Tim Tipsord

We had an old table that a family member rescued from the side of the road and gave to us. It was a nice, old table and the right dimensions for our living room. But it had a dark, old-fashioned stain and many mars in the finish. It was also wobbly. We thought that if we could find the perfect person then MAYBE it could be restored to something pretty nice at a price that would still be less than purchasing a new dining room table. We found Tim on Craigslist. He responded to our emails right away and asked for photos of the table including the damaged spots. I told him about my time constraints and exactly what we wanted him to do. We just wanted the top of the table refinished and the rest of the table "shored up" so it didn't wobble. And I needed it back in about five weeks - and he said he thought that wouldn't be a problem. We made an appointment for him to come by our house and look at the table. He told us that the table was nice mahogany veneer, and probably from the 1930s or 40s. We learned that he had experience refinishing antique furniture. He told us then how he thought it would be best to refinish it and he made a point to tell us that there were some gauged-out spots that he might not be able to completely remove because they may have gone all the way through the veneer. He gave us an estimate and said the price would be within 20% of that value. I thought it was a very fair price and less than we would have paid from someone more local (Tim lives about an hour away and we agreed to pay him mileage for picking up the table and bringing it back to us). He took the table and, a week or two later, he sent me an email with an update on how it was going (very well) and some pictures of the more challenging spots that he had successfully removed. Great! And he would have the table finished in time for my daughter's birthday party. I didn't really know how lucky we were, though, until he delivered the table to us. Unbelievable. I couldn't believe the ratty, second- or third-hand table was now a regel dining room centerpiece. I was thrilled! I quickly learned that Tim is definitely his own strongest critic. He showed us every spot that he had a little trouble with (we never would have noticed them) and he also described everything he did to make it look so nice. He went to more trouble than we asked for and he didn't change the price. He just wanted us to be happy with it, I think. And we are. It's a pleasure to sit down to every night. It even makes peanut butter sandwiches feel classy.