Socelvic Co

I was delighted when Socelvic had an Angie's List Big Deal last summer because I had been very happy with the job they did, several years ago, on the outside of my house. The Big Deal didn't cover most of what I wanted, so I negotiated with Mr. Celio for the additional work (which was more expensive than I would have liked, but not out of line with the market, I think). They did an excellent job. Mr. Celio came immediately to give me a quote, and the work was done promptly. I was particularly impressed with the care they took in prepping the walls, especially the walls after the wallpaper was removed. Not only did they do considerable prep work before painting, but they also did quite a bit between coats. Mr. Celio had said that they might need to apply a skim coat of plaster, since wallpaper often leaves residue. That would have been an additional charge. However, they were able to remove the wallpaper and clean up the walls so only primer was needed. The results are great.

They're terrific. They're a pleasure to work with from estimate to cleanup. Prompt, courteous, cheerful and efficient. Their work is top quality. They're clearly interested in making sure I, as the customer, are satisfied with the work because they have a philosophy of generating a lasting relationship with their customers. They clearly want to do great work so that they're my first choice for the next job - and they've succeeded. I'd recommend them to my friends and family, and will use them again.

Mr. Celio arrived to review the project in early April, 2011 and delivered a thorough, detailed quote within 2 days of his review. The project was priced well, and Socelvic could start the job in about 3 weeks time, so we decided to go with them. Michelle, the office administrator, called about 2 weeks later to say that they had an opening immediately, and they offered to start a week earlier than planned (which was great!). The work crew did an outstanding job, cleaned up after themselves spotlessly every day after their work was done, and completed the job to our total satisfaction. About 2 weeks into the job, Mr. Celio (the owner) called to come over and review the progress of our project and to point out several problems in our house that might require additional carpentry work (e.g. some shingles coming loose that needed to be replaced, one of our decks was rotting and needed to be replaced, etc.). Since these repairs were not anticipated nor were in the scope of our original project...he gave us a very detailed estimate for these additional repais, and we went ahead and had these items repaired/replaced. Again, the work was very reasonably priced, and performed completely and professionally. Bottom line, the work was completed on time, on budget, and in a most professional manner. I have only the highest praise for this company!

The overall experience was wonderful. The painters were polite, professional, quick, and thorough. I couldn't say enough good things about this company. Other times when I've had work done by other companies I had to supervise and watch the workers, since they didn't do what they were supposed to. With this company, they were very professional & treated my home with respect. In fact, I'll probably have some more work done by them later. The person who takes the calls, Michelle, was excellent. She was patient, accomodating, and flexible. I'm so happy with their services.

Socelvik came to our roof and gave an estimate to replace a gutter on one side. We never heard from them again. We called several times and were told someone would get back to us. They never did. This was extremely inconvenient for our Condo Association as we took time to meet with them and to vote on their estimate. It would be easier if they had simply said, "we're booked this summer, we can't come out and give an estimate".

The job got done in the end, I'll give them that. Apart from that, it went about as badly as possible. I hired Socelvic September 1, 2010. They estimated $6000 to paint the house plus carpentry. During the next couple of months they scraped and washed the house, and found an additional $4000 of carpentry. Since this was a substantial amount relative to the original quote, and it was all stuff that was quite visible from the outside, I thought a little warning might have been nice at quote time. But whatever. Last fall was the usual New England patchwork of rain and sun. They didn't seem to have much availability to be at the house, many sunny days went by without work being done, and winter arrived before the house could be caulked or primed. It sat for the next 7 months as an eyesore to the neighborhood, with much bare wood exposed to the rain and snow. Socelvic left the property for the winter littered with wood scraps, food wrappers, a large trash pile, and a broken 6' stepladder. I called several times until they removed the trash pile, as my city issues tickets about this. I've just finished cleaning up the rest. This spring a subcontractor arrived. They didn't know my name or phone number, or what colors I'd asked for. They didn't have the illustrations I'd prepared, which I had both given and emailed to Socelvic. They did not rescrape or rewash, although the house had been exposed to a winter season without prime or paint. They'd apparently received no instructions beyond "Go to this address and paint it". The subcontractor did a decent job and cleaned up after themselves. I'll review them separately and favorably. But I wouldn't hire Socelvic again. I wasn't offered so much as an apology, much less a discount, for the long hiatus in this job. It certainly resulted in my house being damaged by weather and taking on water, and since it was not reprepped in spring, I doubt the paint will hold up. It'll be interesting to see what Socelvic will do about it then, since they do have a warranty, but my hopes are not high. Overall, this was not at all the quality of painting service that I thought I was hiring.

They are very honest in appraising the condition of the place. They gave me a thorough estimate. He was here on time and he was very professional. I think that I would probably use their services.

