Bardia Zadeh is an Iranian American entrepreneur who also has several credits as an actor and film editor. Since moving to the US in 2009, he has become a well-known tech entrepreneur who owns several businesses focusing on digital marketing, graphic design, printing (3D, laser etc.), commercial piloting of drones and UAVs, and more.
Mehryar Heshmat, a close friend of Bardia and also his cousin, moved to united states in 2016, he studied business and decided to pursue his career as an electrician. His main hobby was always drawing art pieces and his side job was construction.
Despite Bardia’s acting and other work-related commitments, Bardia Zadeh and Mehryar Heshmat decided to partner up together and operate a family door refinishing business, called Door Stain LLC. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, DoorStain is providing top-quality refinishing services that breathe new life into commercial doors, residential doors, and even garage doors.
(The company has earned such a good reputation that copycat businesses have sprung up trying to capitalize on the trust they have achieved with the community. However, Bardia’s business is the one and only original DoorStain.)
I had a chance to interview both Bardia and Mehryar and they kindly answered a few questions about Door Stain LLC.
Hi Bardia and Mehryar, what is your background, and how did it lead to DoorStain?
It all started as a family business, myself and my good friend and also long-distance cousin, Mehryar Heshmat.
I received my bachelor’s in computer science, and Mehryar did his in business. We have both worked in remodeling houses for a while now. I am also a real estate agent, so I have always had an interest in homes and constructions. Additionally, Mehryar is an artist, he creates these amazing art pieces that he sometimes sells in auctions.
We believe, this job, DoorStain, is a mix of remodeling and art. Because refinishing a door to perfection and turning it out the way you want, in our opinion, is considered art.
How do you help people make their doors look brand new?
We have a very special process, and we use a house blend formula. Our approach is very different from any of our competitors. Although we can’t go into all the details about our trade secret refinishing process, it goes something like this:
We start by stripping the old paint or stain, then we sand it down with 80, 120, then 240 grits sandpaper until we are down to the bare wood. We then apply our house blend pre-stain followed by a special type of stain. Afterwards we add a layer of sealer and let it dry. After it’s dried, we smooth sand the door by hand and apply another layer of sealer followed by another smooth sanding by hand.
After this process, we stain the door once again (2 coats) and then apply 3 layers of UV protected marine grade varnish (which is also our special house blend). Finally, we add 3 layers of protective sealer to the door for extra protection.
From where do you source your stains and clear coats?
Everything we use is a house blend and cannot be bought from any store. Our product is a mix of carefully chosen products that can be sourced online. For example, our stain remover comes from Russia, our stain comes from Italy, and our varnish comes from Canada.
Is it cheaper for people to refinish a deteriorated door than buy a new one?
Of course, buying a brand-new wood door can cost upwards of $10k, whereas refinishing a wood door can be 1/10 of the cost (usually around $1-2k).
How do you provide value for repeat customers?
We stand by our quality of workmanship, so we provide 6 months of warranty on all our doors and 1 year of free touch-ups, even if its customer’s fault.
We also recommend maintaining your wood door every year or so, and for our dear repeat customers, we have deals and offers if they decide to do maintenance on a yearly basis. Doing maintenance on a yearly basis will end up costing less than if you wanted to refinish your door every 4 years or so.
What do you think makes you stand out from other door refinishing services?
We have great customer service; we also stand by our workmanship and offer warranties and free touch-ups. We also use many different house blend formulas, and our secret techniques are very different. Besides our house blend products, we also use several secret techniques learned from years of experience.
All our competitors only smooth sand, stain, and then varnish the doors. Whereas for us, we fully sand the door down to bare wood and apply multiple layers of stain, sealer, stain again, and different types of varnishes for extra protection.
Normal refinishing jobs for our competitors take around 2 hours, whereas for us, since we care about quality and pay attention to details, it can take 1 full day or even 2 days in some cases. Keep in mind that everything is done at the client’s house. We do not need to take the door to our shop – we will bring our shop to the client’s door.
Summary
DoorStain is a family-run business with a well-earnt reputation for excellence and sincere, compassionate service. No matter how their competitors might try, they can’t replicate DoorStain’s innovative refinishing process, and can’t offer anywhere near the same quality of service.
Thank you Bardia and Mehryar for your time!
You can follow up with them at www.DoorStain.com
