RESPONSE TO BUSINESS OWNER POST BELOW 3/25/22:
Wow... what a barrage of "alternate facts" fabricated by the business owner in a desperate attempt to discredit my honest and factual review.
The truth:
We moved into our newly-built home June 2016, roughly 5.5 years ago. Exactly what I stated- not 7.5 years ago as business owner stated. During this period the exterior finish of my iron front doors failed THREE separate times, including after two poor attempts by "Handcrafted Iron Doors" to do spot repairs. Average that out and you get failure roughly every two years.
It is pure fantasy to blame the repeated finish failures on duct tape. The Bondo filler they use gives way over time when exposed to Florida sun, resulting in delamination from the iron door. Eventually, sizable "chips" of Bondo/paint crack, bubble and fall off. Look at my photos- pretty alarming. This happened 3X in the same general areas at the lower part of the doors that get morning sun. Others in my neighborhood with similar iron doors have experienced similar failures. In fairness, I will say the interior finish looks fine. So perhaps those living in a part of Florida that is not hot and does not receive sunshine on the home may not have a problem with the exterior finish on these doors.
I contacted my home builder via email for help getting a qualified painter to refinish the constantly failing exterior of my iron doors. I was eventually told via email Jan 21, 2022 "Handcrafted Iron Doors" would offer no financial assistance/warranty despite the fact this was the third time the finish cracked off in 5.5 years. So I gave up and paid $3000 to a painter who makes a living refinishing iron doors in Florida. This process required grinding the entire exterior surface + apply/sand new Bondo filler + spray/ sand new primer coats + spray black base paint coats + hand faux metallic copper paint + spray multiple clear coats. Not easy, not cheap.
On Friday 2/25/2022 the Handcrafted Iron Doors business owner drove to my house completely unannounced and uninvited. Inappropriate, rude and frankly creepy. My wife answered the door and was immediately confronted by the business owner who mistakenly thought she had written a Google review that has him so displeased (he was later able to pressure Google to remove my review there- nice ethics). Despite the inappropriate nature of this surprise encounter at my home, I went out and had a conversation with him. I answered all his questions and deflected his weak attempts to rationalize or rewrite the history here. I was frank and direct but never rude or unreasonable. I never "blamed the builder". Eventually I asked him to leave my property when it became evident he had no interest in owning the true facts here, and his only goal was to pressure me to delete my Google and Yelp reviews. read more