Whytes Antiques & Upholstery

With the exceptiom of delays of rceceiving materials from a supply company the work went well.

Not well. Owner has not responded to email as of 8/20/2017. Details as follow: Purchased a $5K dollar bolt of Robert Allen / Beacon Hill upholstery fabric (Blush color 80% silk 20% linen blend--Pattern "Silky Strands"). Paid local company "Whytes Antiques" over $1K to upholster a Beacon Hill Sofa that my kitten had shredded. Sewing job was well done. Restructured tufts into channels that were beautiful. Took many months but I had specified "no hurry" so that is on me. Delivered sofa unwrapped and was surly when asked to cover sofa before moving it throughout building to my condo. Did set up nicely inside living space. Ended on friendly terms. Signed for item. Covered to protect from cat. Uncovered several weeks later. Sat on noticed scratchy feel to fabric. OMG. Whyte's Antiques DESTROYED a $5K bolt of fabric. It was 100% applied Backwards with the backside on the surface--explaining why the fabric did not have the subtle sheen and beautiful nuances that should be expected from this quality of fabric. Pursuing legal action if he does not respond with adequate solution.

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We have recently finished an extensive remodel of our home. During the remodel we sent several pieces of our furniture to Whyte's Antiques and Upholstery for reupholstering and refinishing.
We could not have been happier with the results. All pieces came back better than when they were new. He takes great joy in his work and the results are unmatched. He starts with the average and turns it into something truly exceptional. If you are looking for old world craftsmen who take great pride in their work look no farther. Simply put, you can find no one better than Richard Hosker.

Richard made a few trips to my house to pickup my huge furniture pieces and take them to his shop. This schedule worked perfect for me. When he brought my repaired antiques back I was stunned with the beauty of his work! One cabinet never had a key to lock the doors. When Richard returned with that piece he surprised me with a key! I love being able to secure the cabinet door closed now. Another cabinet had a piece of the decorative carvings (maple wood) missing during one of my military moves. Richard crafted a replacement piece and you can't tell it isn't original. It also suffered from a major crack because the wood was drying out. Richard was able to repair it without filling the crack--he brought the wood pieces back together! There was another expense (not antique) end table that suffered from something falling on it during the last move. Richard was able to make it look 99% new again. The 1% issue was outside his control due to the heavy damage. Richard is prompt, professional, and fair! I trust him with my valuable antiques and have asked him to help out (soon) with additional work because he is so good and honest.

First time customer - used Angie's list. Dining room chair was coming apart (glue failing after 20 yrs). Staff examined chair and explained in detail what was happening (glue failure). Explained in detail the process for fixing, provide an approximate completion date (2 weeks - turned out to be slightly less) and provided a cost estimate (which was accurate). Staff member also took us on a short tour of shop and explained the types of repairs and upholstery services they provided (interesting).

I hired Mr. Whyte despite the high price because of his reputation from Angie's List -- and because it was hard to get other companies to respond. He was prompt, courteous and responsive. I felt that they treated my furniture and me respectfully. I will definitely hire them again!

The work was of excellent quality, but very expensive and very slow. I left the chairs with them on 11 July, 2007, and gave them a $300 deposit. After 3 months I started wondering when I'd get my chairs back and started calling about monthly. After about 6 months of that, I was told not to call anymore; that they would call me when the chairs were finished. I finally got one chair back on March 15, 2008. I got the second chair back on 3/27/2010. During that time I'm sure they started and finished other work (documented in other Angies reports) while setting mine aside and letting me wait. Thus the low "professionalism" score.

They have a huge amount of upholstery samples and the staff is knowledgeable. One woman helped me pick out a fabric that was historically appropriate which I would not have known about. I have a 150 year-old trunk that they cleaned up and put a protective coating on so it is nice but they didn’t make it look brand new which is what I was looking for. Most of the furniture came back quickly but the trunk must have been put on the back burner because it took more time and I kept having to bug them.

