Benchmark Painting & Carpentry of Kensington, LLC

It was a pleasure working with this company from start to finish. The staff was always easy to reach and prompt and thorough in handling paperwork, responding to questions, and incorporating add-on tasks. All work done was high quality and was completed in a very professional and timely manner.

We have had wonderful experiences with Benchmark from the beginning across three lengthy jobs (about to hire them for a fourth), as they have delivered first-class work in a timely, cost-effective and professional manner. In terms of cost, they have consistently surprised us with (i) their initial quotes, when we asked for them, and (ii) their actual prices once they had gained our trust and we began to hire them on a time+material basis. The final prices were lower than anticipated in all instances, and, when we were still seeking competitive quotes, lower than quotes received from other businesses. In terms of quality, they have been first-rate, and the few times we had any problems whatsoever in the midst of a job, they addressed them to our satisfaction on the spot. They have modified the sizes of their crews for individual jobs, and all crew members kept busy and worked hard while they were here. Very skillful, trustworthy and professional people.

Requested a quote for a Whole House Painting. They were prompt to come on site and survey. Unfortunately they never submitted a quote nor provided any estimate despite their reassurance that the quote was coming. I ended up putting an end to the discussion.

They arrived on time, did a spectacular job and left the place spotless. This is not the first time we used them. After they did a great job on exterior painting, we had them come in for work affecting 5 rooms of the house. We weren't disappointed.

The estimate was fine, the person they sent was totally professional and seemed to have a good handle on things, thus the "D" rather than "F" rating. Then I got an email 3 days later than promised which said they don't think they can do the job. I guess it's possible they were slammed and couldn't handle a large job. But I think I scared them off because I mentioned that I wanted their crew to be employees (not sub contractors - did you know that an MHIC license doesn't apply to subs?) who were residing in the USA legally (whether citizens or not) I don't think my request is unreasonable, I have a two story foyer which would mean someone would be almost 20 feet in the air. If that person falls and the company can't provide insurance, this poor guy is screwed.

The painter did a good job and was very pleasant. He found areas that needed more prep work and said it might cost more to complete it. We never mutually agreed on the extra amount and at one point he wanted over $350 more. We had signed a contract already for this job. The final bill came with an extra charge on it. We have paid everything but in general we would've preferred a call from someone in the front office to tell us how much more this job would've cost. And, the option to go forward with the extra work or not. The painter should not be asking for extra money himself.

This company exceeded my expectations in all areas. Highly recommend them for painting and carpentry. Communication was prompt, responsive, clear and all work was done on a timely basis. Work was done within estimate given. Project mgr (Terry) was great -- knowledgable - and paid close attention to details. My compliments also to Renaldo and Luis -- both of whom were involved with the wall removal and reconfiguration. Their "cuts" were right on target - again, the attention to detail was apparent from the job's start to finish.

Never recieved the bid. Or a call back.

Excellent work. Very punctual, friendly, and professional. Really pleased with the work, the house looks great.

The painting job itself was well done; the workers were efficient and the result was fine. The staining of the deck was also well done. Unfortunately, the job was delayed multiple times due to varying problems (one time the workers' truck broke down; on another occasion, the work was delayed a week without any explanation given at all). The proposal we received was not well-drafted, so as a result only part of the porch was stained, contrary to expectations. (I ended up doing the rest of the job myself.) Furthermore, part of the porch was stained that wasn't supposed to be. The painting and staining that was done was generally of good quality, but given how much we paid, and how long we had to wait to see only part of the job completed, I was very disappointed. I would not hire them again.

They exceeded our expectations with a great price, on time service and high quality. Andres, the owner, came personally to prepare the estimate and gave honest suggestions for lower cost alternatives (such a power washing by others versus painting) instead of trying to upsell us options that we didn't really need. Impressed, we have engaged Benchmark to return after the holidays in January 2018 to paint most of the house interior, complete some ceiling repair and paint the garage interior including concrete floor.

