GARAGE DOOR REFINISHERS, LLC

"Just like anyone reading this, I was confused as exactly what made her door look so bad. The home owner isn't specific. Is it color match? Sheen? Peeling? I have to assume it is the continued cracking in her door. Her carriage style garage door center panels are made out plywood. The wood edges had gotten wet and were warping, delaminating and cracking. Some previous stain/sealer was peeling/discoloring along the edges. Her husband initially contacted us with txt pix on 2/27. Sadly, I thought he meant the problem was the blotchy sealer that was evident. The pix also showed white vertical cracks. A tinted seal coat will hide those, too. In hindsight, he may have only been talking about the several cracks. He might have expected the cracking to be permanently resolved, but it wasn't specifically discussed. Our thoughts were to even up the color, and fill vertical cracks with tinted sealer to hide them. Peeled sealer was wire brushed and touched up with gel stain. Please note that once wood gets wet and starts to split, no paint or sealer is going to stop it. Especially plywood. Filler or caulk will not stop cracking and will fall out as wood continues to crack open. As the cracks continue they look almost white against a dark background. Approximately 1 month after completion, the homeowner complained vaguely that the door was "looking worse". She txted picture that showed large white cracks had returned. The wood has continued to split. I explained it to her, and she seemed satisfied. The color and sheen should be the same as when we left. This door was originally a "paint grade" door, meant to be painted with latex/oil paints, not stain and sealer. They are often stained and sealed to save money on purchase price and still look like varnished wood. Unfortunately, the plywood edges readily absorb moisture, crack and delaminate that is almost impossible to stop, once it starts. Stain grade wood is solid wood, not laminated plywood. While this door still has life in it, the degradation can only be managed and colored...it will never be "good as new" again, no matter what is applied on it."

"I understand customer's frustration in what seemingly is a simple problem to fix...how hard can it be to put a piece of rubber under an entry door, right? Even after refinishing over a thousand entry doors, we do not quote bottom weatherstrips on entry doors due to the problems they can cause. Inaccuracies in customer's statement: 1) The bottom weatherstrip was never quoted. Customer wanted to add it 1/2 way thru the job. We explained that we do not provide that service due to fit, color, size and availability on entry doors, especially over sized, special order models, like hers. Had I known a bottom w/s was part of the job, I would have no-quoted the job without regret. At no time was customer quoted or charged for the bottom weather strip. I did agree to continue to look for one. (see below) We successfully installed the top/side weather strips, per the estimate, without issue. 2) My "curt response" was actually a pair of 10 minute conversation carefully explaining the risks and potential nightmares replacing bottom entry door weatherstrips, and why we don't do them. Hers was impossible to quote due to availability issues. This was discussed at length on 2 separate occasions. 3) Customer's final statement "Now I am left with a problem I did not cause." is misleading. Normal use caused several of rubber "fins" to wear, thus the desire to replace it. The old weatherstrip was 95% intact. This statement infers that it is somehow our fault. At no time did GDR damage this weather strip. Upon completion, it was left installed, in the condition we initially found it in. In reality, I am left with a problem that I did not cause. Here are my efforts to locate this w/s that have been uncompensated: 2 hrs searching internet (discussed) 3 hrs Visits to Lowe's, Home Depot, & Menards (not discussed) 2 hrs special ordering 2 non-returnable purported replacements that may work. No pix available. Wrong w/s arrived. $75 lost. (not discussed) 1 hr visit to Pella Doors. (discussed) The customer was not "blown off". I Discussed with customer that Pella could provide the weatherstrip if she could provide the door assembly part number from her home construction documentation. Pella's warehouse has no way to cross reference it from dimensions. She stated that the builder was no longer available and the critical documentation was lost. As customer could not provide the manufacturer or a p/n, there is no way for me to find this weather strip. I am waiting for her to provide the part number. To summarize, this negative review is essentially for not providing a service the customer thought we did. We don't do bottom weatherstrips....for reasons listed above and many more. Nobody else will, either. I don't blame the customer for venting, but this is unjustified and unwarranted in this case. I have lost 8+ hours and over $100 in expenses trying to find this $25 weatherstrip that I never agreed to replace. This is proof positive that "no good deed goes unpunished". Steve Peterson Garage Door Refinishers. LLC www.GDRefinishers.com ."