Ray's Drywall, Painting & Refinishing

Ray is a recent transplant from the San Diego area that I found on Craigslist. He had/has references available from his job's in California. I was very pleased with the final outcome -- particularly of the popcorn ceiling removal job. Once the popcorn had been removed, it was evident that the ceiling needed extra flattening because the popcorn had disguised some of the un-levelness in the underlying sheet rock work. Because we were not putting a new texture on the ceilings, all discontinuities would become very obvious, but Ray was able to get the ceiling very flat such that I can't see any unlevel spots in the final product.

Did a fine job on the painting of walls. Do not hire for kitchen cabinet painting. He did the work while I was out of town so I trusted him.. He sent videos, which were nice but I could not really see the work in detail. Used different kinds of paint in the kitchen, even different shades of the color. Parts look like they were done in flat paint other parts look like he used a completely different paint and in places completely different color! This did not show on the video. It really is not professional at all. However, like I said for painting of walls he did fine. Not sure what the heck happened on my cabinets but I will not recommend him because even a novice painter would see the difference in my cabinets. And it should have been corrected the right way.

I called on a Sunday, left a message was called back within an hour to schedule a time. He confirmed the time the day before work, was on time an ready to work on the scheduled day. They did a great job and I will use him again for any other drywall or painting needs.

I had no success finding someone who would do only dry wall repair. Mr. Ray Fontes said he could do both and his price was reasonable. I also shared with him that we would be looking for a painting contractor to finish up the exterior paint job and we would consider him for the job. The drywall repair and texture work included a small area in ceiling that was patched poorly from furnace replacement, 3 areas where lighting fixtures were removed from ceiling as well as some dry wall imperfections on ceiling and walls. Following that, the walls and ceilings were primed in the master, tv room and stair well. Walls and ceilings were painted in a flat latex color. The job was completed in 3 days. The areas were sufficiently protected and prepped with some evidence of overspray. A valance for a large vertical pleated shade was removed by the painter. He told me the return was only glued on but that was not the case. The clip that attached the return to the front was apparently broken not glued as we later learned. The dry wall repair was of reasonably good quality but some areas were overlooked. The visual effect from going to a semi-gloss enamel to flat was most welcome. Only after the furniture was moved back however did I notice that the trim work was sub-par. I spent 2 hours finishing around the doors and baseboards. Even today I noticed areas that need touch up. Though the job was completed in 3 days, the painter and his helper did not work 3 full days and rushed the job. After having another painter in for similar work but in another part of the house and where that job was rushed, I know I am far more satisfied with the quality of my own interior painting.

The project was a success from the very start of his bid, his professionalism, positive attitude and work ethic. He knows the drywall and finishing trade very well and puts in an honest days work doing the work himself.

Ray was on time completed the job as described. He was clean and covered everything to make sure dust did not had on surrounding areas.