A&M Professional Refinishing

It went very well. Provider showed up on time. Was very professional and I appreciated how he was through in explaining everything to me.

The bath tube was a color tub, which requires an extra coat. The extra coat was an additional $100. I am happy with they way the tub turned out.

Andre asked to have the bathroom dust free for a better finish. This was not an issue because the bathroom was newly renovated and clean. When they inspected the tub they found some small chips in it and said it would be additional and recommended a high build primer to cover the original color for an additional $100 which I accepted. The job took about 4-5 hours, most of the time they were waiting for the paint to dry between coats. I was not happy with the finish. There were many dust or dirt spots much bigger than the small chips that they found. Andre did come back the next week no questions asked and fix the spots and wax the tub. It looks much better than it did but you can see where he had to resend and touchup. Overall, the original price was very reasonable, probably too cheap but the up-sale on the high build primer made it expensive. Their drop cloths were very dusty, much more than any dust in the bathroom. The tub looks pretty good, but if you are picky, you might not be happy with the results.

They have been fine to work with so far. They are a little busy so we were put on a cancellation list if they could come out sooner. However, we had to wait until April for them to come out. They have been easy to work with.

This has been a disastrous experience. The job is completely unsatisfactory, Andre has been totally unresponsive about fixing defects, and I was not properly informed about all of the process. How can my experience be so dramatically different from dozens of reviews? Retrospectively, I think one should be suspicious of a contractor who has many ?recent? posts, all within a few days of one another. Andre came on March 6th to look at my bathroom and give me an estimate. I am repairing an older townhome in order to sell it. The vintage bathrooms had solid cast iron tubs and in the most used tub, the white porcelain had been eroded away in places. The porcelain sink, on chrome legs, was still shiny with little sign of wear and in very good condition. The wall tiles, also white porcelain, had many fine line cracks that detracted from the appearance. (See pictures.) I knew the tub had to be resurfaced and I was hoping the walls could be restored to their former appearance by covering the fine crack lines. Andre assured me that the whole bathroom could be done, and recommended resurfacing the sink as well, matching the ?Kohler White? finish that was on my toilet. As the porcelain had yellowed slightly, and since the toilet was brand new, I agreed that this made sense. He assured me that the spray-on finish looked exactly like the original porcelain: smooth and shiny. The fee for the entire bathroom was $2,200. Into this was figured a discounted fee for the bathtub - $319, as advertised on Angie?s list. He told me that price was figured into the total cost and that I did not need to buy the coupon on-line for the discount. We set a date for the work to be done. Shortly after setting the date I called him back to ask if I could see a sample of his finished work as I was feeling a little nervous about what the glaze actually looked like. He said that previous clients really didn?t want people to come into their homes. We discussed whether the glaze manufacturer would be able to show me a sample in their north suburban showroom. He said he called them and they said that wasn?t possible. That should have been a red flag, but I was anxious to get this done and there were all these glowing reviews on Angie?s List, so I kept the appointment. (Other red flags to be considered: no website; no email; address is only a PO box. How do I find this guy if he won't answer my calls? Clearly I didn't have my skeptical glasses on when I hired him.) On March 15th Andre called me to say he was on his way around 10 AM. He said ?you?ve had the bathroom door removed, haven?t you, since we can?t work with it in place?? I said no, I thought you were going to do that. In fact, my contract clearly says ? WE will remove bathroom door?. He said since it was a new paint job they didn?t want to be responsible for any damage to the paint. By sheer coincidence, and very fortunately, my painter was there at the time and was able to remove the door for me. Had he not been there I could not have done it by myself. Another red flag. Andre arrived with his coworker around 10:30 AM. They did some repairs in the tub, taped (masked) the pipes, faucets, mirror and woodwork, which took 3-4 hours, then proceeded to the glazing. They finished the entire process around 8:30 PM ? a long day for all of us. When I went to look at the finished area the first thing that jumped out at me was the sink looked ?speckled? ? an uneven, bumpy orange peel surface. It was a lovely white, but not smooth or shiny. Andre told me this was due to air bubbles in the spray and as soon as it started to dry the bubbles would collapse and the surface would be smooth. I took his word for it. I could not touch the surface as it was still wet so couldn't tell what it felt like. The final result is just awful. The ?air bubbles? never collapsed. The sink looks just terrible. It is very mottled and uneven ? the ?orange peel surface? is still there. It jumps out at you as you walk into the bathroom, and looks very artificial. This is NOTHING like original porcelain! It is incredibly rough ? feels exactly like sandpaper. I could never sell the house with this sink. It will have to be replaced. The bathtub looks better than the sink. The dark spots are gone. It has a shiny appearance. But when you run your hand over it, it?s very rough. You really wouldn?t want to settle into this tub for a relaxing bath ? it would be scratchy and very uncomfortable. The tile walls are the best result. Almost all of the fine black lines are gone. Several deeper cracks remain, but I can live with these. The walls look pretty shiny. Again, when you run your hand over them, they are not smooth, but not as bad as either the sink or the tub, and unlike a sink and tub, most people don?t spend time touching walls. Andre promised he would come back to ?polish? the surface and make all the roughness disappear. He assured me that my contract covered any necessary repairs. We had an appointment to do that on March 30th. When I called him to confirm that appointment he said he couldn't do it and would "call me" to reschedule. He didn't call. He wouldn't respond to my repeated phone messages. My husband left him a message over the weekend saying we would turn this over to our attorney if he didn't fix the damage. This morning he called and said he would NOT come to repair the damage unless I mailed him, in advance, another $100. (See below for details on the $100.) We told him we would pay him the $100 after the job was complete and the defects repaired. He refused. The worst part of this is, of course, the terrible ( and expensive) result, which will be compounded by the cost of replacing the sink. But the process was also a nightmare. At the end of the glazing, as they started to remove their equipment I asked when they would take down all the taping. He said, much to my amazement, that they didn?t do that. It was my responsibility. I WAS ASTOUNDED. This wasn?t a few pieces of tape and paper. This was a bathroom that was literally wrapped, floor to ceiling, in layer upon layer of tape. (See pictures.) He said it couldn?t be done for 4 hours because particles from the coverings might peel off and land in the wet finish. I said I was happy to have them come back the following day to remove the tape. He said they would only do that for an extra fee of $150. He pointed out that tape removal wasn?t included in the contract. I said I never thought to ask them that question because I expected any workman to clean up after himself and this certainly came under the heading of ?cleaning up?. When a painter tapes to mask areas not to be painted, he always removes the tape when finished painting. (And removes it as quickly as possible because otherwise it sticks to surfaces and removes finishes.) This is basically a high tech paint job, and it never occurred to me that he wouldn?t remove the taping when finished. He refused to even consider it. He said if I?d read the fine print on the Angie?s List coupon I would have known that the taping wasn?t removed. But since he told me I didn?t need to purchase the coupon, I had not read the fine print. However, checking back to his listing the day after the work was done NOWHERE in the fine print did it mention not removing the taping! So, basically, he lied to me. I told him I would not pay him his full price without tape removal and he could either take some money off the contract price or come back to finish the job. After many heated words, he agreed to take $100 off the price. The amazing part of this conversation is that he actually said to me: ?I?ve had this problem with other clients?. I responded that I wasn?t surprised to hear that, and since this is an issue that has occurred in the past, he should have known to discuss it in advance ? not leave it as a big awful surprise at the end. I asked him how long it should take me to remove the tape. I got a vague ?everybody is different? response. Bottom line: the following day it took my husband and me, working together, 3 hours of continuous work to remove the tape. The pipes weren?t just ?wrapped?; they were "mummified?. Many layers of spirally applied tape ? a combination of masking tape and painters? tape applied in many layers. (See picture.) In a few areas they had used some smarts: the tub faucet was wrapped with a latex glove and only the edges taped. The toilet was encased in a large plastic bag, taped to the floor. Those were easy. But every towel rack, mirror, pipe, faucet handle, etc. was encased in an almost impenetrable barrier of stickiness. My fingers were raw by the time we finished. And, of course, since the tape had been on overnight, when I went to peel it off the woodwork (painted a month ago), the paint peeled off in multiple places. So now I have that repair work to do. (See picture.) Today, his ?deal? coupon clearly says ?no unmasking will be done?, but it DID NOT say that when I contracted for the work, nor the day after the work was done. I am left with a sink that looks much worse than before his work and a bathtub that looks nice but is "uninhabitable". I would not recommend this contractor to anyone. He clearly misrepresented the final result, and has refused to repair the defects, in addition to being completely irresponsible about cleaning up after himself. I feel like I've been scammed.

