PATOUT PAINTERS

Difficult to work with. Did not pay attention to the details; paint is already chipping off in some areas; mold showing up on some window wood work and not all of the paint cleaned of of the windows

It began well, with the exception that they used a crew that did not speak English, but only spoke Portuguese. So, communication was difficult for me and for Patout as they did not speak Portuguese either. When painting began, my not being able to communicate became an issue because Patout only came by once a day to check to make sure things were going well. When you have trained your own crew, that may be sufficient. But when you hire a crew and tell them what you want them to do, but have no experience with how well they follow those instructions, it is not sufficient. One day I caught them spray painting the house. The contract stated they would hand brush the house. I was reluctant to let the crew continue, but Patout vowed to come by 3 - 4 times a day to ensure quality work was being done. However, after one day they stated they couldn't, and returned to checking the project once a day. I would tell them things that were done properly, but Patout did not do anything. One day the painters refused to paint because they were angry that they were only getting $7000 to paint the house and Patout was charging me $22,000. I could see their point. I stressed to Patout that my capitals were plaster and that sealing the plaster and protecting it with the paint was important. They took a mirror, taped it to a stick and stuck it up and said the capitals were sealed. What could I do? Climb a ladder 40 feet in the air to check it myself? Within a few months of completion, the patch and the paint on the porch began to chip up, mildew emerged on the columns, and rust came through on the handrail. I basically had 3 months of my house looking nice after a $22,000 paint job. Patout states they have a 2 year guarantee, so I called them. They said they would take care of it. After several phone calls, promises, and 1 1/2 years passed, I gave up and told them I was getting someone else to correct the work, and that I expected to be reimbursed. They agreed and even came out and told me what they would and wouldn't pay for. WHen the work began we found the truth about all of the things Patout did incorrectly: they did not paint/seal my capitals properly and the tops of the capitals were severely eroded and structurally compromised. Significant repair had to be done on them to save them - and this was the reason mildew was on my columns - water was leaking through the wholes in the capitals into the columns. They also put wood putty wherever they didn't want to have to sand to even out the paint job and when pressure washing was performed huge chunks of putty fell off leaving uneven transitions because not all of it fell off. When the work was done, I sent them the bill and the accounting. They refused and said the amount was too much. I offered to lower the amount by $1000. they did not respond. I filed with the Better Business Bureau and they would not respond to the BBB. The BBB now has them rated as an F. I engaged a lawyer who contacted them and they asked for time to respond. A month later they stated they wanted to go to mediation at the BBB. I accepted. Since then they have refused to return phone calls or answer letters and they have not set anything up with the BBB. They did a bad job. They did not supervise their crew - I had to supervise them. They did not honor their guarantee and have dealt with me in bad faith the entire time. This is not what anyone deserves. It is certainly not worth the $22,000 I paid them to paint my home. Apparently, I got the $7000 paint job that they paid the subcontractor for.

The firm did a good job. The crew members were very easy to work with and very professional. There were some delays in completing the work and their pricing was not the lowest quote I received. Their quality was very good. Overall I would use them again.