Cabinet Painting from Oak to White (9/10)
Interior Painting - entire main floor, up the stairwell and 2 bathrooms. (5/10)
Service (3/10)
I was really looking forward to working with Chris and his team. I use reviews extensively, and the ones here on Homestars, along with the initial visit for the quote, reassured me that I'd made the right decision - despite going with the highest quote.
I really wish I could tell you this job met up to expectations, but it fell apart from day 1, and continued to go downhill from there. We specifically booked for a time period over two weeks when all but one of our family members was out of town and the big dog was at the kennels. It was easier for all, understanding the scope of the job. Before we left I confirmed dates and times expected, and felt we were leaving things in good hands. We knew there was a problem at their off-site spray booth and that there would be a delay getting the cabinet doors back. We were fine with that.
What we weren't fine with was the no-show on day 1 - "car troubles". Then started to get concerned hearing the spray job was running into the long weekend (was supposed to be completed on the Friday). Despite working hours of approximately "9.00 to 5.00", nobody was showing up until after noon, and they were only staying a couple of hours at at a time. A check-in with Chris assured us that they were on track, and not to worry.
The interior painting was supposed to start on the Tuesday. Once again a no-show. "Car Troubles". In the meantime my son had been without kitchen access for 5 days with no end in site. On Thursday I talked to our son, and was dismayed to find all they’d donewas paint the oak work, and tape/fill the house. The interior painting hadn’t started at all – supposedly another 2-3 day job. The whole reason we hired this company was because they emphasized the quality of work - the sanding between coats - the patching of dents and dings visible to the eye. A phone call to Chris left me concerned and an email was sent that night. (Keep in mind we were on vacation.)
Chris went to the house on Friday afternoon and called to tell me they had to do extra coats on a couple of walls but were staying late to complete the work. We actually believed him and felt optimistic. A return on Saturday morning for touch-ups where needed, would ensure they would be out by 1pm when our flight came in.
Imagine our surprise upon our return. We were surprised to receive a text saying some walls took 4 coats so they were staying to finish off. Again, I expected these were last minute discoveries and wouldn’t take that long. Imagine our surprise when we walked through the door at 2.45pm to discover the house in complete shambles. They weren’t doing last minute work. They were barely part way through the full job. The feature wall in the kitchen clearly only had one coat. The hallway was still half mango (should have been light blue). The skylight and two bathrooms hadn’t been started. Dropcloths and paper hadn’t been removed from any area, and the entire place was uninhabitable. I spotted, and pointed out, a spot of dark blue paint on my ivory blind. We lasted for 30 minutes in the basement with music blaring upstairs, and the painters hollering back and forth at each other. There is not sufficient room there for 4 adults and 2 dogs. We couldn’t bring the luggage in. My first reaction was disbelief, the second tears, and the third anger. We couldn’t even use our kitchen, so were going to have to go out for yet another restaurant meal. Had we known it was anything like it was, we would have called the kennel to see if they could have boarded the dog for another night or two, and booked straight into a hotel – deducting both from their bill.
They were still here, ‘just finishing off’ at 9pm after we returned from my parents. That took over an hour more. There were no apologies. Instead there were a couple of comments bandied about indicating that ‘working to deadline is always a challenge because customers keep adding stuff to jobs’, and ‘it’s our busy season’. Wow. Really? Is that what you say to a client who is already upset at walking home from a great vacation into straight chaos? Pam informed us that she’d be back on Monday to do touch ups as there were a few left when tape was removed. She said Blind Doctor would fix the blind as she hadn’t been able to get the stain out. She left us frog tape to mark any that we discovered. The light would also be better for her to see them.
I had mentioned in one email, “we really hope this is the best paint job we’ve ever seen, because it’s going to take a lot to erase the bad taste that’s currently in our mouth.”
Well, as the light of day dawned on Sunday, we were also able to see more clearly. That was when we realized just how rushed and unprofessionally completed the job really was.
• The insides of the cabinet containing the dishwasher hadn’t been painted or, apparently, taped. They had drips and spray marks all down them.
• There were drops on the fireplace brickwork, window sills & floors; paint smears on, and paint in one of the toilets.
• Edging is sloppy – up to cabinet edges and baseboards.
• Several of the nails we left in for replacing pictures were removed and painted over.
• Several were not replaced. I have a container of ‘spares’ to figure out where they belong – clearly there is no decent system for removal and replacement.
• There was paint on several of the baseboards.
• There is no way the coats on Saturday were sanded between layers – they had no time to dry.
• The window frames in the dining room had large splashes of blue paint down the narrow strip between the two walls.
• Corners and edges aren't crisp, and dents are still there.
• When we pointed out dry drips/runs on the railings, we were told they were from the original varnish. Perhaps that is the case (although I’m pretty sure they weren’t) – but if so, they should have been caught and sanded out in the prep work.
I expected that I would have been the first call Chris made on Monday morning as my text to him had left no misunderstanding how livid we were. And I would have expected the touchup gal would also have been there promptly at 9. Nope - I had to call him at noon, and she strolled in at 2pm. (Also got annoyed that I wouldn't sign their release saying I was completely satisfied - there was paint peeling off in chunks in the bathroom because they'd slopped it on.) By then we were done. We wanted them out of the house.
We cancelled the den which was supposed to be completed after we got the rest of the house back together. Didn't want any of that crew back there.
I will give Chris credit. He did offer to repair everything. We declined. We've touched things up where needed. And we negotiated a fair settlement off our bill. I genuinely think we got that 'one lemon' in 100 jobs. But based on that, I can't recommend this company for the interior work. If it had been a phenomenal paint job, I'd reconsider. But my former painter - a solo guy who didn't tape, did a far better job. I would recommend them for the paint conversion from oak to white cabinets. They do look great.
I know this review is long-winded. But I use reviews extensively, so felt I owed the community the truth about our job. I hope it's a one-off for the company. But my recommendations if you hire them is to get their time commitment nailed down.
