Shaw Company Painting & Remodeling

They were down at the end of my block and a neighbor recommended them. The quality of service depended on who I worked with. Some of them were excellent and some I had to keep on over and over. They would probably not be my first choice to use in the future.

Each and every job from estimate, to consultation with installers, to actual work, and finally clean-up was well done. We have had work done in the past where our house was left a mess by workers. This was never a problem with this company . 1. Outstanding job of helping us pick the appropriate colors for several rooms. Workers were in and out in minimal time. Very good at cleanup. 2. Can not tell that a door was ever there. 4. Very helpful in deciding the appropriate floor to install. Work was very well done and place was cleaner that we left it. 5. Work was well done. There was a mix up in communication as to it being one or two levels. They immediately responded to our question and corrected the problem, which may have been ours in the first place.

They did a great job. I was very pleased with their work.

EXCELLENT WORKMANSHIP, ATTENTION TO DETAIL, AND JOB COMPLETED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. EASY TO WORK WITH REGARDING MINOR CHANGES TO DESIGN OR FIXTURES. VERY FRIENDLY AND PROFESSIONAL WORKMEN AND COMPANY OFFICE PEOPLE. I HAVE RECOMMENDED THIS FIRM TO TWO OF MY CHILDREN AND SEVERAL NEIGHBORS.

I felt very comfortable with them. Due to circumstances I was not able to be in my home when they were doing the work and I trusted with them with everything. The owner gave me a list of references if I wanted them. He reassured me if any of the workers were injured he had workers comp and I would not have to worry about anything. He was able to show me pictures of past work and he got me financing at 4%. In fact, one of my friends saw his work in my house and is now going to contact him.

I spent about $3500 with them. Their price was fair enough. Their responsiveness and punctuality was terrible. They would say there were coming, and they would not show up. I have a brand new door they put in. I won’t even call them back. I have called somebody else to come and fix it because I can see the air outside. It is just ridiculous. I would never use them again in the future.

My kitchen was big but very traditional with a breakfast bar separating kitchen and the TV room and there was a built-in desk at one corner of the kitchen which had hardly been used. I wanted a big center island with seating to replace the breakfast bar and the deck, so I contacted Shaw Company Painting & Remodeling for a free estimate. During the first meeting ,it didn't take the owner Eric Shaw long to understand what I was looking for in the new kitchen . He made several good suggestions and his estimate was reasonable and I liked his positive 'can-do' attitude. I signed the contact on 9/1/2011. The actual work did not start until 10/7/2011. Shaw's workers were experienced and knowldgable. Eventhough they did not come every day, they worked hard while they were here. Several times when I was concerned with the progress, the supervisor, Juan, assured me that the work would be complete before Thanksgiving. All work was completed on 11/11/2011. Juan and his crew came thru for me and I love my beautiful, functional, new kitchen.

Horrible....Eric Shaw sold the service and was never to be seen. He never returned calls when there were big problems. His supervisor answered the calls rarely. Since the jobs were completed, other contractors have come to our house and showed us all the things Shaw's company did wrong...some have cost us more money to repair. Let me stress...after Eric Shaw sold stupid us their service and took a check, he was never seen again...only in the ValPak coupons!

