Y & J Furniture Co Inc — Local services in Durham

OK folks...settle in. Furniture is the topic. First though, let's take the tiniest moment to think about throw-away things. Clothes, furniture, food...things. So many things. Use it. Toss it. Forget it. They didn't mean anything after all. Can that really be what we want?

What if, instead, we remember to place more value on things that last? Things with meaning - treasures. Think back. I'm sure everyone has some piece of furniture that you can connect to a memory. Remember that sofa you caught your grandparents snuggling on? How about that rocker that held you and your mom while she sang away the nightmares? The dresser that stood in the dining room with each drawer holding folded napkins and table cloths, fresh and ready for family dinner?

Where are they now? Sometimes those treasures were neglected. They were shuffled off to the basement to grow mold and crack. They held up pots of Christmas cactus that leaked and stained them. They were banged up, bruised, and battered in a dozen moves. They are walnut, oak, maple, mahogany, and cherry. Some were crafted mid-century. Some are well over 150 years old. They endured all of the punishment. Think your standard throw-away pulp board would have been able to do that?

Wake up and remember that you value your treasures! They aren't so pretty now, but what can you do? They need the very best of care and a skilled hand to bring them back. They will come back, I promise! They were made to last after all.

Gather up your father's bedroom suite, your grandfather's end tables, your great grandmother's chest of drawers, that corner cupboard your mom got at an auction, the washstand that became the place where your grandmother made her phone calls, the spool bed that you and your cousins dreamed in together. Take them to Ben and Jared and trust.

Take a turn around the shop and you will be able to meet the folks who will be working on your pieces. Feel the enthusiasm everyone has for their work! If you are very lucky to be there on the right day ask to see Winfred. I promise it will be well worth it.

The guys will listen to you ramble on about where that corner cupboard came from, how your dad hated moving the thing, and what it means to you. They will come up with a plan for repair, restoration, and preservation. Then they will execute it with the highest level of craftsmanship.

Your treasures deserve...

Not a great experience. An old dining table and chair were really busted up after a cross country move and we wanted them repaired and refinished. We were told while the table was being delivered that the formica top had been damaged and wasn't able to be repaired. A month later, a walnut veneer was added to the top and some money refunded. The table top no longer matches the chairs and one side of the table clearly wasn't finished. However, the chairs looked great. Until a month later when one of them has split right where the repair was and another one has started to split. I am currently working with them to get reimbursed and I will update this review depending on how things go.

Spoke with Jared, currently waiting on reimbursement

Updated - We were reimbursed for the chairs but it took 2 weeks of phone calls and texts to finally get the check

Another update! I just got a phone call from Ben today, 7/31/2024 asking about updating our review once we were reimbursed. I told him I had updated it. I took it from a 1 star to a 2. He read it out loud to me and I agreed. Their response was then posted below.

Yes, Y and J did replace the formica table with a walnut veneer, as started above, at no additional cost, which we were appreciative of. We were disappointed that the table and chairs did not match anymore. Accidents happen, we understand that. Just because we had a bad experience doesn't mean everyone else will

I am assuming Ben is the one who wrote the response below. It seems like something he would do. The largest issue, which was not addressed in your comment was the chairs. They are still broken. We only asked for a refund of the chairs even though we are unhappy with the table. And Jared said that was a fair reimbursement. Jared was much easier to work with and receptive to everything. Ben is hard to get in touch with. I do not suggest working with him. Since he called to get me to change my review I will gladly oblige. Here is your one star back,...

Our experience with Y & J Furniture was terrific. We asked them to re-upholster the two Queen Anne style chairs with wood arms and legs. We selected a fabric from the hundreds of choices they offered from North Carolina fabric sources and Y & J refinished the wood arms and legs, re-upholstered the interior of the cushions and put on the fabric. These are custom made chairs from 1998 and they look as if it was 1998 again.

We had already selected a fabric for the two blue chairs buying an amount according to the estimate from Y & J. We faced some delays in getting the fabric due to global shipping issues but Y & J waited patiently and then were able to custom fit the fabric to the re-upholstered chairs quickly after we delivered the fabric to them. These chairs had also been custom made.

We have other projects (two large fabric covered sofas) which we plan to offer to Y & J in the future when we move forward with re-upholstering them.

A few other important factors. Y & J's price estimates were very, very fair and we solicited offers from their competitors. Their price was their price....there were no changes. Next, their delivery teams were on time and able to meet us at our local storage facility as well as at our home...as I wrote...on time, making the whole picking up and dropping off process simple. Lastly, we worked with Ben Weidner. Ben was terrific and super responsive, able to communicate with us across email, phone and text...whatever worked. He "got" what we were trying to do and we had no conversations in which we felt we were being pressured, or any conversations with any negativity or tension and we overall felt like Ben fairly and completely represented what Y & J could do with our furniture, he completely delivered on 100% of everything he said he would do...and...he was fun and an easy person...