Overall things went very well. The office staff and snow removal crew are very professional and responsive to questions, concerns, and requests. Providing excellent customer service appears to be very high on Solcevic's list and it shows: it was a pleasure dealing with everyone. The only thing that I wish would change is the extra charge when snowfall exceeded 4".

This is a very good company and I am very pleased with their work snow plowing and shoveling. They come to my property at 2+ inches of snow and during those large storms this past year they would come 2x per storm. They are very reliable and take direction very well.

I asked them to give me an estimate for repairing a leaking porch. Also, my bathroom walls needed repair and painting. The kitchen walls and interior cabinets were also needing painting. They came promptly and had some excellent project ideas. However, when I got the written proposal there were things in it that weren't talked about(or needed). It was as if they were padding the bill. I won't use them.

I've been using Socelvic for snow removal for 3 years, after switching to them from a more expensive service. The first year was a little rocky, the 2nd year was better, and this past year was pretty good. Due to the nature of our building and the areas to be cleared, it's not obvious which parts are covered by our contract and which are not. This caused some difficulties in the first two years, as they would occasionally fail to clear some areas in the contract. I doubt this would be an issue for most people who have a simpler situation (e.g. single family home). Proactive communication was also an occasional problem initially -- sometimes they would not get to our property until "late" in the storm period, causing me to fret over whether and when they were coming. Or they would leave in the middle of a job without letting me know why, or when they would be returning. I didn't like having to call to find out what was going on; I expected them to keep me informed. That being said, I do sympathize with anybody who provides this kind of service; it's hard work, the hours are long when we get a tough storm, and keeping in touch with customers is understandably a distraction from the work at hand. In any case, things improved this last season; I think perhaps they have consolidated on a single point of contact and management for the snow removal operations (Celio). As I'm sure everyone remembers, the 2010/2011 winter season was one with higher than average snowfall, but Socelvic was reliable and thorough, without any major performance or communication issues, which made life easier for me. Also of note: their prices are pretty good. I stuck with them despite the initial difficulties because of the price; now that things are working more smoothly, I'm a happy customer.

The roofing job went fine with Socelvic until we got to the point of replacing the roof on our detached garage. At this point, they charged us an arm and a leg (thousands of dollars above the original estimate) to put sheets of plywood over the existing roof on the garage. The painting job was a complete debacle. First, they wanted to charge us an hourly rate to do some carpentry work on the wood siding of the house. They quoted us an additional charge of thousands of dollars ("but it might be more") to replace some of the clapboards. We decided to find a carpenter separately to do the repairs to the house and found a great one to do it for less than $1,000. Here's the kicker: after paying $18,000 for the paint job on the house, it looked nice for a grand total of 3 months. They finished the job in August and by December the paint was peeling off of the house in large chunks. We called Socelvic to come and fix the problem. We e-mailed Socelvic pictures of the peeling paint. We left messages (at least 10) and many e-mails, but have never received a call back from them. So much for their "guarantee of the quality of their work." I would never hire them again and tell everyone I know to steer clear. We are going to have to pay to have the house painted again, by someone who knows what they are doing. What a waste of $18,000!

I purchased the Big Deal for $200, and then paid an extra $275 for Socelvic to prep the walls for painting. They were on time, friendly, and overall did a good job. A little messy on the back end with lots and lots of dust in my stairwell from the sanding, but that may just be par for the course. Overall, good job and I'd hire again.

My interaction with them was fine. I don't remember the estimate amount. They were professional. I would not use them in the future. I would probably use the company I chose.

I did not use them in the end. I got 4 quotes and they were the lowest. I decided to go with a painter that I knew and I paid $7,000. It was a drive by quote because my impression was that they are very, very busy. It was hard for them to be here when I was going to be here so they wound up doing it as a drive by. They were timely and their quote was more reasonable but I don't think they were detail oriented. They responded right away.

I thought they were somewhat expensive. Some of the quality of the work was just past adequate. We used them for two or three months. I probably would not use them again in the future.

I had asked the Socelvic company for estimates on two jobs: repainting the frame around a front porch and rebuilding the garage doors, as well as shoring up the garage. They gave two estimates and, with some prodding, they did complete the painting around the porch. I was satisfied with the work they did there. For the garage, they told me what it would cost to do some exploratory work and then planned to give an estimate on what it would take to rebuild the wooden doors, based on how much was involved. However, they never returned to schedule any of this or follow through with the estimate. I should mention that I have neighbors who have used this company successfully on more than one occasion, and they have been happy with their work.

They are very neat and personable. They cleaned up the place beautifully.

They were very professional, on time, helpful and responsive.

