Mark Marz grew up working at his father’s metal restoration business and took ownership at age 18.

Today, he said Colonial Brass has more than 20,000 Houston-area clients, not including those who ship their brass, copper, silver, bronze and steel items from all over the U.S.

“When you're dealing with things that are somebody's grandparents’ or [have] been in the family for 200 years, the look on their face when you give it to them—that is what we do the work for,” he said.

Respecting the craft

Colonial Brass specializes in restoring, polishing, refinishing, repairing, designing and custom fabricating just about anything made of metal—from door hardware and antique tea sets, to church altarware, furniture and massive bronze statues.


Marz said his business is one of the only ones of its kind left in the region.

Most items are returned to clients within four to six weeks, but the staff fast-tracks services for churches that meet weekly and offers same-day door hardware restoration.

“We’ll do the repair on it, and then we'll restore it in any finish that they may come up with. And when we get into finishes, there are literally 100 different colors that we could go with,” Marz said.

A family affair


Nearly half of the 12 individuals on staff at Colonial Brass are related, but Marz said all his employees are treated like family.

When his previous location was destroyed by a fire, he said he kept his team on the payroll until they could reopen seven months later.

“They’re not just employees; they're artisans. They’re artists in the craft that they do, and I can't easily replace them,” he said. “I have employees that have been with me for 20 years.”

Like his staff, many of Marz’s customers have been with him for generations.


What’s next

Marz said he expects to open a new storefront for Colonial Brass by the end of the year at 2939 Fondren Road, Houston. This will serve as an additional customer service space, as well as a retail store offering restored items he’s found on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and at area garage sales.

The business will continue to serve clients from the FM 529 location—from bringing new life to sentimental heirlooms to custom-matching or modernizing kitchen cabinet hardware.

“You’re not going to find a million of us out there. It’s a very niche business,” Marz said. “We’re very specialized in what we do.”