MA Design & Construction Co

Great! We hired this company for an "$899 for a painter for a week" special on Angie's list. We created a "to-do" list for the 40 hours we purchased and the painters started right into it. We had two large rooms to be painted (ceilings and walls). Sounds easy enough except that there was extensive preparation work in one of the rooms. We had taken down a large mirror over a fireplace and removed the old wallpaper that was beneath it to discover that the wall was an unusual combination of lath and plaster with a chunk of blue board stuck in the middle. This required a lot of prep work and the painters did this in between paint coats for maximum efficiency. We were very happy with the painting of both rooms but we were ecstatic with the prep work that was done where the mirror had been. In the end the guys delivered more than the 40 hours we bought so that the rooms were completed. This $899 was a great value!! This had gone so well that we decided to ask MA Painters and Remodeling to quote us on a couple of other projects that we had delayed for quite some time. The quote was an additional $4100 (or thereabouts). There were two distinct projects: 1) Remove a large bay window. 2) Repair and refinish a staircase. The window was a 4'x8' bay window. Removing it necessitated re-framing the resulting hole, installing plywood, vapor barrier and shingle to the exterior, installing insulation and blue-board to the interior, taping, skim-coating, priming and painting. In the same wall there was also a through-wall air conditioning unit that we also wanted removed. We had a tight deadline for this work as relatives were packing their suitcases to come visit. Having explained this we were assured that this portion of the project would be complete before they arrived. It was buttoned up a day ahead of schedule. The staircase was pretty "sad" looking and in much need of a face-lift. A couple of pictures would say it all! The stairs had seen better days. In the end they had been carpeted. In the process of carpeting every other baluster had been removed. This led to the handrail being unsteady and severe creaking on the treads. When we moved in we pulled all the carpet. This left the treads and risers pock-marked with carpet staples. The lower newel post had about an inch of play in it. Long story short - MA P&R sanded and filled the treads and risers, bolted down the newel post, replaced the handrails and balusters, replaced all the newel caps, stained the treads, handrails and newel caps and painted the risers and balusters. The creaking treads went away with the increased stability of the rails. Throughout this process all the guys who worked on our house were diligent and professional. Marc (the owner) ran quality control. I have to say that Marc really wanted to "do it right"! Kudos to the whole crew.

Marc and his team did a great job. Marc responded quickly to all of my inquiries and gave me an estimate right away. He began the job when we agreed to. They painted the downstairs of my home and the upstairs hallway. There was lots of woodwork to fix and paint as well as patching on the walls. The guys did all of it and it looks great. Price was lower than other prices I received. They cleaned up when all done and the house looks great. Highly recommend them.

Marc and his crew were very professional, polite and accommodating. There was a deadline and some of the work needed to be done under difficult circumstances (at times many people were going in and out of the house and I requested unexpected additional work that was not calculated in the original contract). I am extremely pleased with the final product and would definitely hire this company again. It was a pleasure to work with Marc and his wife Raquel (who handles the administrative side of the business). They obviously want a satisfied client.

The MA Painters were put to a difficult task when we asked them to come to our home and paint approximately 8 different rooms, including wall repair and trim, in only 3 days! We were moving into a new home and were under a deadline to move our furniture in -- we knew it was asking a lot in a short period of time. Overall, we were very satisfied. The crew arrived early each day (around 7am) and finished around 5pm. They were all polite and courteous, which we appreciated. They accommodated all of our requests, including some last minute changes, at no additional charge. It was clear that they valued us as customers and were interested in building a long term relationship. We did have some feedback on the work with regards to some touch-ups that were needed, and the crew willingly came back twice to make sure the job was done. Quality of the work was good. We provided some feedback regarding paint that was left on the hardware and not cleaned off before the job was completed. Overall, we were very pleased. Communication was great. Both Raquel and Marc were very responsive and reachable whenever we needed to speak with them about the work or contract. Big shout out to Fernando - he led the crew at the house and did a great job.

