Barth-Tex Upholstery & Fabrics

Barth-​Tex is a real find. It is a tiny little hole-​in-​the wall of a shop that has been there forever and the owner Paul works the way true craftsmen always used to work. Paul was extremely helpful, charged way less than expected, and did not even ask for any money until he was almost half-​way done with the job, at which point he asked for half of the full price, the remainder to be paid upon completion of the job. He helped me pick out a beautiful fabric to reupholster an heirloom sofa, and did a perfect job on it. The finished product is gorgeous. I had also asked him to make new cushions for a settee, but he called a few days later to tell me the sette was in bad shape (which it was). He refurbished the setee, including new spprings, for next-​to-​nothing. When the furniture pick-​up and delivery guy whom Paul uses didn’t return my phone calls, Paul arranged the pick-​up and delivery for me. During this whole process, Paul’s daughter Stephanie called me two or three times just to check in and let me know how the job was going. I always had easy access to Paul. He even gave me his personal cell phone number so I could reach him when the shop was closed. All in all, I am thrilled to have discovered Barth-​Tex.

My dog chewed up my new couch cushion (yeah…) and Barth-​Tex cut me a perfect new one within 30 mins of walking in the door, saving me hundreds of dollars. Can’t beat that.

I had a terrible experience with Barth-​Tex. I’m an interior designer and I work with upholsterers and furniture restorers frequently. I needed someone in Brooklyn and tried Barth-​Tex based on their Unilocal reviews. It was an absolute nightmare working with them. I wasted an insane amount of time trying to communicate with the office to get pick-​ups and deliveries scheduled, and they cancelled time and again or just didn’t show up– a major inconvenience when you plan to be home for them. I had to hound them to get the work done or I think they would’ve just sat on my cushions for years. I found them to be completely unprofessional, with no respect for the customer’s time.

One word: UNPROFESSIONAL! After nearly four weeks and conflicting information, we decided to no longer seek service at this establishment.
We brought in a ottoman pillow to be upholstered, and should have known from the start that there would be trouble. First, the employee who was there to «assist» was recognizably intoxicated. We figured «hey, it’s a Friday and perhaps he’s ‘getting the party started early’- no judgement». The employee turned down many of the onsite fabrics we chose with a simple response of «no, that’s no good” — with no attempts to elaborate on why, and ultimately chose one that the employee agreed to. He quoted $ 70 with a three day turn around.
Fast forward a week and and a half, still not a phone call from the establishment. We decide to show face and check on the ottoman, and there it sat still incomplete without a sign of it being touched. During this time, the owner was on site and informed us that «the material you chose wasn’t enough to complete the project, and you need to choose another». Really? Couldn’t we have been contacted and informed of this rather than allowing almost two weeks to lapse? «Whatever» we thought again, and went back to the drawing board of choosing a fabric. Turned out that not only were some of the ORIGINAL fabrics chosen indeed «good choices» according to the owner, but we would have to pay $ 80 more than the initial quote because the previous employee «undercharged us and only charged for the labor and not the fabric». What!!! We discussed the quotes plain and simple two weeks prior, and settled on $ 70– labor and fabric included. For goodness sakes it was just an ottoman! After some back and forth, we said «fine», and agreed to both the new fabric and the inflated cost.
Fast forward two more weeks, and we had had enough! A phone call to the business informed us that the ottoman had still not been worked on– with no real reason provided onto why. My husband untimely decided to return to show face yet again to figure out exactly what was going on. He was met by the owner, who brushed him off stating «well I can’t just have my men stop other big projects just to work on your ottoman». Really?! This is what you call customer service and professionalism?
At this time we chose to take back the ottoman and no longer wished to do business. We drove to another local upholstery shop, and the ottoman was complete within 4 hours!!!
Long story short, we would NEVER recommend such a place. The one star is given to the «party star» employee for bringing in the weekend early.

I appreciate when people are honest and straight forward with me. Today I brought a goat skin ottoman to Barth-​Tex to be stitched. The man with whom I talked showed me that the material that came apart was too worn to be sewed and last. So while I was disappointed, I was very grateful that he did not accept the job knowing it would not last.
He suggested I go to Manhattan and find a ½ yard of suede that he could cut and use to replace the top of my ottoman. A bit inconvenient and it would change the design of the piece so I decided to look at other options. Meanwhile thank you Barth-​Tex for your honesty!

Very few people combine the qualities of competency, fairness, honesty and personality. Once in a while you find the real deal. Paul at Barth-​Tex is one of those rare breeds. After making a few inquiries to other vendors, my conversation with Paul convinced me I was making the right choice. The work was done expertly, inexpensively, and rapidly. My six chairs were repaired at about 50% of the cost elsewhere and were finished and delivered within 4 days!
Search no further.

Great place and lots of choices. I wanted my 2 sofa seats up holstered. Searched the right place and came up with Berth. Trust me could not be more happy. The prices were just great. Ended up getting my dinning chairs up holstered as well. Looks great. The work was done within few days. Because I had my friends visiting me totally worked with me on the time line.
I would strongly recommend at least one quote before you go any where.

Overall a great experience. I had bought some dining room chairs from an antique store and needed them to be stripped down from brown to grey wood and reupholstered. I brought a picture in of the chair and he said «yeahhh, no problem» in the most reassuring way. He then quoted me a price that was literally a third of MOD furniture in sunset park.
My chairs are finally done after about 8 weeks and they couldnt look better. Paul even built a new cushion frame for for about $ 20 because I was unhappy with the outdated fat cushion on the original chair. He literally transformed my chairs.
Paul was so nice and worked so well with me. His work is just as good (if not better) than trendy MOD furniture. I really recommend Barth Tex. Paul is now my go to guy for anything that I need reupholstered.

I called three places about getting the cushion for my office chair reupholstered. DAS wanted $ 150 and $ 30 for materials. Another place said it wasn’t even worth it to him; just get a new chair. I finally called Paul and he gave me a price of $ 100 after I emailed him a picture. Well sure! When I brought in the seat he said «nah, that’s $ 65.» Even better. He told me it would be done in 3 or 4 days. That day he called to tell me it was done. And the results? It looked great! Not only did he reupholster it, he rebuilt the cushion!
Very rarely do you get the triple threat of price, service and speed. This place has it. I wish I had more to bring him.

Couldn’t be happier with the upholstery work from Paul. I had 2 chairs reupholstered and a piano bench cushion made. The two seats cost me $ 50 each: half of what other stores in the city quoted me. The piano bench cushion cost $ 75. It’s an easy trip on the F train and Paul is extremely responsive and helpful. I will definitely be back to bring him more projects.

I’ll co-​sign on everything Rebecca said about Paul and Barth-​Tex, and I’ll vouch for their upholstery work too.

This review is based on customer service and supplies, as I purchase tools and material from them frequently. I haven’t had something upholstered by them, but they’re work seems pretty great too.
Every time I have to run an errand to Barth Tex, I look forward to it. The owner, Paul, is a knowledgeable, considerate, and generous guy. He’ll be willing to sit down with you and explain anything you might need to know, answer questions, or show the novice upholsterer a few tricks and methods.
I teach intro to upholstery, and send my students here to buy supplies for class, and they always come back remarking how great the place is and how helpful and friendly the people here are. This can be a rare thing to find in a city of snooty and rude business owners, so when I find it, I make note.
Definitely one of my favorite businesses in NYC.