Oh boy, I have been very excitedly looking forward to writing this review.
I’ve known what I’ve been wanting to do, and it’s obvious that Murphy is one of the most well-known brands in this space. I first tried to reach out to a customer using the Murphy scheduling portal. My appointment was confirmed, but no one was actually there – twice. Honestly, sounded like an awesome thought, but how many people would be available for free or have the product that I was looking for?
I still had questions, so I emailed. They respond – fast, and they’re friendly, and helpful, and all of the good attributes. I ended up getting a free book lock (c’mon, this is why we have hidden doors, right?) which I wanted to buy anyway, so worth it. Also was a little bothered by the price tag, and after talking, it was decided that the unfinished door was the way to go – for lots of reasons (ease of shipping, ease of staining, etc).
I almost immediately got a call from my Concierge – which was a nice touch. I figured that the exorbitant price tag may be worth it for this type of service. She confirmed everything, made sure I had her contact info, and then before I knew it, the parts arrived – literally within ~2 weeks.
It still took me another 10ish days to stain the pieces before assembly – and then still another 2 weeks to start installing in the opening. And that’s when things started to go downhill.
The gap between the top of the jamb top and wall opening is off by 3”. I measure my jamb, it’s 79” – mind you, this is for an 82” RO. No problem, right? I’ll just call my concierge – oh wait, she doesn’t answer. I’ll text, she responded like that last time, right? NO, STILL NO ANSWER. Ok, so I’ll call customer service – no problem, get a response, they tell me what’s up, we’re good.
Next problem, the instructions DO NOT MATCH the pre-drilled holes for the hinges, nor do the instructions show which hinge is correct. The instructions say to put the silver hinge on the bottom, which is the smaller one. Ok, so I’ll try my concierge again. Guess what? NO ANSWER. Great, do some online research. Found some random homemade video online and it directly contradicted the official instructions. Then found some MurphyDoor videos online that confirmed this random video was correct. Turns out, it was the correct move.
Oh and a funny tidbit – the instructions…they were 3d rendered. How do I know? Things are oddly placed – if the lines were present, it would be logical, but they’re just floating there, appears that they’re mounted …off. They’re not.
Next problem, some parts, like the Narrow Friction Door Catch, were different. Did the instructions indicate anything? NOPE! Got creative and things worked out.
Now it’s time for the book latch. It’s super cheap pressed wood that doesn’t stand firmly, nor does it have the designs that the instructions adamantly state are on the book. Instead, it’s just a solid blue box with some painted “pages.” The book doesn’t open like the instructions state, it’s just a box. Additionally, it would have been nice to not install the standard friction door catch stopper on the threshold. The book latch stopper (per the instructions) was supposed to line up exactly with the holes I drilled. Of course they didn’t, I mean, right? More new holes! Fortunately, the fresh, now unused ones, were covered.
Many of the holes weren’t routed/drilled out completely, so I had to spend some extra time cleaning them up. I didn’t have a huge issue with this; it was moderately cathartic with the other issues I experienced.
The front casing was an easy installation, but nothing in the instructions or any videos online, or really anywhere talked about the back casing. I did some thorough testing for gap checking and had to neatly cut the corner of the bottom of the vertical casing to get it to fit over the threshold. Hope this was the right thing to do, no idea!
I reached out on Murphy Door’s Subreddit to complain (I thought into the abyss), but Murphy actually responded. Apologized for the issues, admitted to having an updated process, but not updating the instructions, apologized for the concierge, etc. Said it’ll be fixed in the future. What good does that do me though? My door is installed – I have already paid full price. None of this is good for me.
Now, I know this sounds like a super negative review, and the reason it’s not 5 stars is because of the above, but overall, it IS a good product. The wood is solid and the hinges are mature and look like they’ll hold a pretty significant amount of weight. It’s very good looking and I’m VERY excited to show it off. Just make SURE to get a brad nailer. It’s my first time with one, and I’m very happy with it. Totally required for the casing installation.
Ultimately, if my concierge was available, This would have been a 4 or 5 star review, but flying blind at this price and the lack of QA makes this product a travesty.