DFW Door Refinishing

Arrived on time. Sanded to bare wood. Then did a great finishing job. Door now looks like new.

Great job looks beautiful

arrived as scheduled and did good work and door looks great!

The condition of the door was very worn, we were not sure it could be restored before we called them. DFW Door Refinishing crew did excellent job. The door looks very nice.

I totally regret hiring this young, inexperienced person who sells himself as an artisan or craftsman. He is NOT. I also totally regret trusting him to finish the job properly after the butchering he did the first two times. I also regret tipping him an exorbitant amount after he (actually, the older gentleman he brought) finally refinished it to look good. I tipped him so extravagantly because he came across as a polite, conscientious guy who would keep his word, a guy who was trying to make his way in a skilled craft, and a good guy who made a terrible mistake on my home. I tipped him so much because after he butchered the door, he spent hours upon hours of time trying his hardest to repair it. Those are all good traits, and I told him I appreciated the effort. And I attempted to pay him for some of the extra time he had to spend to recover from his first disastrous mistake. It was a really costly mistake, but he gave me his word that he would stand by me and repair the finish should it not last for a reasonable length of time, seeing as he took the expensive, protective coating completely off the door. Now, at around the 7-month point after he finished the door, when I finally realized that I was definitely seeing what I was seeing on the fading, dulling finish, he will not respond to calls or texts in a timely manner, he will not keep his word when he does get in touch, and he will not set an appointment to see the door or discuss the door. If you have a run of the mill door, Michael may be able to handle it. But if you have an expensive, quality door and desire an expensive, quality finish that looks as upscale as the finish it originally came with AVOID DFW DOOR REFINISHING at all costs. Michael will sell himself as an expert. But I have photos of a really, really bad job that will prove that he is not. Proceed with caution and if you get that bad feeling that he really doesn't know what he's doing, kick him off the job while you still can. He will not keep his word in the future. Though I thought it would be best to rely on him to help me with the refinishing job he did in the past, if I could have a do-over, I would never hire him again. Things didn't go any better on his second visit to make up for the first. And though the older gentleman he brought to my home on the third visit DID successfully refinish it to look beautiful, the finish started dulling in splotches and showing signs of a problem before 7 months was up. The problem was that Michael overestimated his abilities on this project. He presented himself over the phone as a very experienced, very capable door refinisher. He is not. He looks to be about 28 years old, which I did NOT know when I hired him, because I had never met him prior to hiring him. How much door refinishing experience can one have at around 28 years old? Each of the other estimates said that my door was particularly difficult to refinish because of the special "plastic" coating on it. (The plastic coating was maybe a 1/16"-1/8" thick and was purposefully on the door to protect it. I paid a lot extra for that coating.) Each of the others said it would take a very delicate touch. Michael preferred NOT to make an appointment with me to see the door prior to giving me an estimate. He wanted to see it on his own time. Had I seen him and known that he was so young, I probably wouldn't have taken his word for it (via text and phone) that he was so wonderfully experienced and knowledgable in door refinishing. Each of the my other 3 estimates commented on how this door took extra special care because it was "plastic." The door itself is not really "plastic." It's hard to describe. But it had a thick coating of plastic on it, in a wood grain sort of pattern, that was intentionally placed on the door, as an added feature, to protect the finish and the door for years to come. EACH of the other estimates said that they had seen and done a mere handful of doors like this, with this expensive coating, and each had emphasized that whoever does the job must be very, very careful not to take the coating off. It would take great finesse. Because all of the other estimates said that this door is particularly difficult and would take a lot of extra time to refinish correctly I wanted to make a very careful choice, and I wanted, purposefully, to hire the person that had the most experience refinishing a door like mine. Cost was not my priority. Well, because Michael did not want to come out on MY schedule and preferred to come out and look at the door on HIS schedule, I only "met him" over the phone. And he told me, over and over again, that he had seen doors like mine a lot and that it would be no problem at all to refinish it. I asked him repeatedly, and I told him very clearly what the others had each said -- it's plastic, and the plastic coating takes a lot of finesse, and you have to be super careful not to take the coating off while refinishing it. "No. It's not plastic," he said. "It's fiberglass. And yes, I've refinished many doors like this one. It's not going to be a problem." I was verbally, persistently skeptical because I really wanted to make sure that this guy on the other end of the phone knew his stuff. I told him exactly what each of the others had said. But, no. He was certain that he had plenty of experience with a door like mine and that he could refinish it beautifully. Since he was the most confident of the group and claimed to have the most experience with this sort of door, I hired him. What a mistake! The first thing he set about doing, while I was in the backyard gardening, was sanding off the 1/16"-1/8" coating on my door while his buddy took what looked a lot like a CHISEL to the two side panels that were fixed to the house! After all of our discussions and texts about this difficult door, Michael and his buddy took an electric sander and chisel to the finish! I was STUNNED. And panicked, actually. It took them so much time to "remove the finish" (because it wasn't supposed to be removed), that they had to hurry through the "finishing." I was shocked at how amateur and horrid my door looked when they were done! It started out with an orangey-brown, classy, somewhat matte finish that was beautiful. I had asked Michael, on several occasions, if he was sure he could match that color and finish. "No problem," he said. But when he was done that first time, the door was an ugly blackish brown, with a very shiny, VERY amateur finish that looked like my high schooler had done it. He asked for another chance to make it right. My concern was, and is to this day, that he took off the expensive coating! There's no way to fix that. But, he assured me that he could do a better job and fix it. Two of the other previous estimates looked at the door after Michael was done. They told me it was destroyed and there was nothing that could be done to salvage it or to return the finish to the quality or protectiveness that it once had. They were appalled at Michael's amateur job. Michael came out a second time to try to repair it, and it didn't look a whole lot better when he was done. I let him know exactly how he let me down -- by overselling himself (his worst offense, imo), by exaggerating his experience, by insisting that he look at the door on his own time instead of meeting me (I would not have trusted his "words of wisdom" so much had I known he was so young), by instantly and clumsily shaving and chiseling the expensive, thick coating off of my door after all those conversations about how much finesse this door was supposed to take, and then by rapidly finishing it with the ugliest, most amateur, glossy, weird finish I have ever seen on a door because he was now pressed for time due to all the time it took to demolish the manufacurer's coating. Because he kept asking for another chance to refinish it properly, I verified that IF I gave him another chance, and IF he was able to finish the door to my satisfaction, WOULD HE STAND BEHIND THE FINISH FOR A YEARS TO COME, and WOULD HE STAND BY ME AND TAKE CARE OF MY DOOR IN THE NEXT YEAR OR SO IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM??? YES. He said HE WOULD. But, HE DIDN'T. First of all, the fact is, on the third try to repair the problems he created, he brought an older gentleman out to refinish my door -- he didn't do it himself. And so, I already wondered, "If you can't fix this door yourself, without outside help, will I be able to rely on you to fix it if the finish goes bad within a year or two?" But Michael assured me that he would do the right thing and stand by the finish, and that he would know how to properly repair the finish if anything went wrong. Within about 6-7 months, I noticed that the finish was dulling and the brown was looking gray in various splotchy spots. The matte/semi-gloss-like finish was beginning to be VERY matte and grayish in random locations. It was dulling unevenly. On November 27th, I asked Michael to set a time to come out and look at it soon. I requested that he come on a sunny day because that is when the problem is readily visible. It is not as visible in the shade or on a gray day. But it is very visible on a sunny day. I also asked that he come at a time that I am there. It is now January 6th, and he hasn't been able to make it out yet. Not only that, but it has been like pulling teeth to communicate with him. He does not return calls readily. He does not answer texts readily. He makes promises he doesn't keep