1.The crew arrived early. They were polite, courteous, and didn't speak English. Not terribly unusual for home contractor services around here, but it was tough to communicate. They came without a ladder, which was surprising given the work I wanted completed. I had to borrow a ladder from a neighbor. 2.They did a decent job repairing and painting the kitchen ceiling. They did okay on the walls, but it was good my husband was here to ask them to prime a few spots that were heavily soiled and to point out the various places they forgot to paint. They did a marginal job on the trim in the kitchen and on the stair risers. They did no prep work on the trim or risers and just painted over what was there, including the factory-painted metal on my kitchen replacement windows. I did not ask them to paint the replacement windows and it now looks like someone painted the metal; it's not professional at all and looks like something a young kid would do. 3.They did okay on the ceilings in the four other rooms, but got paint on every ceiling light fixture in every room and only cleaned it after several days went by and I had complained. 4.The front porch wall is shingled. They used a roller, which may have been a reasonable way to start the job. However, they didn't go back and fix the many many paint drips. I did this and only because I happened to get home while the paint was still wet. We had to ask them to put on a second coat, which they weren't going to do on their own. The drips were there again; this time, my husband was around and able to fix them. I'm not talking about 3 or 4 drips. There were at least 50 or 60 each time. 5.They apparently decided they didn't need to use a drop cloth for various jobs as I found paint splatters in multiple rooms… on the kitchen counters, the floor, the back door, the front door, the railing on the stairs, various pieces of furniture, my fireplace mantle, the toilet seat, light switches, and so on. They tracked paint onto my back porch and left footprints and drips on the wood. I spent 1 1/2 days cleaning up after them. The response from Raquel: "This never happens. You should have taken pictures. You wanted the work completed in 40 hours and didn't want to pay for anything additional. We try not to rush the painters to prevent this. We would have cleaned it up. " I figured they would have cleaned it up when they were there doing the painting, if they were going to do it. And why take pictures? My interest was not in proving someone didn't do something, only in pointing out that the painters needed to be more careful when they came back at the beginning of the next week. And I had made it clear to Marc before the job started that I was happy to pay his hourly rate to complete all the work I wanted done. 6.The kicker is the invoice I received from Raquel for the paint expenses. She did NOT want to give me an itemized invoice. After about a week, she sent copies of the store receipts… there were 3… and she did a fast handwritten calculation of various numbers to give me a total due. The numbers didn't match the items on the receipts, so I again asked for an itemized invoice. She accused me of being unappreciative of Marc's time, effort, and gas (for his car) to purchase the paint. I told her I was happy to pay for the paint, but I needed an itemized invoice first. Someone finally emailed one that did not match the store receipts. I was overcharged by more than $40. If you hire these people, buy the paint yourself. Marc volunteered to buy the paint when he came out to look over the job, telling me he would give me his contractor's discount. Seemed ok, but turns out it wasn't. I can't speak to their motivation, but it felt like I was being scammed. 7.They absolutely would NOT give me a written estimate for the job before it started. I wanted to know what they might be able to do in the 40 hours and how much it would cost to do any work that wasn't completed in the purchased time. THEY WOULD NOT DO IT, despite multiple attempts on our part to get the estimate. We decided to go ahead with the job, figuring it would be okay because there were so many positive reviews on Angie's List. As it turns out, they did a lot of work, but not to a professional standard. They were confused about the job I wanted completed and apparently forgot that I was willing to pay their hourly rate beyond the 40 hour deal, if needed. 8.Bottom line… every communication I had with these people lessened my trust of them. Yes, the work was completed and it was inexpensive. I wouldn't hire them again because something isn't right with their operation, they were unprofessional, and much of the work looks like something the neighbor kid would have done. 9.My advice: Hire someone else. If you are taken in by the price, realize you get what you pay for. Keep the job simple. Have someone available to watch the painters and check their work. Buy your own paint. Cover your valued furniture yourself before they get there, unless you don't mind cleaning up paint splatters. 10. I truly hope I do not get a response to this review from Raquel, blaming the paint crew. They were nice and worked hard. They were not adequately supervised. Their mistakes are the responsibility of the management… Marc and whoever else is running the company. And it is not the painters who overcharged me and acted unprofessionally... Addendum after reading Raquel's response: most of what she writes is fiction. She apparently doesn't realize that our communications have been recorded in the Angie's list messages. They don't supoort her portrayal of events. Notice there are other negative recent reviews. Raquel likes to blame anyone but herself or the company, including the customer. Again, hire someone else if you are looking for a professional job.

They were very patient doing the scheduling process. They were to arrive between eight and nine in the morning. They arrived at about 915. They got right to work after I reviewed my list of projects with them. In the time provided they painted the baseboards, windowsills, and doorframes in three rooms, plus miscellaneous touchup jobs and two radiator covers. They offered to stay an extra hour (at $40 per hour per painter) to do the prep work and edging for painting a high area in a stairwell that I don't have the ladder to reach. Oscar and Fernando were very courteous, efficient and professional. The work was well done. I would use them again, as long as their prices were competitive

Very well. Courteous, professional work. Rooms look very nice now.

