Restoration - Water Damage

I sold a customer of mine two expensive pieces twenty years ago, an Eldred Wheeler Bonnet Top Secretary Desk and a 2-piece Arch Door Corner Cupboard. They were $ 16,000 combined back in 1989. He lives in New Orleans and his very handsome home was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. These two pieces sat in 30" of flood water for three months as his home was abandoned.

Last fall he contacted Eldred Wheeler Company to see if they would restore them for him. It was going to be a big project! They refused, and offered to sell him new ones instead. So much for customer service on their part.....

He called me to see if I had a solution, otherwise they would have to be trashed, the entire lower cases of both pieces were ruined and not salvageable. I had him send me photos of the damage, and it was severe. The water had blown out the cases and ruined the joints. Everything below the water line had to be replaced. I had the guy for the job, however - John Buchanan of Ohio. Together John and I figured out what to fix and how to salvage the pieces. I knew that that Secretary gallery was a slide-in/nailed in section from having so sold many in the past, and that it was possible to remove it intact and transfer it to a new case. John is an expert at restoration with a critical eye, so we has us a project. Both pieces would need to be fully stripped, the lower cases resigned to the trash heap on both and new ones make. All new drawers and doors as well.

I had Vintage Transport of Atlanta pick the pieces up in New Orleans and deliver then to John in Ohio (then again for the round trip back when done).

It took John 8 weeks to restore these pieces, at a cost of $ 7,000 for both, but it still less than half the price of new. They actually came out BETTER, with a richer finish than they ever had from Eldred Wheeler. It wasn't about making money, it was about helping a customer.

Today I open the mail and there's this very nice note from Mr. Williams that I will give to John when he comes here on Thursday with some new pieces for my store. I love getting notes like this ( he got ahead on his date a bit!) , makes it seem worthwhile for all the time we had vested into this project, and it was good we could save those pieces and exceed his expectations.

You are, no doubt, the most respected furniture dealer, Duane! What a nice note and what a succesful story. You have, again, gone above and beyond to make a customer very happy......hats off to you!

Have a great 4th of July weekend!

You're going to make me blush....

interesting follow-up to that note, today Mr. Williams calls me and wants John Buchanan to make him a 'showcase piece' as he was so impressed with the water damage repair that he would like a scratch-made piece. He didn't say it should be large or small, or a particular kind of piece, just something impressive that makes a statement. So John and I are going to put our heads together and come up with something jazzy and outside the run of the mill to submit for commission.