Rene's Refinishing

The color is beautiful. I really liked him. But, there were a couple of things that happened after he finished, that I didn't notice, that I had to fix. I don't know if he would be considered to be blamed because it was one of his workers. But, he did a really great job staining some cupboards in the kitchen. Right after a construction company remodeled my kitchen and laundry room they picked up the ceiling and stuff. Whoever it was, ripped off some of my brand new paint. It was kind of stupid of me or naive of me, but I didn't call him back to say, "Hey, this is what I discovered." I, in fact, tried to fix it on my own. It doesn't look too bad for an amateur who looked it up on the internet. But, if you looked closely at it, you could tell it was my first try at plastering, sanding, priming and touching up the paint. He left really happy because he knew I was really happy and I don't want to disappoint him. The guy is really nice. It's just that he has a couple of assistants. I don't want people to think he is terrible. They were usually here when they said they were going to be. I would use them again. But this time, I would bring things up right then and there if I noticed something instead of waiting. So, it would give them a chance to rectify it faster and more efficiently.

Did a great job, but was pricey and difficult to schedule.

Rene was really great - he was very flexible with his schedule and offered pick up and delivery, which was very helpful. Seven years ago, I bought a beautiful dining room table made of red cherry wood from Ethan Allen with a similar style coffee table. We scratched it up quite a bit and it had damage from heat, nail polish remover, etc. It was looking pretty beat up. I am moving and I considered getting a new table from Restoration Hardware as I had fallen in love with the farmhouse style look, but this is super expensive. Rene understood my vision and was able to chemically strip and treat the table and transform it entirely into a lighter gray wash. He brought me color samples to show me what the finished product would look like and it turned out amazing.

unknown

unknown

.

Rene came out to do the work,  as well as bidding on it.  This was a large job requiring some of the oak cabinets to be refinished,  others touched-up,  and some only cleaned and waxed. When he was finished the uniformity and quality of the work made them look like new.   Also the large chopping block was sanded down and oiled.  The work looks beautiful,  was done on time and at the bid price.  Definitly will have Rene do more work for us.

I would recommend Rene and would definitely use him again.  The kitchen and front doors ended up looking great.  Hinges were replaced where necessary, cabinets adjusted, and everything was left cleaned up.  They even rehung plates and decorative objects on the walls when they were through.
Rene and his two assistants (Juan and Javier) were quiet, pleasant, and hard-working.  The entire project was handled in a thoroughly professional manner.
If there were an A plus rating, I would give it.

I called and left a message and never heard back.

From the time we met Rene until he came back to visit and complete a tiny touch up he has been a dream to work with.
After interviewing four or five other Angie's List companies, we knew when we met Rene, he is someone we would like to work with.  His crew is just as nice as he is.  They are professional and personable. Each day the work area was left as clean as possible.
We decided since we were refinishing our cabinets we would add a wine cooler and buy a larger side by side with custom panels.  Rene brought in someone to cut and fit the custom refrigerator panels and Rene finished them to perfection.
If there was a decision to be made, we discussed it.  With the work done and the checks paid, I had a question for Rene about touching up a small area on a cabinet door edge.  Within days Rene was here and the touch up was done.
We would recommend him highly.  It is our hope to have him refinish our bathroom cabinets soon.  It will be a pleasure to work with him again.

René did the work himself, with 1-2 assistants, at our house in the carport, so we could see the whole process. Every day they left the kitchen and carport neat and clean. They finished on schedule, 2 weeks (Monday-Friday).
The cabinets are beautiful! I definitely recommend René with an "A".

Rene is a true craftsman. He is always on time and does very fine work.  He also always come by to pick up the chairs, which is so convenient. Rene has done other furniture repair jobs for us in the past. He is friendly, knowledgeable, and professional.

As always, Rene did a superb job. He is a master craftsman and a consummate professional, whose work is always special and artisanal in quality. He is an expert in techniques such as French bleed and antiquing, to give pieces more character. He has wonderful ideas, and gets a lot of credit for the lovely appearance of our home. Visitors always comment on the beautiful woodwork and I am quick to credit Rene's handiwork. I have referred him to many people. He is a delightful, friendly and polite person and a consummate professional. He always returns calls promptly, shows up on time and finishes on time. On this latest project, he was so determined to finish everything by the time we returned from a trip, that he and his assistant worked through the weekend to get it done. I am sure he is not the least expensive refinisher around, but I believe he is the best, and is certainly worth what he charges.

Rene did a fantastic job refinishing the cabinets to a nice cherry wood color.  Even though the wood is oak he was able to change the color to look like cherry wood.  He was patient and provided me several samples to compare with.  He also did a very good job keeping the area clean.  Rene is very nice and easy to communicate with.

Rene performed an outstanding job in refurbishing our kitchen cabinets. He met with us briefly to review the scope of the work, and provided a concise and reasonable quote. Our cabinets had not been touched in over 20 years, so they were in dire need of upgrading. Fortunately, the quality of the original construction and the wood allowed Rene and his team to bring back the cabinets to "like new" condition.  His approach is professional and quality oriented. The process included removing all cabinet facings (doors and drawer fronts);  cleaning, bleaching, sanding, and finishing the facings outside on a temporary "shop" set up on our patio; inside, all non wood areas were covered and protected, and the cabinet frames were cleaned, sanded, finished. The natural oak color was consistently matched on all exposed wood. The work area was cleaned each day, and there was little disruption. Rene is meticulous and focused on doing the job right. We are very pleased with the outcome and look forward to his help on other wood refinishing projects in our home.  