The rep arrived right on time and spent a lot of time with me discussing the many options to my substantial dilemma. But it did take about a month to get the quote (I guess they are pretty busy). The price blew me away. I just couldn't afford such a high cost, so sadly I couldn't hire them. I did find that the rep (I think the son of the owner?) listened well, was willing to look at this dilemma in creative ways to try and reign in the cost for me, and he was, overall, very professional.

They were professional and very friendly.

The exterior paint of our house was in really poor shape and now it looks 100% better. The painting seems very well done--how long it lasts remains to be seen. In general, the overall experience was fine--not superior and not dreadful. The overall painting took longer than expected and we ultimately had a disagreement over work that I had assumed was a part of the overall package and they did not. I erred by not ensuring everything that Celio and I had discussed was written in the agreement, so when it came to execution, of course the crew are going to follow the contract. In any event, the only thing that really concerns me is that the individual shingles are very clearly painted over scraped paint. It was explained to me repeatedly, and earnestly, that the only way for the shingles to truly look smooth is with a full restoration project. Not being a long-term homeowner from the East, I have to believe them...but I still feel like the shingles look like a coat of paint over scraped paint. Having said all that, the house looks 100% better than when they started. They cleaned up every day as promised, their actual painting was extremely accurate, they painted a few extra pieces not in the contract (exterior doors, bulkhead door), and they were very professional and earnest. Having an office line to call is also very reassuring--there is always someone there (Michelle) to take calls and get things moving. Celio also was very reasonable on the price and provided several discounts, which I sincerely appreciated. I would recommend this company to others with the caveat that I strongly recommend ensuring that everything you agree to is in the contract; I wish I had done so.

On August 27 I sent in a deposit and was told to await scheduling. At the initial meeting Celio said we could expect to start late September. I Heard nothing from them about scheduling by mid Sept so on Sept 17 I contacted them and they said 3 weeks weather permitting and said they?d call. Emailed October 13 because I hadn?t heard anything and they said probably next week. Still no word so on Nov 3 I contacted them again with worries that it was getting too cold to do a good job with most paints recommending not painting below 50 degrees. They were a bit snippy saying our project would get done schedule/weather permitting and no apology for never contacting us with an update unless I contacted them first. I was about to cancel when on Nov 16 they showed up unannounced and began work. The workers were fine although they knew nothing of the new Lead safety law which surprised me since they have the eco friendly accreditations on Angie?s list. After a couple days of sanding and scraping and priming they said they were ready to paint. I pointed out bare spots on the trim [that weren't there when they began]with no primer and asked if they were going to prime those. They said they were not supposed to paint the trim. I showed them the contract where it said the trim was included. A mixup at the office. They also forgot they were supposed to fix the gutter. They replaced one small rotted board by the gutter but didn't check the fascia until I directed them to, then said it was fine, which it's not because I have photos showing it's partially rotted but I'll have someone else do it next year. The main thing I?m saying is they were very disorganized and uncommunicative. As for the quality, it looks fine but I won?t be able to judge for a year or so if it was too cold and affected the paint. The one time they contacted me on their own by both email and phone was to tell me they needed immediate payment, before the job was finished.

Came out beyond their normal service area due to the Big Deal program (we're in Westboro). Helpful communication with the company prior to the date work was scheduled. A crew of 4 came when expected, worked efficiently and well, cleaned up completely. On my approval they stayed and applied a 3rd coat since the Home Depot paint I furnished did not cover fully in 2 coats. Cost an extra $300, but it looks great. Only thing I wish had been done differently was that the company might have recommended a paint brand that was sure to cover in two coats. Would have saved them time and me money.

I showed the the work to be done; they suggested replacing entire bathroom ceiling rather than portion, to which I agreed. They indicated they could find wallpaper that was "close, though not exact", to put on wall. They showed up on a Friday and estimated work would take about one and a half days. When I asked them if that meant they would come in on Saturday to finish job if necessary or wait until Monday, they told me they would come back on Saturday and will work until job is done. At end of day Friday my tenant says they told him they would not be back until Monday. I argued with my tenant that he was wrong - that I had assurances they would come back Saturday. In fact they didn't come back until the following Tuesday, making me look like an idiot for taking their word for it. They never called me about change of plans. I had to track them down to find out what went wrong. When asked why the delay, I was told something vague about their truck getting two flat tires then getting into an accident - which sounds a little like "the dog ate my homework". I understand that unexpected things may crop up, but it was unprofessional of them to not let me know about the change of plans. As far as replacing ceiling, all they did was put up some sheetrock. I would have to do plastering and painting myself at additonal expense. As far as wallpaper, I was now told that they "don't do wallpapering". They also damaged toilet-roll dispenser in bathroom; they offered to replace it at their own expense, but at that point I didn't want to have any more to do with them. Porch railing fix was acceptable, but all in all, I was very unhappy with the outcome and with this vendor. I will definitely not use them again.