Benchmark Painting & Carpentry of Kensington, LLC

It was only after Angie's list contacted the provider and I asked for a refund on the deal did they contact me. It makes me wonder if companies put out deals and get such an overwhelming response that they can't keep up. I am new to Angie's list so I am guessing that this could be a reason for no response, but I don't know. I didn't use them and am hesitant to buy a great deal in the future, however Angie's list handled this so well I would try a deal again.

I wish the company did not waste my time as the estimator had a completely different story from the owner, Sandy, who scheduled my visit with this estimator. Once he arrived, the estimator stated that the company was backed up with work and they would not be able to do any work until next Spring for an estimate requested in September! The estimator wanted to leave the costs of the carpentry open ended and variable and I asked for a full estimate of the total to be provided. so that we knew the total we were in for with details of the amount of paint and labor costs etc. He seemed really unprepared for any questions given that he is representing a painting and carpentry company. However, he stated that he would turn the estimate around in a timely manner. After a day, I got an email saying that he was not going to provide any estimate because they would not be able to do the work or give it the time it required! They were unavailable to take any new work right now. I wonder what kind of painting and carpentry they actually do do since this was a fairly routine exterior cleaning and painting job. I have not been able to reach Sandy Roderick either when I tried to confirm the appointment last Friday or following the estimator's visit as she seems unavailable whenever I call. There is no other office manager available to customers and the company seems like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. I just wish they would not waste my time pretending that they want our business.

Excellent. Very professional, clean, and efficient. Did exactly what they promised. We liked their work so much on the first project, we chose them again 4 months later to finish the job. They will not be the cheapest estimate, but not the highest. Reputation well deserved.

I was looking to have moldy deck railings replaced and painted. Due to the mold and potential wood replacement it was important that someone come on sight to see the depth of the problem and give me an accurate quote. I told this to the person I made the appointment with. The day of the quote appointment, I get a call at 8:30am, only 90min ahead of our appointment, from Robert Reynolds, trying to back out of the appointment and have me just take pictures of the deck. During the call he made reference to an email he sent me as if he had sent this a long time ago. When I got home from dropping the kids off at daycare, I found the email was only sent at 8am that day. This is highly unprofessional. I had made special arrangements to work from home that day to be home for the quote and they gave me very limited notice of cancelling. I had especially asked for an onsite quote due to the complexity of the job. His email asked if I could just send him pictures to save him time. What about my time and the arrangements I made to be home? Furthermore, if it was just pictures they needed, I could have done that a long time ago.

Great, overall. They quickly setup and covered everything. The job was done very well and everything looks great. We would hire them again.

Every single person we interacted with was on time (or early-- first day on the job!) When we first met our project manager, Robert, he immediately put us at ease. His men do not work by the hour and the job would not be finished until we were completely satisfied with the work. He did a thorough walk-through of the house and provided two estimates: one that included the extras we were considering and one that just did the walls. My husband and I hemmed and hawed our way around, deliberating about the cost while making up our minds. We had a million questions and Robert answered them all, very patiently. We booked the job, but with time constraints. No one at Benchmark complained. Instead, Robert told me they would do everything they could to work within my schedule, would do the job in the order that I asked if that would make me feel better, and repeated that all he wanted was for us to be fully satisfied with the work. They estimated it would take 10 days. It took 8 and everything looks perfect. Not only that, but there were no hidden fees. We've heard horror stories about contractors adding on as the job progressed-- "things come up." The contract price was the contract price. Needless to say, we are thrilled with the final product and would recommend them to anyone interested in using professional painting services.

Excellent and professional from start to finish. The team at Benchmark was great to work with. They scheduled the work to meet our timeframe and worked within an agreed budget. The team that came to paint finished ahead of time and was a pleasure to work with. We have more to do both interior and exterior over the next two years and would definitely come back to Benchmark.