Rene responded within 48 hours of my initial call.  We discussed what I needed done.  He came out with a helper and they measured the work and talked about what I wanted done.  WIthin two weeks they delivered the pieces and did the installation.  Rene then did the detailed finish work, coming out twice to make sure that it was done right.  He's a master of finishing work and the cabinets are beautiful.  For the amount of time invested in making it look great, the job was a bargain.  I'd recommend him in a heartbeat.

I thought he was really good and he worked in a workmanlike way. I like the fact that they paid attention to areas of the cabinets that I thought needed refinishing or that I thought needed redoing. They were extremely courteous and responsive.

I discovered an abused piece of mid-century modern on ebay for $9.99.  It had been left sitting on someone's back porch for years, and was reinforced with steel L shaped pieces screwed randomly into the wood.  The vinyl sling seat was cracking.  It was a mess.   
Rene saw the potential I saw, and lovingly stripped the last of the crackling varnish, repaired all the screw holes, completely rebuilt the piece and got a new seat made for it.  It's now one of the pieces of furniture in my home that people are always complimenting.  If you need quality work done on a piece of furniture, I recommend him highly.  He'll take his time, but the finished result will be worth every minute.

I left Rene a message about refinishing our entry doors.  He called me back promptly and suggested that I text him a picture of the doors.  He texted me a bid without actually coming to see the doors.  The bid was quite a bit lower than another vendor so I aksed Rene to come to see the doors and confirm the quote.  When Rene stopped by, he was very personable and was clearly knowledgeable about the project.  I had mentioned our doors were very large when we talked.  But when he came to see them, they were larger than he had expected.  Even still, Rene honored the quote that he had texted me originally.  At that point, I knew he was the guy to complete our project!
In addition to our entry doors, Rene suggested that he paint the garage doors.  He has previous experience doing faux painting to create a wood finish.  I loved the idea and asked him to provide a quote for that.
Rene had some other projects he had to wrap up so our project was delayed a bit.  I wasn't in a huge hurry so this was not a problem.  Once Rene started the project, he and his assistant were at our house for 2 weeks completing the projects.  It was a lot of work for them to strip the old paint and then do the refinishing and painting.  For the garage doors, they painted a sample and adjusted the sample based on my feedback.  They were on time in the mornings and cleaned up each day before they left.  Rene kept me informed on their progress.  At the end of the day, I was ecstatic with the beautiful results!  My neighbors watched the progress of the project and asked for Rene's card and even took pictures of his work!  We would use Rene again in a heartbeat!  He's a super nice guy, knowledgeable, his attention to detail was superb, all at a good price!  I'm so glad I found him on Angie's List!

in fact, they are almost "perfect."
Rene and his crew were very professional throughout the work, which took a total of 3 weeks.  They were always on time, very courteous, and always willing to work within the constraints we imposed.  Cabinet refinishing is a messy job, and it will interfere with the normal routine in your household or business.  They took extra steps to make sure that this job would have a minimum impact on our activities.  They carefully masked off all areas so that their work would not damage other items in the house.  They also created isolated work areas to reduce the amount of dust that would escape into other areas of the house.  When they were finished they spend a lot of time cleaning up each work area so that it would be as clean as if they had not been there.
I have owned several houses and rental properties over the past 40 years, and as a result I have worked with dozens of contractors and trades-people.  I would say that Rene is the most competent, professional, flexible and thorough of any of the people I have worked with in the past.
We received bids from 3 other contractors before we started the work.  Rene's pricing was right in the middle of the range of prices we received.
I am delighted with Rene's work, and can recommend him without hesitation to anyone who needs their cabinets refinished.  I would definitely use him again.

unknown

Rene came to our house and described what he would do to refinish our kitchen cabinets, took pictures, and gave us an estimate we considered reasonable.  He explained this process would take about 10 days to 2 weeks, which it did.  All the cabinet doors were removed and the opened cabinets were carefully covered with protective paper and tape so the external sides could be sanded and sprayed.  A work area was set up carefully in our backyard, so the doors could be sanded and sprayed outside.  The kitchen area was kept as clean as possible.  After each day's work, Rene and/or his helper cleaned up the area.  After finishing the doors and cabinets, the hinges were cleaned, and then the cabinet doors were re-installed (each door and cabinet frame were initially carefully marked).  We then asked Rene to refinish the kitchen table since all of his equipment was there and it came out beautifully.  I would highly recommend Rene's Refinishing.  Rene is a craftsman - his work is done carefully with precision and the finished product is beautiful.

When I called Rene, he was closed for vacation.  I left a message anyway and even though on vacation, Rene called me back.  When he returned from vacation, we made an appointment and Rene was right on time.  I explained that the table has been in my family for many years and has a lot of sentimental value.  I explained further that I was in no particular hurry to do the repair, but Rene did it promptly.  Rene is a professional and is very pleasant to deal with.  He would be my first contact for future work.

Rene and his helper were great!  They completely covered and protected the patio outside where they did the spraying.  The really protected the countertops and appliances.  Always cleaned up everyday.  He gave us an estimate and actually charged less at the final payment since he had some leftover materials that he used.  Kitchen remodeling in general is not fun, but Rene did an excellent job from start to finish.  I would happily call him again.  In fact, while he was working, I kept looking for other things he could do since he also advertises other services like antique refinishing, and garage door painting.

Rene was very pleasant and professional to deal with.  He and his assistant were consistently prompt, efficient , neat and dependable in completing this project and the results were excellent.