I took advantage of the 16 Hour (2 painters for a day) offer from MA Painters. One painter put in an excellent day. Unfortunately the second painter put in almost no effort. After I explained to their supervisor, Marc, that I was displeased, he gave me an additional day with one painter, Fernando, at no extra cost. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if all customer concerns could be settled in such a professional manner. It was a very challenging paint job. It mainly consisted of scraping and painting attic dormers. The work done was excellent. Cleanup was done at the end of each day. It was done in a timely manner. Overall, we have been very pleased with our experience with MA Painters.

First of all, the owner Marc is a very pleasant person to work with. He aims to please and while he didn't do any of the painting himself, he was here almost every day to check on the job and to see if there were any concerns/issues. The painters were very neat and respectful of the property and put in full days working efficiently. During the job, it was noted that there was some carpentry work that needed to be done and Marc promptly had a carpenter here to do the work. I needed to have a shutter replaced and Marc took care of having one custom made. I was satisfied with the job and would hire Marc and his staff again.

They were very good at touching base and letting me know when they would be on the job to paint. It is clear they take pride in protecting the surroundings before beginning to paint and I found the painters to be very willing to touch up any spots I found that needed a bit more paint. My best advice is to be very clear about what you want. Some customers want the color to go on the wall quickly and are not too fussed with little imperfections in the wall, others want the walls as close to perfect as possible before even starting with the paint. That requires sanding, spackle and time. I get the sense that MA painters will do what you want, you just need to be clear at the start. At my house for example, in a few of my rooms, I noticed that a very narrow piece of moulding that met the walls had been painted the room color instead of remaining the trim color. What sets MA painters a part is that when I told them I had wanted that part of the moulding to remain white, they were more than happy to come fix it, no questions asked and no fuss! I would use them again as they really did a nice job and my house looks LOVELY! : )

I closed on my new place the Friday before a holiday weekend. I messaged a few painting companies through the Angie's List app on Sunday so I could get the ball rolling first thing Tuesday morning, but Raquel from MA got back to me same day so they got my business. Marc and his crew did a great job with a total re-paint, and when I thought of several other jobs I wanted (kitchen backsplash/replacement of ceiling fan), MA had the expertise to handle any request. Highly recommended.

I am very pleased with the work these painters have done. They are very pleasant and respectful as well as very neat in their work (no paint drops found so far) and they put back what they could if paint was dry. They were efficient as well. One other point which I highly prize is being on time which they were. Communication was by email with Raquel. My questions were answered in a timely manner. This was a very satisfying experience. I bought a Big Deal of $199 for 6 man hours. It was well worth it. I plan on having them come back to do more extensive painting in the house.

Painters arrived on time and started work immediately. There were 2 painters and a person doing the prep work. The job was completed in 3 hours. We were happy and hired the company to paint the outside of our house.

We installed new stain-grade interior pine windows with 3/4" grilles to which Marc's crew applied 2 coats of urethane. They also urethaned the wood trim and sills, baseboards, and 2 interior pine doors. They did an excellent job, sanding between coats so the finish is smooth. Best of all, Marc recommended a urethane/stain combo product which matched the new pine to the patina of the older existing windows. This was his suggestion and it worked perfectly. I should mention that the finish carpentry that another of his crew did was suberb. I would definitely use them again.

It went well. Our expectations were met in terms of quality of work. Due to the condition of the walls, extra time was needed to do appropriate prep and the guys were not able to get to any of the painting. We really needed to get the painting done quickly and called them back to schedule that. Unfortunately, due to our need for a super fast follow up and not hearing back right away from them we had to go with another Angie's Deal Offer. I'm confident they would have done a nice job though if the communications didn't get mixed up.

They were supportive and informative over the phone regarding the service. I look forward to possibly working with them in the future.

