T And T Painting North Liberty IA

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Tom was quick to respond to us as and pleasant to work with when we were new customers so we contacted him again when we needed the deck re-treated. The second time was a different story: 1) His workers left a mess when they left, including empty soda and paint cans 2) They promised to put all the furniture back on the deck when they were done but never did so I had to haul everything back up the stairs by myself 3) The treatment, which we were told was so expensive because it lasted several years, did not even last 10 months before it wore off (and our deck is not at all high-traffic) 4) I contacted Tom 5/6/14 and let him know of the problem and he said he would come out that evening to look at it. He did not come so, on 5/10/14 I called again and he said he would come out that evening and take a look at it. He did not come so on 5/18/14 I called again and he said he was "on the biggest job of his life" but would come take a look at it in the next few days. He did not come so I called again 5/20/14 and was told the same story.."biggest job of my life but I will be there in the next day or two." I gave him a couple more weeks to finish his "big job" yet he still hadn't come by (or even called). On 6/7 I texted him a picture of his failed product to which he responded that he couldn't come because he was on "the biggest job of his life" but said that "My sales rep has been called and he will come next week to problem solve." Two and a half weeks later, still no visit or further communication so we decided that it was time to write this review (6/25/14). Tom seems like a nice guy and, when it works, his product looks great. Unfortunately his priority is clearly new business and not taking care of previous customers when his product has failed.

We were having trouble finding someone to paint the exterior of our 1960's ranch when I found a business card for a painter in Coralville at the Ace hardware store. We reached the painter through his email, and he arranged to visit our house to give us an estimate. He assured me it was not too far to drive (we're in Victor, he's in North Liberty). He came to our house and said no problem, he and his crew could easily paint our house. He told us about his 28 years of experience, that he always worked on the job with his crew (didn't farm it out to inexperienced helpers), that they do a great job and stand behind their work. My husband asked if they used a power washer, as he had experienced too high of pressure washing ruining siding on previous houses. Tom assured us that his power washer is low pressure, because he doesn't want to get the siding gouged or damaged by high pressure. We agreed to meet in Coralville on March 22 to discuss the price and time frame. We met at a restaurant, signed a contract for $2,635 for the job, with $1000 down payment so he could buy paint and supplies. The contract and receipt were dated 4/2/13. He would start on the job around April 22 after he finished up another job he was working on at the time (he showed me a picture of a large Victorian house in Iowa City he said he was working on). Wet weather had delayed him on that job, and our job would also be weather dependent, which made sense at the time. April 22 came and went and we didn't hear anything from Tom. The previous week had been very rainy, so we weren't surprised. We called him later that week and he said he was running behind, that it would be another week or so. Since there's not much we could do at this point, we waited. We called him again in a couple weeks, but the same story--weather delays. I understand rain delays, but I also appreciate when a "businessman" communicates with me and lets me know what's happening with his schedule. So now it's May 21, and Tom says he and his crew will be here tomorrow to start washing down the siding and scraping loose paint. May 22 and we get a call from Tom that they'll be a little late because one of his crew had car trouble and he had to pick him up in Grinnell. Tom arrived mid morning and dropped off one guy (crew #2) and a high pressure washer. He said his low pressure washer wasn't working, but his guy knew what he was doing so no problem. Tom left to go pick up the other guy. Crew #2 started spraying the siding. He's working by himself, moving the ladder, doing a satisfactory job. Tom finally shows up with his other guy (crew #3) plus a dog (who proceeded to "check out" my flower beds), and the other two stood around talking. Tom showed my husband how well the washer does on the sidewalk and retaining wall (I didn't necessarily want those pressure washed, thank you). We found several pieces of siding that were pretty spongy and decided they should be replaced. Crew member #3 tells me how he knows a local guy who can get this done really fast, and all he has to do is call him. We needed this replaced asap so it could be painted with the rest of the house. I said fine, go ahead and have this wonder-contractor call me so we can get this siding fixed. Two days later and I haven't heard a thing from W.C., so I call my favorite contractor (who's always busy), who has his guys here the next morning and they're done by the afternoon. Siding fixed, no help from Crew #3. This crew of 3 packs up early afternoon on the one and only day they showed up (all 3 plus the dog) in the pickup and head out like they've got somewhere to go. I notice their gas can is still here, so I call Tom's cell and tell him they left it. He says he really needs it, plus he left his 5 gallon bucket of paint, so they'll be back to pick it up. They came back and did pick their stuff up. So the next day (May 23) we're thinking they'll be back to finish washing the house (never did get all the way around) and start scraping, but nobody shows up. Nobody calls. We call him, no answer. Leave a voicemail message, no answer. This goes on for WEEKS. Leave a voicemail, no response. Finally on June 17 Tom calls in response to a message from my husband. They're trying to finish up another paint job, and they'll be here Thursday, 6/20/13, at 8:00 a.m. Great! But Thursday comes and goes, and no painters, no phone calls. June 21 my husband calls Tom, gets his voicemail. He left him a message that we are very disappointed in his lack of communication and lack of progress on our painting project. Effectively today, we are cancelling the contract. Since we never gave him the paint colors that we had chosen, we knew he hadn't purchased any paint, so we wanted our money back. We would be willing to pay him $200 for his time on the one day he showed up, but we wanted reimbursed for the $800 remaining. It is no surprise that we have not heard a thing from Tom as of today (8/15/13) and we have not received any money back from our $1000, despite additional messages left on his phone. Unfortunately, I did not look on Angie's list before I signed the contract with T and T Painting. I see two previous reviews that would have made me toss the business card out rather than waste my $1000 and most of my summer trying to get my house painted. I should have used Angie months ago. We have since found a local painter (I checked local folks who have used them) and they are promptly getting my house painted in a professional and efficient manner.

