill of Fine Circular Stairs after researching on this site for recommendations. I checked out some of his work and my husband went by his shop. He came, took measurements and reassured us that the stairs will look good as new and that we would not be able to hear a peep from them…. All I have to say is that his work at my home was unprofessional. We asked for the stringer to be painted white, he came in and just primed it and painted over the existing stain (when in the contract he stated he would sand it first — it ended up turning pink, I assume the stain when through the paint). Also he just replaced the risers and treads with cheap wood materials (very thin) and did not attempt to route the stairs. The stairs were still slanted and uneven. Also instead of restoring my post, he just put some sort of putty material on it in which covered the wood details. Bill is a kind man, he and his crew are very nice, BUT their quality of work is not up to par. **I would NOT recommend him to anyone**. We ended up hiring another company recommnded on here and they did a find job. If anyone would like to see pictures of what BIll did to my stairs, please email me.

dallas2brooklyngal

in Brownstoner Renovation 13 years and 10 months ago

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lovebedstuy | 13 years and 8 months ago

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I must agree with Dallas. I, also, had a bad experience with Bill. I agree that he is a generally nice man, however, he has a niceness that is edged with a bit of arrogance. Instead of truly listening to what I wanted and making an effort to complete that for me, he proceeded to do what he wanted to do with my staircase. So I ended up with a stain of a very different color than I wanted. I had to call in other contractors to repair the work that he did, I am sorry to say I could never recommend Bill to anyone else.

anonCH | 13 years and 10 months ago

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Yes we too used Bill and had a great experience. He is overworked and its hard to catch him. Sorry it didnt work for you.

rh | 13 years and 10 months ago

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Wow. I’m one of the people who recommend him here. The job he did for me about 6 years ago was the complete opposite of what you describe. They not only busted it out, but it looks great and has held up well. I should add that I did only have them do the carpentry, no painting or staining. About a year or two ago, we called Bill for a smaller job. He came over for an estimate and never got that quote to us. I’m thinking that he has too much business from all of his Brownstoner referrals and didn’t have time for us. And I think I was the one who started it all here on the forum. 🙁