I originally purchased a deal on Angieslist for $899 that was supposed to be worth $2000 of work. This was part of a larger remodeling of the apartment. I called Marc to schedule an estimate prior to the remodeling to get a ballpark idea of the work, and he said that the work would likely be roughly $500 beyond the value of the deal, including paint but not including heavy prep work. Once the remodeling was nearing completion I asked Marc to come take a look again since I wanted him to also do all of the prep work. He gave me a new quote about $1800 beyond the value of the deal. I thought this was a bit high but I decided to go with him anyway since he assured me that this was because he was going to do a careful job prepping the walls and producing a high quality result. Overall the final product of the work is good, I am satisfied with the final outcome. The guys who came to paint were diligent and accommodating to my instructions. (Marc supervised somewhat but I did not see him again after the initial quotes.) The end result is pretty much what I had in mind. My main reason for not giving a higher score is mainly the amount of supervision and micromanagement that I had to put in myself. After explaining in full detail to Marc the way I wanted the apartment painted, it seemed that this information was not completely communicated to the workers, and I found myself having to re-explain things several times to several different people. And I should clarify that I basically didn't change any items or colors during the course of the painting, this was just re-explaining the same thing over and over again. It would have been better if they had taken notes at the beginning and stuck to them. Another reason is that it seemed clear the guys had several other jobs to attend to, and especially towards the end of this job I could tell they were in a rush to finish. This showed up in several areas where the wall prep was obviously lacking and the strokes were messy. When I pointed this out they were very willing to re-do the areas, but again it would have been nice if I wouldn't have had to ask at all. Also the clean-up was not very thorough, with a fair amount of dust remaining on the floors. The floor protection had torn in several places during the course of the work (they used paper) and was not replaced, so there were also quite a few small paint spots.

Fernando and Oscar were wonderful people. Felt comfortable with them in the house. I'd use them again. I had used an Angie's Deal for it. Next time I would want to them to do more prep work, but for what I wanted and for the cost of it, I'm very happy.

We were very happy with Marc and his crew. The work was quality and they paid attention to details including protecting the windows and masking door locks and such. The guys also cleaned my gutters while they were painting the house. Marc and Raquel are very friendly and responsive. We kept in touch by phone and text messages. Marc will work with you to manage the cost of projects but still provide quality work. We did have some delays and it took a little longer than we thought, but that was because we hit rainy weather, and Marc will not paint if there is rain coming - which is the right thing to do. At the end, we went over a check list and he addressed every item on the list. A few weeks after he finished, we noticed somethings, and he came back and fixed them. I highly recommend Marc, Raquel, and their crew. I would use them again for exterior or interior painting.

Emerson did a fantastic job. This was stain-grade pine requiring high attention to detail and he finished all the trim, sills and jambs perfectly. The largest window was built out from the house and was slightly off-center with the interior opening which made it particularly challenging to trim it out properly. He cut the jambs to accommodate the discrepancy leaving the finished product looking as though it was not an issue. All the work was done beautifully. He was quick, careful in his attention to detail, and even swept up when he was done. I was looking for a finish carpenter that had my high standards and he surpassed them! Very pleased.

Marc, from MA Painting, met with us and did a walk through and provided us with an estimate the prior Saturday. He was able to schedule our work within a few days and brought in a crew of 2 painters the following Thursday morning. The crew got right to work and patched and prepped the apartment and painted the ceilings the first day, the second day they finish sanded the walls and applied the first coat of paint, and they completed painting the apartment on the 3rd day. The crew was polite, quite, and cleaned up their work and the apartment better than when they got there. They did a great job, and I would recommend them highly.

I had four quotes for this job and MA Painters differentiated themselves from the start. For one, Marc is the only professional that brought a paint company representative to inspect the siding to ensure the right primer was selected. And their price was fantastic! They did a lot more than I expected and my home looks so much better it's like a different house altogether. Marc even suggested a new deck paint called SuperDeck that should last a lot longer than anything else on the market. And it looks fantastic on our front and back steps. The surface is really smooth. Actually, the surface of the house body - the aluminum portions - is like an automotive finish. It's very well done and frankly I don't think the house will need paint again for 15 years. They used an airless sprayer instead of brushes and the coating is very very even. It looks like it came from the factory, like new.

I met Marc at my new condo to look at the job before he could provide me with an estimate. He arrived on time and was pleasant and professional. He sounded like he knew what he was doing and was even able to suggest and bid on a couple other small repairs. He was efficient and got back to me with an estimate in a reasonable amount of time. The only reason we didn't use this company is that we decided to save the money and paint when we have some other work done, down the road. I would recommend them even though I didn't experience first hand the quality of their work.

Project went well overall. The contractor was very professional and got the job completed before the agreed date. The only issue I had was that they couldn't match the color of the deck with the stain that they decided to use, which is not ideal.

Marcelo and his crew completely transformed a dark, outdated den off of our kitchen into a beautiful, light filled space with gorgeous custom built in bookshelves. Marcelo was very professional to work with and his work quality is exceptional. He is also a genuinely nice person so he was a pleasure to work with. All of his crew members were also professional and conscientious. His carpenter Emerson was outstanding. I look forward to having them back in the fall for some additional work.