The work that was done was very good. I thought for the price it would have included both the front and back of the door, but they only refinished the front of the door.

Very well, started project on schedule. Quality of work is high. Hopefully the finish applied will be durable. Crew was friendly, courteous and neat.

Jacob and Chris did an excellent job on refinishing my oversized mahogany front door. They arrived on time and worked continuously for nine hours. The door now looks beautiful again. Thank you for the great service!

What a super fantastic job Jacob and his team did.. I highly recommend them and their price was fantastic for all the work it took to complete the job.

unknown

unknown

We couldn't be happier with the job Mike did nor recommended him highly enough. We did Mike no favors, as there was multiple layers of paint and primer on a solid wood door that he had to contend with to strip. Mike was patient and pleasant even though it was a tough job that took more than twice the anticipated time of this type of job due to the layers upon layers of paint/primer. The service was performed over two days when the nasty weather after Christmas day 2015 hit and again a few days later, but he nonetheless provided an awesome product when completed that we were thrilled with. We love the look and the finish that he put on the door, and the way he protected the finish. Mike would be an easy recommendation for any door refinish project.

Guys showed up on time, finished the door and brought it back to looking like new. Very professional and courteous. I'm very happy with the price, too.

We just had our front door refinished by DFW Door Refinishing and I couldn't be happier with the job and their process. It was about 1/2 day job, and I can tell that Michael takes a great deal of pride in his work, that's evident by the final product. Michael was always timely, professional and personable. I'd highly recommend DFW Door Refinishing and work with them again.

unknown

unknown

Michael stripped the door and then refinished the door in the color I wanted. It looks very nice and professional

Michael did an excellent job at refinishing my front door! He was very professional, on time, and even had to contend with the rain. He made sure my door was well taken care of, set up tarps and a large work tent due to the weather. He's a meticulous worker and pays close attention to detail. The finished product speaks for itself! Hiring DFW Door Refinishing was well worth it, and a great deal at $350. I will definitely hire him again in the future.

It was a challenge for Mike, as there were multiple layers of paint and primer on a solid wood door. God bless him, as it took at least double the amount of time for a normal refinish, due to the layers upon layers of paint/primer. It was not a nice day out side, but he had a tent that he erected in the road (near the curb) to work in and he provided an awesome product when completed. I could not be happier with the look and the finish that he put on the door, and the way that he protected the finish, by putting up a plastic "curing" barrier for the sure time. He also, put up a protective barrier over the opening while he was re-finishing the door on site. He is a master of his craft and I would recommend him for any door refinish project. He mentioned he also does cabinets and we are planning to have him do ours as soon as were able and he's available. He is also very nice to work with and very patient with the stupid questions we ask...smiling.