DO NOT USE THIS THIRD-RATE COMPANY!! If you use this company after reading this report and still experience these kinds of problems, just remember--you've been warned. UPDATE: (Sept. 2012) I just had some major work done on my house by another company. After seeing the quality work other companies are capable of, AND after reading the reviews on Shaw from other companies, THIS GUY HAS NOT CHANGED HIS WAYS!!!!!! UPDATE: (Jan. 2012) Eric Shaw promised to send his electrician out to move two electrical outlets. And after closer examination, some of the work was not as good as I first thought it was. Four months later, no contact, no follow-up, nothing! Eric will probably be at the San Antonio Home Show on Jan. 13-15th.....be careful...you've been warned. HOW IT ALL STARTED: We first met Eric Shaw at the San Antonio Home and Garden show in Jan. 2011. I signed a contract with Eric Shaw on 4/18/2011. Unfortunately, work didn't get started until 5/22/2011. He wanted $8400 down before work would begin. These two issues should have been my first major clue as to how lousy my experience would be with this company. And yes, it DID get worse. THE JOB I WANTED DONE: First, let me explain that my wife and I wanted a major remodel on our medium-sized bathroom, in our house originally built in 1996. This was our first-ever experience with a major remodeling job we hired out to have done, other than roofing and A/C replacement, and our first experience with the Shaw Company and Eric Shaw. The shower pan was leaking and damaging the wood and tile in and around the shower, and we had a full-sized tub that we never used, so there was a lot of wasted space in the basic design of the bathroom. The shower needed to be replaced due to the leaking water and likely mold damage. There was a large open floor area with a lot of wasted space, and the master closet, off the bathroom, was too small. Eric Shaw came out to our home, we drew up a floor plan we all agreed on that would combine the shower-tub into one large tile open shower, and add about 5x7' onto the master closet. Cost: $28,000. We waited several weeks before hearing from Randy Guzman, their production manager, to come out to the house to look over the project and start work. During this time, my wife and I had to go to their supplier to pick out fixtures for the bath and shower. A few days later we got a call telling us our selections had gone over our "allowance," adding another $1,487.53 on top of the $28,000 estimate! Gee, thanks! MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THIS CONTRACTOR: 1. Randy Guzman had promised to write a repair order for the leaking shower, which would have allowed me to file a claim with my insurance carrier for the water damage, helping to offset the nearly $30,000 cost of this job. He never completed that estimate, which would have probably saved me $4,000-6,000 on this job, the amount he estimated it would have cost to fix the shower. I'm told this is a common practice in the remodeling business, and customers often get some financial costs covered by their insurance company if they have legitimately-covered damages that would need to be done even if the bath wasn't remodeled. 2. The work progressed VERY slowly, with the crew almost never arriving before 9:30-10:00 a.m. and often leaving by 3:30-4:30 p.m. There were several days when I worked from home and was here to personally observe their work schedule. They worked a total of about 24-30 hours per week, almost never worked on Fridays, never worked on a Saturday (promised) and never let me know in advance when they would not be showing up on a day they had promised to work. This posed a serious security issue for us; we live in a semi-rural area, and had to leave the electric gate open on the days they promised to be here. Not showing up left our home more vulnerable to theft or vandalism, and a few loose dogs in the area had a great time going through our garbage cans. 3. The crew did several major parts of the job wrong, and I had to demand they redo the incorrect work properly. This included: -- Covering over (instead of removing) the window, leaving the wall unframed and weakened under the brick exterior -- Left a very wavy ceiling in the master closet -- Left a chipped countertop in place, with a poorly glued damaged portion of the countertop exposed -- Left a light fixture grossly misaligned with a sink, -- Poorly set exterior brickwork around the new window, with the bricks wavy, misaligned, cracked and not straight. They NEVER came back and said, "you know, I don't like the way that turned out; I'm going to redo it for you." Correcting their mistakes was totally at my insistence. 4. To the best of my knowledge, Eric Shaw NEVER came to observe the work, and never contacted me during the project to see how things were going. I did call to speak to him about this during the course of the four months, at least one call was not returned, and once some other manager called instead of Eric. This left me with the impression that he came out to 'sell' the job and collect the final payment, but he was very detached from the work and the customer while the job was ongoing. 5. Randy Guzman, the manager, would argue with me and make excuses about days and days where no work was done whatsoever, with little to no effort to correct the work schedule, even though I made it very clear I was not happy with the progress. Eric has since told me he fired Randy; I'm not sure if the problem was totally with Randy, or if this is standard for how this company works. 6. This was a 6-8 week project that took 4 months to complete. In the four months they worked on this bathroom, if I added up all of the days they were not here or were waiting on parts to arrive (because they were not ordered promptly) at least one full month out of the four had NO work being done whatsoever. If the crews worked full (eight-hour) days and worked five days per week, the job could have easily been done even quicker. 7. When Eric Shaw came out to get his final payment, and I went into detail with him to express my disappointment, he knocked a whopping $400 off of the final bill for my frustration. Keep in mind, I didn't ask for a discount, but I was waiting to see if he would offer any financial compensation (discount) for what we had been through. Wow, $400 off a nearly $30,000 job. Thanks! THE GOOD ABOUT THIS JOB: 1. Eric came up with a very practical and useful design on this project. The wasted space has been better utilized, the shower should serve us well for as long as we live in this house. It now has a very modern, contemporary appearance and if we ever have to sell the house, the remodel should give us a strong edge over similar houses in our neighborhood. 2. Several of the subcontractors and employees of this company did try to work with us when there were problems. The tile guy did a great job on the shower. The plumber worked quickly when they discovered they had ordered faucets that wouldn't work with a granite countertop. When a subcontractor was made aware of a problem, they did correct the work. BOTTOM LINE: This company was quick to make excuses for poor, slow work, slow to respond to my complaints, and I had watch them like a hawk to make sure the work was done according to what was promised. If I had not watched them and demanded problems be fixed, I would have a weakened wall with very uneven and damaged exterior bricks, a wavy ceiling, a sink and light fixture that didn't line up, a cracked countertop, and several other minor problems. If this company had responded quickly, worked promptly, acted professionally and did the work right the first time, their review would have been much, much higher. I gave the overall experience a "D" rating because of all the problems. The quality of the work (finally) would have been an "A" had I not had to require so many problems be corrected. If all contractors are like this, I will NEVER hire someone to come into my home to do major work again! I realize many of the comments I have made are as much perception as they are actual facts that occurred, but I strongly believe the customer-contractor relationship is as much about trust, confidence and the integrity of both parties, as it is about the work being performed. I strongly believe this company was severely lacking in terms of keeping and maintaining trust, as well as demonstrating personal and professional integrity, which caused me to seriously doubt their ability to complete the work properly. As of this writing, I am waiting for them to come out and reapply a second coat of paint, since the first coat comes off every time you rub anything stronger than a Q-tip across it. If you use this company after reading this report and still experience these kinds of problems, just remember--you've been warned. Also, please be aware Eric Shaw owns and operates under the name "Honey Do Husbands" operating out of the same address.

