This painter did a great job two previous times, though it was an empty rental house. Totally…read morephoned in this job, didn't check his work and was shocked to have a dissatisfied customer. I was shocked to be dissatisfied. High stakes, he was made aware of: we're about to put the house on the market, I am super physically disabled, and we were going to be living in our basement with toddlers while they did this. It is not a cakewalk to have them here--but, I told my wife, "this is the guy --he's an artist. That damage? You'll never know it was there-he's a magician!" Not on this job. The magic was his disappearing at the end, knowing he'd a) not done something explicitly requested, b) absolutely tanked a corner of a room, not even trying, c) not checked his or his partner's work and d) not done a walkthrough with the customer after a large detailed job. This was a two day job stretched needlessly into three. Business owner arrived after 10:15 every day and left by 4:30, leaving at 3:15 the last day. Lunch averaged 90 minutes. I paid $3305 in total.
[first four photos] a room, $350 for these walls: Repaired identical drywall tape errors in another room, just missed this floor-to-ceiling eyesore on the day he was doing prep, and instead of fixing it and staying the extra time, just painted over it. Photo of particles from a roller in the same room.
[second four photos] photos of specific spots sent to painter for repair/caulk/paint, they were simply not done (part of a $600 package to repair/caulk/paint around ten separated trim spots). the baseboards in this room (for which we paid for trim to be done) were fully untouched.
[next two photos] a ceiling requested to paint, he just decided didn't need it and didn't mention it until asked about it after he'd left (he did not charge for it).
[next two photos] trim lines run on to walls above, the wall color is visible through the white, the wavy line apparent from across the room. $150 per room for the trim.
[next four photos] drips, drips, blue paint thumb print on framed artwork, no mention. Spent hours scraping up drips on hardwood in every room they painted.
[next five photos] sloppy work and a missed area on a porch ($450). Staples on that post at little kid height? Just paint over those, they'll never notice.
Chastised me for complaining and saying I couldn't work with him again (I initially didn't ask for any money back, I simply reached out to tell him he'd blown it), instead of just asking him to come back and fix the work.
a) It's so funny, the instinct to instruct others on how to complain, and it's even funnier when it's not accompanied by taking genuine responsibility, looking at a photo sent and saying 'Jeez, that is bad, I'm better than this -I'm sorry, man'
b) He'd been told several times the house was going on the market after his work, making the coming-back-to-fix-it not a thing, and he was totally inconsiderate of what it means for a family living in a home to hide out with small children while contractors work.
Bottom line: If you have an empty house that needs painting, and you don't mind checking the work and having him come back, he is gifted when he wants to be. If you're living in the home, find someone else. Because we keep finding mistakes and have to stare every day at the things that were the WHOLE REASON WE PAID A GUY 3K AND LIVED IN OUR BASEMENT WITH TODDLERS, I have now asked for a 33% refund. I will update here if one is given.