A&M explained everything in advance, arrived on time, kept me informed as they went along, and completed the job when they told me they would. I knew I had to pay extra because I was outside their service zone, but it was well worth it. We set a date; as promised, they called the day before to confirm. I had to ask them to work around a conference call that got scheduled after I made the service date, and they were very gracious about it. There were no surprises. They explained everything they did as they went along. The brought in all their equipment, covered the traffic areas to avoid tracking dust, set up a ventilation system, and warned me when the fumes would start. I knew in advance that the materials were not "friendly" for breathing, but they did a great job of protecting me from the worst,, and they also used protective gear for themselves. Finally, they gave me a sheet of instructions to keep the new surface looking that way. The next day, I had to replace all the caulk that they had removed, but I expected this - I knew they would remove all the old caulk, that I would be responsible to apply new caulk. I am very happy with their service.

The gentleman who came was professional and easy to like. However, I believe that something is not correct with their process. 1. I have seen others vent directly out a bathroom window, whereas they said that they cannot do that, that they have to vent out a window in a different room. The increased the odor trouble, I think. 2. They were limited in how they apply a rough bottom, so I skipped that, which I had hoped to have. 3. The final finish is not as shiny in some places as in others.

Other than being a bit delayed due to a communication error regarding my address, Andre was punctual and professional. The job was well done and looks great! I would definitely recommend A&M and would use them again!

