I Paint

I did not have Angie's List at the time I hired the contractor and had found other very positive reviews about the contractor's professionalism and attention to detail. Initially, I had just wanted the entry way, bathrooms, and kitchen painted by the contractor and I was going to paint the rest of the house myself. When we met at our home, she was telling me stories about how she was very particular about details and I told her I was very happy to hear that since I am OCD level particular about clean lines. She was extremely pleasant to deal with and seemed knowledgeable about interior design. After reviewing the initial rooms she sent me a price quote for the rooms and ordered large paint samples from Sherwin Williams so I could pick out the exact shades I would want in our home. She also quoted us 2 days for the limited work. We then decided to hire her to do the entire upper level since we loved her attitude, personality, and professionalism. We had her over again at the house so she could review the additional rooms and so we could get an idea of the amount of paint we needed to buy since the paint is not included in the quote. She was verbally telling us how much paint was needed for each room and sheen type. There were some fixtures on the walls that the previous owners had left that we took down. There were screw holes left in the walls but the contractor stated she would take care of those so we wouldn't have to worry about filling in the holes. I expressed my happiness and relief because I was not experienced in hole filling and sanding. She assured me she would take care of it if the holes were small. We are new to painting. The only painting I had done previously was in apartments and my directions came from youtube videos. I put all my trust in her expertise and assumed she would tell me what it took to paint an entire home. The contractor made a suggestion for my son's room of one wall being black chalkboard paint and making the rest of the room "real red". We complied. We bought all our paint from Sherwin Williams due to the contractor informing us they were going to have a huge sale over Veteran's weekend. We bought HGTV Satin paint. When we brought it to the house to her, the only comment she made was "its a good paint, I wouldn't have gone any lower in quality". So we asked her if it was ok that we got HGTV paint and she again said we were good to go. She started painting on Saturday of Veteran's weekend and had most of the house done by Monday afternoon. We went over to unload some boxes after work every day and we would discuss the paint progress. She informed us on Tuesday that she would be done by mid Wednesday morning. We looked over the house after she left on Tuesday and noticed that the trim and ceilings had paint on them throughout the entire house in addition to bathroom fixtures. My fiance and I discussed the issue and decided to be there on Wednesday morning to ask about the paint lines. When we questioned her about the trim, she informed us that it was impossible to make the lines straight since our trim does not have a square edge. It curves into the wall. We asked why she couldn't tape along the wall to make a straight line at the edge of the trim and she gave us a long nonsensical speech about how tape "just doesn't work". She never uses tape but just uses her eyes to make sure the lines are straight. We then talked to her about the paint on the bathroom fixtures and bathtub liner and she stated she would take a wet wash cloth and "wipe it all off". We also noticed that the red in my son's room was extremely streaky. She stated it was due to the HGTV brand of paint we had bought. She said we should've bought the "Super" brand by Sherwin Williams. This was the first time my fiance and I had heard of this brand recommendation from her. She argued that she told us the brand verbally when we were determining the paint amount. I will concede that she motive stated it once during that long process and the two of us didn't hear her. It would've been nice of her to have written the brand preference on her quote and if we don't buy that brand, then the liability is on us since we were given the information. After she left, my fiance and I walked throughout the house. The trim and ceilings still had paint all over them. Three of the rooms in our house has multiple colors. None of the corner lines where the different color paints meet are straight. The bathroom fixtures and bathtub liner has paint on them. The master shower stall has paint on the frosted glass doors and liner. She didn't sand down the filling in the nail holes like she said she would so our walls have noticeable bumps. My daughter's closet (which we had decided to not paint) has a huge paint streak inside of it. The entry way wall paint doesn't reach the ceiling in spots. We then realized that she had not quoted us on doing the trim. She told us our ceiling was fine and didn't need to be redone. I don't understand how a professional painter does not quote the trim when the customer is asking for the ENTIRE house to be painted. She knew we were inexperienced painters and brand new homeowners. I honestly had forgotten that trim existed so I trusted her to let us know everything that needed to be done. I am not sure if what she said about the tape is accurate or not. I know when I painted my apartments, I used tape around the ceilings and trim and had always made a clean straight line. The contractor is a very pleasant person. She's very energetic and seems to love her job. Her capability level at performing her job to a professional degree is abysmal. We now have to either hire another painter to come and fix her shoddy work or attempt to fix it ourselves.

Overall, the contractor performed her work with a great attitude and was most helpful in trying to pick the right colors. The contractor does all her own painting, and only had to call for assistance from a subcontractor on two of the cathedral walls that she could not reach safely. The main reason I could not give the company an A, is that some areas were not painted to my satisfaction. I am extremely particular and by comparison to other painters, I do not know if the work could have been done better by someone else. Most of the walls had places that should have been sanded before painting and a few nail pops that should have been cared for. Unfortunately, I was not told that there is no wall prep done and I failed to clarify that major point. Had I known ahead of time that this was not included in the estimate, I would have taken the time to do that myself, but the project was underway and I just let the job continue and hoped for the best. The contractor used tarps to protect most of the flooring and furniture, but she does no taping off of any areas, so I have found areas since the completion of the job that I am not pleased with. Overall and from a distance the work looks good, but as I said, I am very particular. The contractor did arrive on time everyday and it took 4 days to complete. She is concerned about providing the best possible paint job and feels that she is a great painter. Since I have never hired anyone for this size job before, I should have found out more of what to expect, and should have insisted on more specific details for the contract. The contractor is a very nice and considerate person who could be trusted in any home even when you can not be there. She really makes an effort to try and satifsy her clients. If you get everything you expect from a painter in writing, then I think you could hire I Paint and get the results that you desire.