Sindle Woodwrking

This job is the latest that Bob Sindle has done for me over the past 27 years. (The first project was unique and extensive. The complete exterior restoration of my 110-year old (at that time) Victorian colonial. The previous owners had "modernized" it: vinyl siding and removal of the wrap-around porch and all the ornate details. The results of his work - removal of the siding and rebuilding a "new" porch from scratch - were amazing. A year after completion, the Staten Island Preservation League presented us with an award for restoration in 1989. And to this day, people stop by weekly and say how much they love the house. The house is not one of those large rambling Victorians; it is one of the many cross-shaped, 7-room, 2 1/2 storied homes scattered all over the Northeast, probably the Levittown house of the last quarter of the 1800s. My porch was Bob's first - he is now the "Porch Man" on Staten Island.) Sadly, though, time and deterioration had taken a toll on the porch: one of the spindle posts was rotting as was some of the flooring as well as the balusters and railings on the stairway. Last summer, I contacted Bob to do a complete repair and restoration. The main issue was the quality of wood turnings which were fir that I had ordered from a company down South. Bob said he would not work with this wood again and would have to research a more suitable wood for our climate. (I called this company and asked them if they could do this pieces in a hardier wood, and they said no.) This past April, he found a shop about a 1/2 drive in New Jersey to do the turnings which wood and work was quite expensive. Bob gave me an estimate for $4,300 and said the work would take about 3 days. He called in early August and said he could start in a few weeks. The work was completed on August 30 and took almost 5 days. It took a year to get this work done, but it was well worth the time and the money. All the new wood was primed, and all the little details were finished. He didn't charge me extra for the time and details. Bob is much in demand for the high quality and professionalism in his work.