I purchased the 5 day; 2 resources exterior painting deal Benchmark Painting and Carpentry was offering on Angie's list. In reality I probably only needed four days; however their price was still much cheaper than other bids so it was still a good deal to purchase. The deal did not include the paint; however Sherwin Williams honored Benchmark's contractor discount and their current sale for contractor's when I bought the paint. I would have liked more guidance as to how much paint I needed to buy. Benchmark sent me a document which lists how to prepare for their visit, but it mostly talked about how much paint to buy for the interior. They did say to ask the paint company, which I did, but I'm glad I didn't listen to the Sherwin Williams agent or I would have had one extra gallon of paint for the shutters. The crew, Luis and James, were friendly, professional and very knowledgeable of their craftsmanship. I particularly appreciate having a crew who speak and understand English well even though their native language is Spanish. This is a big plus for me for I've had other companies send folks who barely speak English, even the head crew member. Throughout the week, Luis kept me up-to-date on their progress, pointed out areas as to why they chipped previously and fixed them so it would minimize the problem of happening again, indicated which boards may need to be replaced in the near future, and patched up our columns properly which were incorrectly done by our builder 11 years ago. They cleaned up their area each day and even made sure the utility sink was clear after they cleaned their supplies. I would use Benchmark Painting and Carpentry again.

Crew did an excellent job prepping all the surfaces and this resulted in a quality paint job. So good that we hired them to come back later in the month to do several other rooms.

Benchmark did an excellent job completing the replacement of some sections of baseboard and repainting my basement. The entire project was completed on schedule, which was critical in supporting other work (e.g., carpet replacement) that I was having done at the same time.

Overall the workmanship was very high quality and the work was performed in a timley manner.

Benchmark was a pleasure to work with from the estimate until the end of the project. They did a great job painting the exterior of my house and also did excellent carpentry work in areas that needed repair. I would recommend them to anyone!

When I began this project, I consulted Angie's List to identify several highly-rated local painters. Benchmark was one of three who made it out to look at the job and give us a quote. Robert, the project manager, spent about 20 minutes looking at the job and talking to us about what we wanted. He asked what we thought were the right questions, and helped us to understand how they work and what could expect if we hired them. He seemed prepared to deal with some of the issues that might come up with a home this old; it had been a few years since we had it painted, so there was a fair amount of peeling paint; there were also a couple of places where some wood would have to be replaced; since they are a carpentry company as well as painters, this would not be a problem, but since the extent of carpentry that had to be done was unknown, it would be quoted on a time & materials basis, on top of the painting work. Benchmark was the lowest of the three quotes, although the quotes weren't directly comparable. Benchmark quoted full prep, spot prime and two top coats. A second bidder quoted prep, full prime and one coat, with an extra-cost option for a second. The third -- the most expensive -- quoted prep, full prime and two top coats. Benchmark's approach seemed a good compromise; I'd rather have the two top coats than the full prime. In the end, however, Benchmark wound up priming better than 90% of the surfaces. Benchmark offered the shortest warranty -- one year -- but it wasn't clear to us that extra warranty was worth the higher price. Since we were early in the painting season, we were able get on the schedule quickly, but then it rained a lot so we got pushed back by a little over a week. Still, we did not have to wait particularly long. The crew varied between two and three men. The crew foreman, Luis, was always there. There was a second man who was always there, and a third who was there only sometimes, as the work demanded. With a small number of missed days for rain, it took them about three and a half weeks to do the whole job. The entire first week was prep; they power-washed the house with a mildewcide, and when it dried they took to scraping and sanding. On a house this old, there can be a lot of this work to do, and they did a thorough and careful job with this. The remainder of the time was mostly applying primer and paint. They worked with four colors: One for the siding (mostly flat, with some semigloss), one main trim color, an accent trim color, and white on the window sashes. They also used two kinds of metal paint and the primer. So altogether they had to work with eight kinds of paint; all was Benjamin Moore. Luis was very good about checking when it wasn't clear what paint should go where; there was never a single instance when they got something wrong. The only glitch during the work was in getting them to let us know when they put paint on the window sashes, so that we could move them to keep them from getting painted shut. But we worked out a system with them and the problem was resolved; they were also very helpful unsticking windows that did wind up getting painted in. As expected, there was some carpentry required. They replaced a rotted window sill and part of a basement hatch doorway. Both tasks came out well. I already had wood they could use for most of the work, but in the basement doorway they did have to buy some more materials. They were flexible and happy to work with what we had around. In the end, we are extremely happy. Although they were the lowest bidder, I honestly can't think of something they didn't do that would have made a significant difference in the result. The house looks great, and several neighbors have stopped by to complement the work. Luis and his crew worked very hard, and used every non-rainy work day available, even coming on the last weekend to get the job finished. Luis was cheerful, easy to work with, and very dedicated to getting the job done right. I've had bad experiences with painters in the past, so I really appreciate how well this all went. I would not hesitate to hire them again.