I needed my house painted and found T And T Painting on Craigslist. I called then met with the owner, Tom Hasbrouck, in the fall of 2012 for a free estimate. He quoted me a price of $5200 which he said would include power washing my house & garage, scraping, caulking, priming & finally painting both structures. He then informed me that he had a great crew of about 7-10 guys and could "knock it out in about a week". He also said he would include repairing & refinishing my deck. I liked Tom's enthusiastic attitude towards my 1905 Victorian. When I was finally in a position to go forward with the project, I again contacted Tom on May 28th, 2013. He met me at my place of employment that day, wrote up a contract that included what we discussed in the fall and requested 50% down for the job to cover "materials & gas". I wrote him a check for $2600 which was cashed within 24 hours. He told me he would be at my house with a crew to begin work that Thursday, 5/30. I would like to add that before I gave Tom any money, I told him I was planning a vacation and wanted this job to be completed by June 28th and if he wasn't able to do that to let me know immediately. He assured me there would be no problem with that deadline. Tom didn't show up on Thursday or even Friday or Saturday, as promised. He finally showed up on Sunday, 6/2 with borrowed equipment to begin power washing to remove old paint. I know the equipment was borrowed because the person he borrowed it from accompanied Tom to my house to make sure his equipment wasn't "misused or damaged". The house wasn't completely power washed and only one railing of the 520 sf deck was touched. Tom then informed me that he would be back Wednesday saying "I promise, you have my word on it". My friend asked if we could have it in writing and Tom said "my word is good enough, I'll be here". He didn't show up or call on Wednesday. He called me Thursday and said he wouldn't be working on my house on Thursday or Friday, but his plan was to begin work on Saturday through Monday. Tom didn't show up on Saturday and had his business associate call me because he didn't want to "catch s***" from me. In other words, Tom wasn't adult or professional enough to speak with me himself. Tom's business associate informed me that they wouldn't be doing any work at my house during that weekend and that they "HAD to finish the job they were on in Iowa City by Monday" or else "the owners are threatening legal action" due to numerous delays. He said they would start working on my house Tuesday morning, 6/11. Tom's business associate showed up Tuesday with all the equipment, which coincidentally belongs to him, not Tom. I learned Tom doesn't own the necessary equipment to run a painting business that he claims to have been in 23 years nor does he have the manpower. Several phone conversations with Tom took place Tuesday evening, one where he even promised he would show up Wednesday morning at 8am or agree to a $225 daily penalty for every day he doesn't show when he says he will. I was worried because his business associate told me that Tom had asked him if he could borrow some money from him. Where was the $2600 I gave him for materials for MY house? Tom didn't answer but did admit on the phone that he did have to have his mother-in-law get involved to help with finances. This was not professional behavior. Tom's business associate left, leaving his trailer but returned several hours later to pick it up. I called Tom and asked what was going on and was met with an irrational rant of "why are you doing this to me"? "I have never been treated this way before by anyone", "you and your spoiled rich girl attitude". WHAT?! When he finally let me get a word in, I informed him that I figured out he had no intention of showing up Wednesday morning as he had told his business associate on the (speaker) phone to "go, just get out of there, take the trailer home". His business associate told me that the last conversation he had with Tom included an agreement that Tom would call me, relinquish the project and give my money back. When trying to talk to Tom during his rant, I was able to get him to agree to give me my money back and he said he would be at my house at 4-5pm Wednesday. I said 'if you had planned to be at my house at 8am like you promised, why can' you just give me my money at that time"? He refused and said he had to be able to get to the bank. I spoke with Tom today, 6/12, and he promised me he was going to the bank at 1:30 to get my money and would call me by 2pm and meet with me to give my money back. I leave work at 3pm today, and if I don't have the cash in my hand by then, my next stop is Keokuk County Court House to file a small claims document. I've included so many details because if anyone is considering hiring T And T Painting of North Liberty, you will have all the information you need to pick up on the warning signs you are about to also get taken for a ride by a person that doesn't have the first clue about business & professionalism. Don't let your money pay for someone else's project. Don't allow your money to pay for a service provider's lackadaisical day to day lifestyle while having no consideration whatsoever for how hard you actually work for the money to make your investment more valuable.

They were supposed to start on Aug 20 but they did not show up or call. After making four phone calls each day they gave me a one week date. They showed up a week and a half later and worked for half a day. They had trouble with their washer. They came back a week later for half a day and left after a city car drove by. I called and gave them the name of a local contractor we had used before and he said he would help them with the city. The next week they started. They painted the house and started on the trim but they had the wrong paint colors so after more phone calls and a few days they got the right colors and continued. They finished up two weeks later and had to redo the storms due to using longer screws and the windows would not open. There cleanup was unprofessional. Its done and looks OK I hope it lasts for a while and will go to siding next time.

EXCELLENT. VERY HAPPY WITH THEIR WORK… ALL WORKERS COURTEOUS AND WORKED HARD TO GET THE JOB DONE ON TIME. VERY HONEST.