This review will be full of superlatives because I cannot describe the work that Bionic Man without…read morewaxing poetic. The crew finished painting the exterior of our house this week and we are delighted to have their sign in our front yard, advertising their great work.
We hired Bionic Man to paint the exterior of our 122-year-old Queen Anne Victorian house because we'd seen the work that they'd done on neighbors' houses and because the business's owner, Paul Dixon, seemed like a straight shooter from the very beginning. Our decision proved to be a good one, starting from Paul's proposal to the last cleanup. Not only did he go over all the details of the job in person, but his proposal was thorough and described--specifically--every last aspect of the project. There was no ambiguity regarding anything, which is important in an expensive project. We always knew what to expect next, and Paul texted every morning at seven o'clock to tell us who would be showing up at nine o'clock. At four o'clock they started to fold up tarps and clean their brushes and such, which as homeowners we really appreciated. They did not leave trash around. We've had contractors throw cigarette butts on the ground, leave wood scraps and nails everywhere, and even leave fast food containers in a pile. That is not Bionic Man's way.
This project lasted five weeks, which is a very long time to have things in disarray, but it was worth it. The crew did extensive prep before even beginning to paint, and then they primed and applied two coats of color. Their goal is to have us not just happy now, but also happy ten years from now. The paint thoroughly covers everywhere, from the walls to the trim. And the porch! We had to tear down the porch and have it rebuilt (another good review of those craftsmen coming soon). The finished product, which we opted to stain, is simply beautiful and adds so much to the overall feel of the house.
I'd like to send individual shoutouts to the crew. They've all been working for Paul for years and each person individually expressed how much they like their job. They seem to get along well and I never happened upon any awkward bickering. They all came and went with a minimum of disruption, even when they had to come inside to work with the windows. These folks are consummate professionals.
Troy (pictured here) is the crew chief. A skilled craftsman in his own right, he kept his eye on all aspects of this enormous job and made sure that the others did things *just* right. When some area needed extra labor, Troy was there. We occasionally had to make a decision regarding some small part of the project and Troy is especially adept at explaining the situation and our options. We would not have been nearly as happy with the finished job had Troy not made that extra effort.
Leroy started the project by washing down the entire house, gently dislodging debris that would have otherwise made the paint peel in the future. There is real skill here and he did a great job. Also, as an aside, Leroy is really funny. Somebody told me that he does stand-up comedy in his spare time, and his quick wit is delightful.
Val has been working with Paul for about twenty years and is one of the most efficient painters I have ever seen. He just sort of quietly goes about his business and gets done what needs to get done. And he does it very well. Val did almost all the stain work on our porch and you can see how well it turned out from the attached picture. He also brought us a dozen eggs laid by his chickens, which was a very sweet surprise.
Josh is the window guy and there is some serious talent there. We have about 30 antique windows, many of which have diamond (or similar) panes. Some of these were broken and needed replacing ($55 per pane, plus the price of the glass). We very much wanted to reuse the antique glass where possible by cutting down large cracked pieces to fit smaller panes. Not only were we able to reuse the wavy glass, but Josh saved the glass that didn't get used again so that we could use it at some future date. The freshly-painted windows pop and provide a perfect finishing touch.
Wren is the newest member of the crew. She is a fine artist (printmaker) by training and brings that skill set to her job. Talk about attention to detail! Wren was involved in every aspect of this project, from scraping to caulking to painting both the walls and trim. Besides appreciating her diligence and talent, I love to see a woman in the trades.
Finally, there is Steven (pictured here). He is the color guy and also did the final staining and finishing of the doors. Steven's work reflects his bachelor's degree in fine art. Before we started this project, Steven came by for a color consultation and was able to match the exact paint chip to the existing trim color at first glance. His eye for color was again evident in his recommendation for the stain that he used on the doors and in his work.
Many thanks to Paul and his crew!
