Door Restoration & Repair
The Houston sun and the humidity ruin a door’s finish long before they ruin the door itself. Most doors Diego sees are solid wood underneath, and worth saving — for a fraction of the cost of a new one.
One man, start to finish.
Same Door
Drag the slider. This is one door in Dickinson, photographed from the same spot before and after. Same door, same hinges, same frame.
Drag the handle across, or use the arrow keys.
On a door facing south or west, it is the finish that dies, not the door. Sunlight breaks down the topcoat. Humidity swells the wood. Storm rain works into the joints.
Underneath all that, this one was still sound mahogany. It did not need replacing — it needed stripping, repairing and sealing again properly.
What He Does
Doors are what Diego has worked on nearly every day since 2000, which is why he usually knows what is wrong with yours before he touches it.
A gray, cracked, peeling door taken back to bare wood and finished so it looks better than the day it was hung. Exterior or interior, single or double.
Sticking, dragging, rattling, rotted at the bottom. Most of what goes wrong with a door is fixable in an afternoon — and cheaper the sooner you call.
If you can see daylight around your door, you are paying to cool the yard. That same gap is how the rain gets in.
Handlesets, deadbolts, hinges, closers and kickplates. He supplies and fits them, or cleans up the brass you already have and puts it back working.
If a door really is past saving, Diego will say so and sell you the right replacement instead. Older Houston openings are rarely square, so hanging it properly matters.
How It Goes
Tell Diego what the door is doing. Two photos by text usually tell him most of it before he drives out.
He checks the wood, the joints, the frame and the hardware, then tells you honestly whether the door is worth saving.
A firm price, in writing, with everything it covers. Free, and no obligation. That price does not move once you agree to it.
The door comes off its hinges, and the opening is sealed with plastic sheeting while he works. Most jobs are finished the same day.
Recent Work
Rotted through at the bottom — and back in service
Beveled leaded glass, taken back to a deep mahogany finish
Wrought-iron double doors, gray and dry when he found them
Painted door and leaded sidelights out, mahogany doubles in
Broken glass, boarded up — replaced with mahogany doubles
New craftsman door, stained to match the trim
Old panel door out, modern five-lite in
Rotted threshold cut out and replaced
Arched leaded glass, brought back to a warm even finish
Other Work
Garage doors, benches, tables. If it is wood and it needs bringing back, ask him.
Garage door, resprayed
Cedar bench
Trestle dining table
Who Shows Up
There is no crew, no salesman and no subcontractor. The man who gives you the price is the man who does the work. That is the only way he knows to keep the standard where he wants it.
Diego has worked on doors around Houston since 2000. A door is a moving part in a fixed hole, with Gulf Coast weather on one side and air conditioning on the other. In this climate, that is a full trade on its own.
If a door is genuinely past saving, he will tell you so and quote a new one instead. Better to lose the job than take money for a finish that will not hold.
Service Area
Based in Houston, and out across the wider metro. If your town is not on this list, call anyway — for a full restoration it is usually still worth the drive.
Questions
Usually, yes. Gray, cracked, peeling and faded are finish problems, not door problems — and a finish can always be redone. What Diego looks for is structural rot in the bottom rail and joints that have opened up, and even most of those he can repair. He will tell you straight if yours is the exception.
Most jobs are done in one day. A straightforward restoration is often just a few hours; a double door, or one that needs real repair work first, takes longer — but it is still the one visit.
He works fast, and he works at your house, so there is no shop queue and no second trip. If something turns up that genuinely needs another visit, he tells you before he starts rather than after.
No — everything happens at your house. The door comes off its hinges and the opening is sealed with plastic sheeting while he works, so your house stays closed up the whole time. The door goes back on before he leaves.
It depends on the door, the damage and the finish, so Diego will not guess at a number over the phone. What he will say is that a restoration typically runs a fraction of what a comparable new door costs installed. The estimate is free and it is a firm price, not a range.
Houston humidity. Wood takes on moisture and swells, then shrinks back when the air dries out. A door sealed properly on all six sides — including the top and bottom edges, which most doors never get — moves far less. If yours only sticks in August, that is usually an unsealed edge, and it is a cheap fix.
Yes. If a door is past saving, or you simply want a different one, Diego sells and hangs new doors too — slab or pre-hung, interior or exterior. Several of the entries in the gallery above are replacements, not restorations.
Don’t Take My Word
Texan Door has been listed around the Bay Area for years. There are more photos and what his customers actually said on every one of these.
Free Estimates
A picture of the door, and a close-up of whatever is wrong with it, is usually all he needs to give you a price.
832-277-1766Request A Quote
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