Overall the painting crew was good, they did a great job. Some leftover paint around the yard from the scraping and prep, but I suppose some of that is to be expected. Very good job overall.

Great -- very professional and responsive and good quality control

Benchmark is topnotch! Thorough, professional, high quality, great value. Andres was superb!

We were extremely pleased with Benchmark. Beginning with Terry, who came to give the estimate and discuss the work which needed to be done, and ending with the carpenters who completed the project, we had absolutely no complaints. They were responsive, professional, and clearly extremely competent. We appreciated that we were presented with options and that price was clearly considered. We have absolutely no complaints.

Benchmark were exceptional. Over two days their crew of 3-5 fully scraped away the flaking paint, repaired damaged wood, prepped the surfaces for paint, and applied multiple coats of paint. The result looks better than new and VASTLY superior to similar work from other vendors.

Beautiful job. The team was professional, left the jobsite clean and were pleasant to boot.

Estimator did great job walking us through each item to be painted and discussing what type of paint to be used. When we later decided to add painting of old exterior siding after the job had started, there was no problem in doing this for an additional fee. The painting crew arrived promptly each day for the work, did an outstanding job, and communicated quickly with the company office about the requested additions. They were very polite and considerate, avoided disturbances of garden plantings, and even removed an old TV antenna from the top of our chimney that had otherwise been long inaccessible to us. Topnotch team that we would recommend to anyone.

Painting job was great (with the exception of a door that needed touching up -- once it was touched up, it looked good, though), but there was some confusion about communication over price and the work that needed to be done. We had initially said we wanted all walls and some ceilings done, but were later told that it would be extra for certain rooms that were not accounted for in the original estimate (although we did a walk through of the house and pointed out which rooms needed to be done). All in all, we were satisfied, but this confusion would probably have us choose a different contractor in the future.

good professional service and follow up.

It went very well - it was a bit of a complicated job as there were numerous different colors to be used in the various rooms in the house. But Francisco, the foreman, carefully managed the painting plan and ensured everything went smoothly. He also carefully walked through the house to identify walls and trim that needed further prep and repair by our contractors before his painting team could get started, and spoke directly with our contractors to make sure that work was completed in a timely manner. Benchmark was also extremely flexible and supportive as we struggled to obtain the paint we needed for our project. We were ordering specialty paints from a small company that was very delayed in shipping our paints - but Benchmark figured out ways to keep the project moving while the various orders of paints arrived over the course of the project.

We really liked the team's candor with regard to what ideas they liked and did not like. The job was finished quickly. The space was cleaned well each day. What really stood out is how much care they put into preparing the surface of the mantle after the installation. I had always planned on painting it myself (as per the terms of the contract). However, they really took care to try to make the new mantle devoid of nail holes, etc. Lots of attention to detail.

These guys are AMAZING. I own an historic row home on Capitol Hill and I have now hired Benchmark for 4 pretty significantly sized jobs -- they have exceeded my high expectations every time! For each job, I obtained multiple estimates from different contractors, and Benchmark was consistently very competitively priced. Most importantly, the quality of their work was literally impeccable on all the jobs. Jacques Salomon was my estimator and project manager for all 4 jobs. I can’t say enough good things about working with Jacques -- he’s a really professional guy who clearly cares about his clients and the quality of the work they deliver. The process with Benchmark was very well organized from start to finish – with Jacques as my point of contact, Sandy handling administration, and the crew chief managing the on-site crew. Their crews work exceedingly hard – they were always on time, they take pride in their work, and they finished the jobs either on-schedule or ahead of schedule. Taking into account quality, cost, and trustworthiness, I honestly don’t think there’s a better option in the Washington DC metro area. I will absolutely work with Benchmark again any time we need painting done of any kind.

The price was fair and all work was performed promptly and as expected. I would gladly hire Benchmark again.

Benchmark did an outstanding job. Jacques responded quickly with a thorough estimate. The crew came on time, did impeccable work for both trim paint and wood repair and power washed the entire house as part of the prep. House looks wonderful and we've already recommended them to our neighbors. Great company.