The chest of drawers was done well, although in retrospect the price was too high. The couch, on the other hand, was a disaster. The base of the couch originally was 7.5” from the surface upon which the cushions rest to the bottom of the arm rests. There was a “dip” which allowed the cushions to sit proportionately with the arm rest and back cushions (photo below). When the couch was delivered to us, we were appalled. Instead of removing the sleeper and re-fashioning the base to the same depth, the base had been thoughtlessly run straight from the front edge of the couch. The base had been raised 3” from its original depth (photo below). This meant that the cushions sat far too high. They were so high that the back cushions could not lay flat. One could see large gaps and the lining on the underside of the back cushions because they were being pushed up from underneath by the now elevated seat cushions. One couldn’t sit comfortably on the couch, because the cushions were so high that one felt “perched” on it, and one couldn’t rest ones arms on the arm rests (photo below). My wife called Mr. Whyte and was told by him that his upholsterer said there was nothing they could do. His suggested that we cut the cushions down by three inches! This was utterly unacceptable. I stopped payment on the check for $929.00 that had been issued in payment for the couch. I then called Hernandez Custom Upholstery in Carlsbad (reviewed separately). They came out, looked at the couch, and told us that restoring the couch to its original proportions would not be a problem. They took the couch and within a week had accomplished what Mr. Whyte had told us could not be done. For a price of $490.00, a little more than half of what Mr. Whyte charged, they restored it to its original proportions (photo below). They also re-stuffed the cushions. They told us that Whyte had used absolutely the cheapest stuffing one could obtain. After a phone call in which Mr. Whyte literally screamed at me and hung up, I wrote and offered to pay him the difference between his original charge and what I paid to have Hernandez upholstery rectify his poor, thoughtless, unacceptable work. He accepted in writing, and the matter is closed. He seems to do a good job when it comes to re-finishing wooden furniture. But I would never turn over a piece of furniture to be upholstered to this man. He charges a premium and his work is thoughtless. He referred to his upholsterer. This suggests that he does not do the work himself. He lives part-time in Mexico. I believe he charges a premium to have such work done across the border. The results speak for themselves.

Very well.

The barrister that I had purchased at the fair was too dark and didn't match the rest of my furniture, so I had them refinish it for me with a lighter color. They were very prompt and got everything done within a week. They got it to match the rest of my furniture perfectly, and I am quite pleased with the work they did.

I called based on an Angie's List referral and left a voicemail message. Within minutes, Julie called back and made arrangements for Tim to come to my home give me an estimate. The table and buffet were picked up on time (just before we moved from our old home), the work was done flawlessly, and the furniture was ready for delivery to our new home before we were even ready to receive it. Whyte's graciously held off delivery for a week, and then delivered it at exactly the appointed time. I'm sure that I could have had high quality work done less expensively, but this is solid cherry furniture that I inherited and I'm sentimentally attached to it, so I have no regrets about the expenditure. The low sheen used on refinishing shows off the beauty of the wood. The buffet and table are now more beautiful than when my mother had them custom built 50+ years ago.

I called the office. They made an appointment to look at the furniture and give an estimate. Mr Whyte and an assistant showed up on time. The estimate was a bit more than I anticipated, but they seemed to know what they were doing and based on other Angie's List comments we agreed to the terms. They took the seat of the 4 chairs and one back for a color match. They took the table apart and along with the leafs loaded it all into an open back Dodge pickup. Near the promised data they called for a delivery appointment and 2 people showed up on time. They carefully brought back the assembled table and reassembled the chairs. They suggested that I wait two weeks for the wax to set on the table before waxing it. The instructions were to rub it down and wax with a non-silicon based wax like Old English. It all looks great.

Very timely in picking up the furniture from my house and kept me updated on progress and estimated delivery. Outstanding attention to detail. He is my only choice for any future work.

One gentlemen came to my home, told me what could be done, and gave an estimate for fixing each piece. He was able to take the pieces with him for repair. Both pieces were returned to me when promised. The work was excellent. Everyone I spoke with was courteous, polite, and helpful.

EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE ASSOCIATED WITH JOHN WHYTE ANTIQUES WAS OUTSTANDING. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY.

JOHN WAS VERY HELPFUL AND PLEASANT TO WORK WITH AS WE WERE TRYING TO DECIDE WHICH FABRIC TO CHOOSE ETC. HE DID GOOD WORK AND SEEMED TO REALLY CARE ABOUT THE QUALITY OF HIS PRODUCT.

THE WORK WAS EXCELLENT. YOU CANT TELL WHERE THE WORK WAS DONE. THE ANTIQUE HEADBOARD WAS TOO LOW TO BE SEEN ABOVE TODAYS OVERSIZE MATTRESSES AND BEDDING. THIS IS SOMETHING THEY DO OFTEN AND WE ARE VERY HAPPY

JOHN WHYTE UPHOLSTERY DOES GREAT WORK. VERY DETAILED AND QUALITY. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL THING RECOVERED AND CUSHIONS MADE ETC... THEIR PRICES CAN BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN OTHER WORK ROOMS, HOWEVER THEIR QUALITY OF WORK IS WORTH THE EXTRA EXPENSE.

I HAVE USED THIS COMPANY SEVERAL TIMES TO REPAIR ANTIQUE FURNITURE PIECES. THEY DO INCREDIBLE WORK. DEFINITELY A PLACE TO TAKE VALUABLE PIECES THAT YOU WANT QUALITY WORK DONE ON.