Custom Painting NC

While the initial estimate was reasonable, I ended up paying ~600 more than I thought I would ? more supplies, more time. Be sure to talk to them about exactly what they are going to do, get it in writing. Talk about supplies and who pays for them if they don?t estimate correctly. After they power washed I assumed they would scrape the large chunks of peeling paint from the wood exterior. Nope. Not sure if they even primed it as most painters today tell you they ?tint? the primer so you never see the telltale white. So each day after they left, I followed behind what they did. Found they painted over large chunks of peeling paint and scraped. They were not happy about this. Told me I needed to wait and let the paint cure, that there was a stickiness to it to help any loose paint adhere. I tried not to scrape, but when you see huge pieces, there?s no way that paint is going to magically fuse. (in fact, the areas I couldn?t get to, I waited a full year for the ?magic? to happen.) In addition to the scraping I did, I ended up doing A LOT of caulking. Again, when we talked I assumed this was part of the estimate ? especially when it listed caulk in the supplies. This little process went on for several days ? they?d paint, I?d come behind and scrape and caulk, they?d repaint. I waited until this winter to do all of that to the areas above both porches (needed a taller ladder than I had at the time). I washed, scraped and primed. He?s got a one year guarantee so that anything that happens, he?ll come back at no charge to re do. Not quite. First there?s the required power washing (to enforce the guarantee) and cost for that $100. I don?t mind paying that but isn?t power washing supposed to clean up all the smudges and dirt? I remember doing it to my sidewalk and regretting that I started because of the vast difference between the clean and dirty part. My porch floor is just as dirty as if I swept it. Then there?s the paint. If you don?t have any paint left over?that?s when I decided to write this up. I came home the next day to a non-painted house. Got an email that night that I didn?t leave the paint out. I said there wasn?t any left from last year. It just so happens there is a Sherman Williams paint store a block from my house. He had an account there. So I assumed he could go there and look up his acct and get the paint. Next email they asked if I had the paint formula. I repeated that I didn?t have any left over paint thus did not have a paint can with the formula on it. Couple of days later I get an email from them ? ?I found the formula!? (Woopee.) and asked me if I can go and buy the paint. I reiterated about the paint store on the corner, his account, etc. Their reply was that they would be coming from another job and would I go get the paint. I?m not a lazy person. They have to literally pass this store in order to get to my house. What was the big deal? I said as much in my reply, that this was far more trouble than it?s worth. Had I known it was going to be this much trouble to get two spots on my house finished, I never would have bothered to contact them after they finished last year. More than three weeks after the power washing, I walked down to the store, had them look up the painter?s account, got the paint and finished the job myself over a weekend.