I really like them and they were great.

Benchmark delivered as promised; quick estimate process; very responsive to comments; efficient; punctual; did a professional job with great attention to detail; cleaned up nicely afterwards.

Great attention to detail, did not do trim but did some wall repair. Done in two days. Very neat. Office staff and estimator very friendly and cheerful. Very responsive about removing some items from the contract and giving a revised estimate so that we were comfortable with the work and the cost. Revised contract a couple of times without delay.

After rescheduling my work hours to meet Benchmark's Painting's representative at my house to get an estimate on painting the exterior trim at my house, the company declined to provide any bid for the job. They wrote me a letter, with no letterhead, stating that they did not currently have the "proper manpower for the scope". This is despite the fact that the general scope was detailed in my original inquiry about interest in providing a quote. Unlike other representatives, Benchmark's could not tell me during their visit how long my project would even take. He told me he needed to consult his computer to figure it out. Considering that I am inquiring about outdoor painting in May, it is not very believable that this company failed to provide a quote on the basis given. I solicited this company based upon the large number of positive reviews on this site, but urge others to ask more questions before potentially wasting time requesting a quote from them for work.

Reynaldo was the project manager. He was very friendly and did an excellent job of explaining the work that needed to be done, keeping me posted of the progress, and then checking in to see if I was satisfied. The carpenters showed up promptly and did very nice work. They were courteous, and they did not leave a mess. I will definitely turn to Benchmark Painting the next time I have a carpentry and/or painting project.

The foreman arrived early the first day to walk through what I wanted them to do, and we prioritized the work so that they tackled the hardest (for me to do) first. The team arrived on time and went right to work. They were efficient, professional, pleasant and hard workers. Eden, the foreman, checked with me regularly to make sure they were prioritizing correctly. They even stayed past their regular quitting time the last day to make sure they did not leave anything undone. I would not hesitate to recommend this company and this team of professionals.

Manuel and his team were prompt and efficient. The house looks amazing. They even worked during the beginning of a snow storm. The team was amazing, and I am very happy with the work. We will definitely recommend them to friends and family.

They arrived the day and time they said they would. The first day they applied two coats of stain to the door. The second day they applied a clear coat. They used a color chart to match the stain to adjacent doors. The color chosen by Benchmark perfectly matched the adjacent doors. They left sample cans of the stain and clear coat used. They covered the door hardware with tape and did not get a drop of stain on the hinges and lockset. The finished product exceeded my expectations

Getting a quote from Jacques was really fast and easy, and I got an excellent price for my very large job. The painters were friendly, neat, and professional and did excellent work, including beautiful clean lines of color vs. trim. I would absolutely hire this company again and recommend them to anyone. A top notch company.

Overall we are happy with the quality of the work and the manner in which it was performed. There was a minor flaw in their scheduling however. They were supposed to start on a specific date and they did not arrive. When I called the office the staff was courteous and responsive. They put me in touch with their foreman and he offered to come as quickly as possible or to reschedule. When I rescheduled the crew was responsive and did a good job. I think that the baseboards are not painted as nicely as possible but otherwise everything looks professional. One small note: I spoke to the crew and they do not work for Benchmark. They are subcontractors of the foreman. I don't know whether they are day laborers or professionals themselves. If one worries about spanish-speaking employees possibly being taken advantage of then I suggest asking Benchmark directly about their hiring practices.

Benchmark's staff was great, from the first contact with Andres Molina, through the bidding process, price negotiation, and through the actual work being done. Everyone was punctual and flexible. Quality of work was very good, not perfect-- but that's what we requested. Interestingly, in the walk-through during our consultation, Andres pointed out things in our house and asked questions that were designed to calibrate precisely what our expectations for the job were-- like, did we notice the seam line on that wall and did it bother us, did we want that fixed? We were not looking for perfection and the price was negotiated to reflect that. Had we insisted on absolute precision, detail-oriented work, Andres would have adjusted the price and time allotted to respond to that need. This flexibility allowed us to get a very good price on the work. Be aware that a paint job of this magnitude is an intensively messy business. As good a crew as Benchmark was, covering everything in plastic and vacuuming the floors every day at the end of the day, fine dust inevitably gets EVERYWHERE. Cleaning up afterwards is INTENSE. This is not any painters' fault; it's the nature of the beast.

Responsiveness time was very good.