Brownstone Door Restoration

Hi, I’ve gotten two quotes on refinishing my brownstone doors and interior vestibule. Before I go forward, I’d like to see if anyone had any feedback on Woodzone or Brownstone Wood Restoration. Or, do you have someone else to recommend? Open to all input welcome.
Thank you, Emily

ebp

in Doors & Windows 8 years ago

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brokelin | 8 years ago

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Did our brownstone doors so long ago I can’t remember who did them. But I have two things to point out for you to look out for. One is that I specified the shade of stain we wanted, but they came out much orangier than that. (One of my fellow board members pointed out that all the work in the neighborhood done by this person was orangey, so perhaps that is what you get when you hire him. I think this is bad customer service, if that is the case.) If that is not OK with you, make sure you demand to see some samples of stain color applied to your wood before proceeding with the staining.

The other issue was that they didn’t properly cover the marble walls in the vestibule before spraying whatever finish coat they sprayed on the doors, which resulted in damage to our marble panel walls. Again, to prevent this, you must be sure they understand that they protect all the wall, floor and ceiling materials before spraying ANYTHING in your home. To make this actua lly happen, you need to be there before they start spraying – that is, don’t trust them to have common sense even if you ask them to protect your walls, floors, etc.

ebp | 8 years ago

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I have the unusual luck of having a vestibule that is all wood. Most people might have wainscoting on the bottom and then plaster walls and ceilings but mine it a whole wood box and it is in terrible shape with 150 years of varnish and paint layers. That is actually the hardest part. I know because I tried to strip them myself one time and gave up after three days. Such hard work! And the doors on the outside need a lot of work too. The average bid is $10k but Vinny’s came in at $15. Granted, I think he would have done more replacement molding than Joe plans to do. I’m curious what replacing everything with new “vintage-look” doors comes to? Anyway, we are committed to restoring at this point and will plunge ahead.

anotherposter | 8 years ago

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That does sound high, so maybe he is overbooked. I think our total for rebuilding the two exterior doors and minor work in inside was less than $6K.

ebp | 8 years ago

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Thank you both for the feedback! Vinny quoted me $6k more than Joe – an extraordinary difference. I got the sense Vinny was a true perfectionist and I’m always nervous about the lowest bid but I read other positive reviews of Joe too so I think I will go with him. I wonder if sometimes a high bid means someone doesn’t want to do the job . .
Anyway, thanks so much for the feedback!

housepoor | 8 years ago

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I used Joe Salem at Woodzone for a restoration job earlier in the year, based on recommendations I saw in this forum. I could not have been happier. Great work, fair prices, extraordinary communications. He is a real pro and, like so many others on Brownstoner, give him very high marks.

anotherposter | 8 years ago

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BWR was recommended by neighbors and did ours, which had to half way be rebuilt and did beautiful, if not pricey, work.

I heard he might have passed the business on to one of his guys, but I’m pretty sure Vinny (the owner when we used them) didn’t do the work anyway and that it was his guys, whom he had trained well. Ours were pretty bad so they actually removed the exterior doors for a day or two to work on them in their shop.