CENTRAL AVENUE STRIP SHOP

Terrible. Refinished top did not match the color of the original table nor the chair I provided for a color match. Was told afterwards that that is how things turn out. Final finish had streaks and globs of clearcoat. One side of the table had a shiny finish and one a dull finish. He tried to fix it, but said that because of his process this is the original wood color, but funny how the original manufacturer could get things to match. Had to call several times to find out the status. When I did pick it up, it was filthy - not what I would expect for a finished product. Also, Dan called early in the process to see if I left a chair, which I did. He could not remember and proceeded to call the police to report the chair stolen which it turns out he left at Sherwin Williams when we went to get color to match (which of course he never did match properly). No remorse or acceptance that the expectations were not communicated to me properly. Have heard from my neighbor group of other similar harrowing stories, just wish I knew about them before enlisting them to do the work. This IS NOT a Quality establishment and Angi should drop affiliation with it.

I couldn't ask for a better professional or a better job. Very articulate. You can tell he enjoys what he does and he does it well. We've already given him a second order.

I've never done this before, and I feel bad about it. But I feel obligated to alert people to how unhappy I was with the work the Central ave Strip shop did in my kitchen. For the most part the staining was decent, and in fact our kitchen table top is fully restored and beautiful. But the inability to match color, or even recognize that a spot of color doesn't match the rest of the part, and the overall lack of care in the process resulted in many issues. The first issue was multiple particles either under the stain, or stuck on the outside surface because there was nothing done to keep the parts clean before or between coats of stain. At one point while they were at the shop, several of my chairs and one of the doors were splattered with vegetable oil. Most of this was cleaned up, but some of the droplets are still visible. When I tried to work with him to point out the issues, he mixed up a new slightly tinted clear coat that turned out to be rather opaque and greenish in color. I pointed out that the color didn't match at all and the "fix" was worse than the original defect. He removed the area on the one door that I told him the color wasn't an appropriate fix. But he proceeded to use the same color on several other areas, including places that were damaged while at their shop, like on the pantry door, resulting in multiple spots that don't match. I believe he truly was trying to be helpful and solve the problems. But he just really couldn't see either the embedded defects or how the different batches of stain didn't match. After 3 visits to the shop, I gave up for fear of things just getting worse and worse. If the type of defect in my pictures wouldn't bother you, and if you can just pick out a single color for them to use, you might be happy. Otherwise I would not recommend using them. ?

I received friendly professional service and would use them again.

Bad job. Runs in finish. Several dings to finished surface. Dirty, including some kind of crud on under surfaces. Their facility was a mess and I should have taken the hint.

On 12/8/2014 I called about the status and was told they were done. There were unfinished spots on all three pieces. The washstand was rough and bubbled on the top. The top of the sidiece had a chunk out. It was covered in dust, so it was hard to assess everything. The owner said he would go over it, so we left the pieces there. On 12/10/14 we were called that they were done. Again there were problems. There were runs of the stain down the backs of both chairs. Yellow glue showed on one chair. There was raw wood on the front of the washstand where it had been sanded too much. The top of the washstand looked mottled the owner assured us it would "tighten" up after 30 days. I even asked him to strip it and I would finish it myself. He said they already had 14 coats of finish on it! He said he noted the problems and would take care of it. My husband said take your time, so it is done right. We left the pieces again. On 1/7/2014 I called to check the status of the pieces, since I hadn't heard from him. I was told, oh yes, they're ready. The chairs still had runs down the backs, there was a spot on the washstand that had a piece of finish chipped. I asked if the runs could be fixed and was told by the worker that he could take $25 off. I replied that wasn't enough, so he upped it to $50. At this point my husband and I realized the pieces were never going to be finished correctly. The worker had no interest in fixing them. All they know to do it spray it with more finish. There are so many coats of finish that it looks painted on. It is so thick that there are runs on the finish. The grain of the wood has been totally lost. Again there was a lot of dust on it. When I got the pieces home and dusted them, it was even worse than I thought. There are chinks of wood where there is no finish, there is a bubble on the top of the washstand, and chinks on the chairs. It is a. Is warble job. I cannot believe a professional would do such an inferior job. For $427, I expected a quality job. I have sent a complaint also to the BBB. I expect a full refund, so that I can get it stripped again and finish properly so the beauty of the antiques is evident. <br />

This place is the pits! I left my bed which they striped right away. I went back to check on it and noticed that it had been broken and a piece was missing. Which of course they denied.  After showing them pictures of the bed which I had taken prior to dropping it off they were able to find the piece and superglued in back in place-which of course looks like crap. I kept going back to the shop and checking on my bed which has been stripped and not refinished for months now. Finally after 3 months of waiting I went back to the shop to collect my bed and found my striped iron bed in a puddle of water rusting away. I wanted to just take my bed and not pay,  since he had broken it and then caused it to rust- which meant I was going to have to pay someone else to restip it as well as refinish it. But after much arguing I finally paid him $75 for the striping (the rust was free) which was a load of crap. Do not take your furniture here-they will wreck it . <br />

I purchased the chairs new about 16 years before and tried to fix the looseness myself. It never worked. Since this company did them 3 years ago, they are better than when I purchased them and have not loosened up at all. <br />

I was referred to Central Avenue Strip Shop by my sister in law. The service from them was amazing. The desk I had refinished came out beautifully and looked brand new. It is a small shop, run by two men. They are very nice and friendly. The work was done in a timely manner. If I had any more furniture to be refinished, I would take it to them.

I’ve seen mixed results.  They did a very good job on one piece and really didn’t do a good job on the next piece.  I think they can do a good job but they’re very slow and you have to call them to get a response.

The workmanship was terrible! They did take them back and made them somewhat better.  However, the damage that had been done by their employee was permanent and could not be totally corrected.

  Piece #1  was a 120 year old desk that had been neglected in our garage/basement for over 10 years. It was disassembled, picked up, carefully loaded into their van and taken to the shop for work.  When it was time to choose a stain, we were invited to the shop to see the progress on the desk and make a selection. We decided to go with a light oak finish. Because the tambour had sustianed some damage over the years, it was decided to replace it - so the parts were ordered. In no time at all delivery was scheduled and we are now enjoying this treasured family heirloom. IT looks great, feels smooth as silk, and is a focal point in our home office rather than an eyesore in basement. <br /> <br /> Piece # 2 was a small "drum" style table that was a garage sale find that had many layers of brown paint over stain. The top is marble - so I knew it had to be restored. When the guys took the desk, I asked if the would do the table too. What a good decision! It looks great! It's now gracing our bedroom sitting area rather than being relegated to the basement as well.

Amazing workmanship and very clean.