Architectural Wood Restoration

This is a very difficult project for sure, and Ben's bid was very low. Removing paint is not easy… The staff was courteous, but as the project went on, some days only one person was showing up! It was getting way behind schedule. I felt the need to hire another team to help out, and show the type of results that I expected. After a while it became apparent that they not up to the taska db not able to do the job to my expectations. I had to replace them with the other team who did a great job. Their price was to good to be true… Worst of all, they left a mess - very unprofessional.

Ben and his crew once again did a great job refinishing  the wood in our 1914 Craftsman.  Work included stripping and refinishing the moldings, trim and windows in two rooms, two doors, as well as the door casings for three other doors.  Ben was patient with our stain choices which he mixed by hand until we found the right tone.  It took them almost three weeks to complete all the work but in the end was worth it.  The crew cleaned up each day and worked as well as the last time we hired them.  I continue to recommend Ben to our friends, he's a great guy.

Ben came to us as a recommendation from Kevin Kuzma of Revival Arts (window restoration). Ben is the owner, and was both punctual and communicative throughout the process. Ben and his crew stripped the decades of paint off the windows from our 100 year old Craftsman home. Additionally, he stripped and refinished the original oak screen door as well as the exterior oak surround. He got the color match right on the first try and was always concerned with keeping the work area clean. Not only would I recommend him, we have plans for him to do some more work

We needed an experienced woodworking company to strip 100 years of paint from doors, windows, and trim in our newly purchased 1903 registered historical home. I found Ben Gonzalez on Angie's List, then visited his website, architecturalwoodrestoration.com. I knew that with the incredible number of layers of paint, the work would not be cheap. But when Ben gave me an estimate that not only covered the stripping but included staining and varnishing, I determined it would be well worth the expense.
From the first moment, the crew went immediately to work. It was obvious that they knew what they were doing. They used heat guns to lift paint, and then they scraped it. Considering the intricate bends and creases in the trim and baseboards, this was no easy task.
As the work progressed, we could see how beautiful the woodwork was. The chemical wash followed the stripping and scraping. They even chemically washed the hardware on all of the doors and windows, saving me hundreds of dollars that would have been spent on new reproduction hardware. (All of the hardware was original and had been painted over many times.) I chose a stain from Ben's custom mixed stains, and they applied and varnished all of the woodwork within the time frame they estimated.
All in all it took the crew of three men about four weeks to complete work that would have taken me at least six months to a year to do by myself. There are eight doors, 11 doorways, and 13 windows in our house, to say nothing of the bay window seat that they included.
All of the wood looks like it would if it were new. The restoration was less expensive than if I'd installed new trim and doors, and it is original to the house. You cannot buy trim and doors like this anymore.
From start to finish Ben's crew was on the job each day when they told us they would be, and worked the entire eight hour day. I would hire them again in a minute. I've highly recommended Ben and his crew to the Heritage people in both Upland and Pomona. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Excellent work overall.

Highly recommend them based on the quality of the final finish and the
color match to other similar wood in the house. The workmen were
courteous, showed up when they said they would, and did a great job of
cleaning up afterward. They even retouched the walls around where they
stripped the wood.
The only drawbacks are you pay for this quality of
craftsmanship. But if you care how the job comes out, this crew is
worth every penny.
They are also booked well in advance, so plan
accordingly.

Benjamin Gonzalez is the owner of this company. He does interior and exterior wood restoration. He stripped all the paint of our original siding, doors and trims. He did restoration, paint removal. His work is very specific which is wood stripping and restoration. Although he does not build anything out of wood he removes paint and restores. He is really an restoration artist. He paints wood surfaces. He does not do wood floors but does trims, outside baseboards, crown molding and intricate wood banisters. He is the guy who gets all the ugly paint off and restores all the wood to its original finish. He is the only person we found who could do this pains taking restoration work. I got his name through the Malvern Historical Society. I called another person who has a historic home. We wanted very specific craft people. He has done some very notable public buildings, historic buildings in La Verne and Clairmont. We will have him back. He refinishes, and crafts men like him is hard to come by.