Refined Arcitectural
Woodworking
My WORK
Some of my earliest memories take place in the basement of my grandfather’s farmhouse learning to design and build intricate wooden projects. Learning from a man whose only formal training in woodworking took place 50 years before I was born gave me a respect for classical techniques and hand tools. Nearly 20 years later, I have adopted modern techniques and training, but the basic joinery skills I learned in that farmhouse basement, continue to set me apart from the run-of-the-mill production woodworker. I specialize in high-end projects and enjoy working for clients with high quality standards. Difficult projects excite me as they allow me to think creatively and showcase the skills I have worked so hard to develop. I don’t believe in in taking shortcuts or sacrificing aesthetics/functionality to save time. You might be able to find someone who will complete your project for a little less money, or a day or two faster, but you won’t find anyone who stands behind their work the way I do.
Eric Zinger
~ Lead CraftsmanStair and Railing Construction
Stair and railing construction and modification is truly our bread and butter. Conventionally stair builders have built their stairs in the shop and had them stained and finished on-site. We don’t mind being unconventional, so we prefer to finish all our stair components in the shop and build the stairs on-site. This allows us to provide our homeowners with the highest quality finish that is fully cured and free of any harmful VOC’s*. It also allows us to provide builders and contractors with a stair system that provides safe access between floors during construction, without the concern of tradespersons damaging the stairs.
*VOC’s refer to volatile organic compounds such as xylene, ethylbenzene and acetates. Many of which are present in traditional wood finishes such as polyurethane and lacquer and continue to off-gas after application for weeks, months or even years depending on site conditions.
New Construction
At Refined Architectural Woodworking, we are proud to be different. Our unconventional take on stair construction allows us to deliver exceptional quality finished products to our end-use customers, while also eliminating one of the biggest risk factors on residential construction sites – poorly constructed or fastened temporary stairs-. Whether you are a home builder, contractor or a home-owner we believe you can benefit from our unconventional approach.
Why we're different
We start off by installing a construction set of stairs made from LVL and 2x10. This goes in at framing stage and is in place throughout the construction process to allow trades a safe means of access to all floors of the house. The stairs are then dry-walled in. Sometime between the cabinet installation and when the cleaners arrive we come back to remove the 2x10 temporary treads and build our hardwood stairs around the existing LVL frame.
This all allows us to shop finish all the stair and railing components and deliver a fully-cured finished product that is more durable than a conventional site finish and is 100% VOC free (no harmful and off-putting smells coming from the stain and clear coat). It also allows us to build the stairs in place so everything fits seamlessly with no additional unsightly trim pieces.
Photos
Capping
Our outlook on stair capping is that it shouldn’t wind up looking like a set of stairs that has been capped. We go the extra mile and cap over every visible component of a staircase.
Clean & Crisp
We don’t use hardwood flooring, so there are no seams on the treads and risers. And when we are almost done we take out the hand tools and custom scribe all our trim work into the floors walls and ceilings as well. When all is said, and done, our capped stairs look like a brand-new set of hardwood stairs.
As with our new construction stair cases all the components are pre-finished in the shop, so as soon as we leave the house the stair case can be put into service.