Arrived on time as scheduled. Good description of work needed before start of job. They ensured good protection of surrounding walls and adjacent rooms. Employees were polite and attentive in cleaning up after work completed. Verified that work done was satisfactory with us before putting their tools away which we certainly appreciated. Provided care instructions for finished bathtub and again stated to call them with any concerns or problems we have with their work. Would recommend this company to anyone needing a bathtub or counter refinished.

I was a long process. A lot of dust but the end result was beautiful. The tub looked like new. I'm considering having it done to my other tubs.

Very professional. They kept any dust and fumes to a minimum. They sanded and prepped the tub just as you would an automobile before painting. Next they put a primer on the tub and finally the finish coat. The bathroom area looked cleaner after they had finished than before they started. Andrea kept me informed throughout the entire process. Explained each step and made sure that he had answered any question I may have had. The finished bathtub looks great. The total time was about 4 hours.

Andre and his partner arrived a little later than expected but got to work right away and made my old pink tub as white and clean as a new car paint finish. I've looked at that pink tub for twenty years and I can't be more grateful that it's gone and A+M made it so easy. Also replacing a tun can run upwards of 2500 or more so I can't see why everyone with an ugly tub doesn't do this. Thanks A+M I will have you back for my other tub soon

They did a beautiful job. They were professional and they had everything that they needed. They gave us tips on how to maintain the bathtub and they let us know what products to use and what to stay away from. They cleaned up after themselves as well. They informed us of the travel charge and we did not think that was unreasonable. The work took less time than I thought it would. We have a 1922 cast iron tub and the tub looks beautiful, we should have many years left in the tub due to the work. We would recommend them. They were at our home on time. It was a two man crew that did the work.

They did a great job and were able to fix the problems for a reasonable price.

Andre and I had several discussions ahead of the scheduled work date. He did everything he could to explain how the coupon worked and what additional charges would be incurred due to customization. He was one of three contractors I had to coordinate and when a problem occurred with the plumbing and tiling that would delay his part, he was very understanding and we were able to reschedule. Then a glitch - the day of the rescheduling there was a big storm in Chicago and they couldn't get here. The earliest mutually convenient reschedule would be 2 weeks away, so we'd be without the bathroom for a further extension that was already getting old. But it seemed the best we could do. A little while later, Andre called me to offer to come on SUPERBOWL SUNDAY to do the job! Absolutely worked for me. Andre and his co-worker showed up as planned and did all the work beautifully. He kept us informed on progress throughout the day and finished a bit ahead of schedule. He went over the bill specifics and made sure we knew how best to maintain the work they'd done. Very excellent customer service and extraordinary effort to make it as easy on the customer as possible. I highly recommend them and am willing to be a reference.

It was fine. They came when they said they would and they did a good job. I think they did charge $15 because it was further than they normally go.

I purchased a big deal from Angie's List and their services turned out good. They did a good job. The big deal covered everything, except some special cleaning compound. They did not tell us that we had to buy it, but we chose to buy it. This compound was for cleaning after the fact. This project was refinishing and not a liner. Their price was good.

It went well. They are pleased. He was on time and the work is good.

Andre is a very professional. He called me up to set up service, he worked with my tenants to set up a convenient time frame. Once at the location, after inspection, he called and informed that there would be a $100 charge for stripping the bathtub, before re-finishing. he also offered an option of applying another primer coat for $100 , in his opinion, that would be a better finish, to which I agreed. There was a trip charge ( was mentioned in the deal details, no surprises there) He and his colleague, Jake were very respectful of the property as evidenced by the dropcloths and covering the adjoining areas in the bathroom. I would do buisness with A&M again, paid a little extra, but I am hopeful, the investment will pay -off. My tenants are happy with the service. Thank you Andre. Ajith

They did a good job. They were really very thorough and they were very pleasant to deal with. The process requires the room to be very clean and they did all they could to clean it. But my bathrooms were a little dusty and so the surfaces of the tub were not perfectly smooth, I think they did all they could under the circumstances. I ended up buying some additional work from them because they recommended that they do a special top layer and it came out okay, not perfect but okay.

They did great. He was on time and very professional and they cleaned up after themselves.

This company refinished my bathtub. They were extremely professional: responded to communication in a very timely manner, arrived at my home when promised and were respectful of my home and property. The finished product ended up being a very good solution for me especially when comparing the cost of a refinish versus a replacement.

They did a very good job. I indicated that I had gone on Angie's List when I called Andre, and verified his price. They were very professional and polite. When I got the bill it was for quite a bit more than Andre had quoted me. I reminded him we'd spoken on the phone and that was the price he'd quoted. He revised the bill to reflect the price we'd agreed on. They were prompt when they arrived, they took care to make sure my new bathroom didn't get sprayed with their product. The cost of the project should be verified prior to the work being done. A travel charge was included in the price. I suggest that costs for the project be dissucsed prior to the job being started.

The team of two were excellent. I was particularly impressed with the care they took to keep our home clean during and after completing the project. Highly recommended.|

Two gentlemen came out to examine the tubs and after a careful examination the tubs did not need to be refinished.They were polite, professional and honest for their honest appraisal.