Together with four other residents of my building in downtown DC, I searched for months for a contractor to design and create a custom solution for my closets. The existing closet doors were heavy and made it impossible to access half of the closet at any time. We needed a solution that would allow us greater versatility when it came to accessing the inside of the closet, that would look classy, and that wouldn't break the bank.
We spoke to national brands that had offices in DC/Maryland/Virginia as well as smaller shops. We got outrageously pricey quotes and limited options from nearly everyone we spoke to, but we kept on searching. Finally, we found District Custom Woodworks and gave them a chance. The yelp reviews were great and we were able to reach somebody quickly when we called. Benton, the owner of the company, came out to our building to meet with us and show us some options, and we could immediately tell that he was an honest, high-quality craftsman who would do his best to help us.
Benton measured our closets, showed us options, talked through the prices of various add-ons, and then helped us understand what would work best for each of us. He had a good selection of options. The process was professional at every stage, if a bit slow. The pricing was honest, and there were no surprises.
To be clear, custom woodwork is not cheap, especially in the DC area and especially if you want a high-quality product. Just buying non-custom closet doors from Home Depot and paying someone to install them properly is relatively expensive, so you have to keep in mind that having someone design, cut, and install custom doors to fit your unique space will be more expensive. If you choose the most basic options, don't expect to pay less than $2000. That sounds like a lot, but since Benton runs a small business, he is able to set a price that is more competitive than his competitors, so even $2000 is far lower than the $4000+ quotes we had received elsewhere for inferior products. (Note that even some national brands that are comparatively priced end up being more problematic, because they'll design you a set of closet doors themselves, but then have a third party do the installation. This is less than ideal; you want the same company responsible for the whole process if you want to avoid problems down the line, so the fact that Benton's company does the process from soup to nuts is a huge advantage.)
After we made our product selections, decided the terms, and submitted our payments, we were all set. From that point on, Benton took the lead and got the project done. We must be honest: it was not as quick as we would have liked. I think we may have overwhelmed Benton because, by agreeing to do work for all five of us at the same time, Benton and his team had to design, source, cut, and install a lot of doors at once. And given that this is a small business, I think it took a bit longer than anticipated. Note also that custom woodwork installation is an iterative process; sometimes, the existing infrastructure in our closet frames (which Benton has nothing to do with) presented its own problems, and it was his first time working with our building.
Nevertheless, I want to reiterate that Benton is a clear communicator and an honest person, and even if progress was a bit slow, we got everything we wanted in the end, for a competitive price. The end product--as evidenced by the attached photos--is exactly what I wanted, and it works perfectly. If he does custom closet doors for you, ask him if a "magnet solution" will be a possibility for you; the magnets ended up making my doors particularly functional and durable.)
I was so satisfied with Benton's work that I hired District Custom Woodworks separately to install custom shelves in my hall closet and laundry closet, and those custom shelves were likewise extremely well done and were exactly what I had asked him to make, again for a reasonable price.
Finally, it is worth noting that while he completed all of my projects (I had him design/install two sets of custom closet doors as well as four custom shelves), Benton maintained a professional, positive attitude and a palpable desire to bring the projects to completion successfully. He is building his small business one project at a time, through his hard work and determination to make his clients happy. read more