The Fixers

No matter how beautiful your home or gracious your lifestyle, life happens. Your kids make lariats out of the weights on your grandfather clock; a tropical storm pushes the bay onto your newly refinished oak floors; movers puncture your treasured Norman Rockwell painting. Whether it’s due to an accident or simply the passage of time, household possessions need fixing and refurbishing every now and then, and the more expensive or rare they are, the likelier you’ll need an expert to come to the rescue. Fortunately, Sarasota has a number of exceptional craftsmen who specialize in repairing and restoring items from granite countertops to Tibetan carpets—the challenge is finding one when you need him.

As we learned while researching this article, many of these experts don’t advertise or even maintain a Web site, and most keep busy just through word of mouth. (“Please don’t write about me—I can’t handle all the business I have,” several told us when we finally tracked them down.)  

But they are well known to designers, who tend to develop and cultivate a small list of favorites and guard their names fiercely. We asked some top Sarasota designers to scroll through their BlackBerrys and give us the names of their favorite repair and restoration experts. It took some cajoling, but most of them finally consented. So here they are—Sarasota’s best “fixers,” a collection of men and women with the talent, patience and years of experience to restore your treasures and make your home like new.

Clocks

Pauline Geraci and her staff at the Clock Gallery in The Landings Shopping Center have been repairing grandfather clocks of all types for 28 years. 

“There are a large number in this area,” she says. They range from contemporary cable and chain movement clocks to the relatively rare antique English Bell and German wooden-works movement clocks and highly collectible Herschede tubular bell-movement clocks from the late 1800s (valued, she says, at up to $50,000). The Clock Gallery charges $125 to $225 to set up or securely pack away clocks and their movements, weights and pendulums for moving. “They’re delicate instruments that need to be moved and handled by professionals,” Geraci says. And for movements that go awry, they happily make house calls.

Another good repair source is Lindell’s Grandfather Clock Service. Gerald Lindell, who moved here from Delaware three years ago, is the third generation of his family in the business (the business is still operating in Delaware), and he repairs grandfather clocks from Spring Hill to Naples. It’s a disappearing art; Lindell is the sole remaining grandfather clock service in Delaware. Lindell's Grandfather Clock, (941) 927-9733.

“Unfortunately, most people wait until they have a problem to call me,” he says. “It’s a mechanical item which needs maintenance.” His most exciting Sarasota clock repair to date: “A huge clock over 10 feet tall, really ornate with horn-blowing cherubim carved in wood. The closest similar one is owned by the Smithsonian.” Lindell says it had been in storage 25 years because the owner never had ceilings that were tall enough; he finally bought a house with 16-feet ceilings that could accommodate the clock. The Clock Gallery, (941) 924-1122.

Caning 

If the grandkids have roughhoused on your cane rocking chair one too many times, the good folks at Community Haven for Adult and Children with Disabilities can make it look like new.

Caning has been an integral part of the nonprofit organization’s occupational training program for more than 20 years because it strengthens hand-eye coordination and other physical skills, says spokesman Ryan Stoyles. Community Haven clients repair all kinds of cane seating (antique dealers are particularly good customers), but call before you bring in your damaged furniture.
“It’s a lost art; as far as I know; the nearest place for cane repairs is in St. Petersburg,” says Stoyles. “It’s very labor intensive and monotonous. That’s what’s amazing about our folks; they have the patience to sit there and do this beautiful work, and some of our people have been caning for 20 years.”

Prices vary, depending on what’s needed. Turnaround is 10 days to two weeks. One caveat, says Stoyles: “We don’t do staining or varnishing because we don’t want them to get in contact with the chemicals.” Community Haven, 355-8808.

Fine art