The first thing I must say is that the cost of the project was very expensive. Much too expensive. Shaw does hire good subcontractors, especially for tile and plumbing but you can hire these companies outside of Shaw since they do not work for Shaw exclusively. As for the not so positive part of our experience, we found the females that work at this company to be very unstable and moody and this really affected our ability to communicate at times. We are so glad that Randy was there to help move the project forward and he was always available and responded very quickly. Overall the project turned out decent and we've had no problems so far (it's been about 4 months). But the shock to the wallet will last for some time. Much to our surprise, the company has never followed up with us after the completion of the project. For the amount of money spent, we definitely expected better customer service, especially if a company is seeking repeat business or referrals.

Will try to be as brief as possible. We explained to Charles that the center design point of the shower was as special "wainscot" tile to match the existing wainscot in the bathroom. We sent him a link to a company for an example of the tile we liked when he struggled finding a supplier. (First sign of trouble: a professional remodeler can't find a specialty tile.) While traveling on business, I found a supplier in California and brought home some samples. My wife emailed Shaw Co to tell them that there were two finishes for the tile: "Matte" and "Crackle" and that I didn't think she would like the crackle finish. We scheduled a walk through at our home with Charles and Randy where we showed them both tile finishes and my wife made it clear that she "HATED" the crackle finish and wanted the matte finish. (Second sign of trouble: We would go weeks without hearing from Charles while they struggled to find a supplier for the wainscot tile.) This process would drag out from November to March and we always had to call Charles to find out what was going on? The next struggle was the tile for the floor of the shower and the upper wall going to about 9 feet high above the wainscot. They wanted us to make tile selections from a "book". My wife explained she need to "see" the tile to make a selection. Finally, got Charles to meet us at a local tile supplier where my wife made her selections. Again, we brought the wainscot "matte" sample with us as we contrasted it with tile we would select for the floor and upper wall. We did this with Charles, not by ourselves. (Third sign of trouble, Charles' credit card was declined when he tried to purchase our selection of tile. Total for the tile was only about $200!) After weeks of not hearing from Charles again, we emailed them to set up an appointment to discuss when he could start and how the job would proceed. When we walked in we were ambushed! Charles, Randy, and Megan walk in with a sample of the wainscot tile WITH THE CRACKLE FINISH!!! Also, with a copy of the first email with the link to the sample company that just happened to point to the crackle finish. He seemed unconcerned that we sent at least one followup email saying that Kim would "HATE" the crackle finish. Also seemed unconcerned with the visit to our house were we showed him both samples and insisted on the "matte" finish! Then again, the trip to the tile supplier where we walked around with the matte finish sample to select the adjoining tile. Charles then produces an email where he wanted to confirm that I had verbally given him approval to order the specialty wainscot tile; which I did. However, it seems that on this email was an "attachment" with the order showing he was ordering the "wrong" tile. Charles' position is we should have seen the attachment and noticed the mistake. We did not see the attachment. My position is that nothing in the body of the email alerted us to the existence or importance of an attachment. Also, nothing in my contract with Shaw Co informed me that I was responsible for verifying that they ordered the right materials! The bottom line is that Shaw Co, ordered the wrong tile. The company they ordered it from would not take it back. Charles contrived a weak story trying to make it appear to be our fault and we had to eat $1,900 (cost of the wainscot tile)for their mistake. I've never been so p***** off!! I just got back into town and will be meeting with an attorney in an attempt to get our $1900 back from Shaw Co. In my opinion Shaw Co is incompetent at best, and a bunch of crooks at worst. Regardless of how they try to defend their position there was NEVER any question regarding the finish of the wainscot tile we wanted! There is no way they could misinterpreted our desire for a matte finish and our dislike for the crackle finish! Charles even had the nerve to suggest that this was the result of our having "changed our minds" several times! Changed our minds on the upper tile a couple of times and once on the location of the shower, "yes", but there was NEVER any question on the wainscot tile because it was so expensive. We knew EXACTLY what we wanted there. This is what I believe happened: Megan did not question our follow up email regarding the crackle finish. Charles nor Randy seem to have informed Megan of our desire for the matte finish after the visits to our house and the tile supplier. No one at Shaw informed us we were responsible for validating what was ordered. Charles did not inform us in the body of his email that there was an attachment with the actual order. They screwed up, the company won't take the tile back, and Shaw Co does not want to eat the cost for ordering the wrong tile. No choice but to have an attorney review this.

We had used them to do a bathroom and we had problems with them with communication. We saw them at a home show and the guy said he remembered us and we set up an appointment for them to come at 4:30 after my husband got home from work. They showed up at 4 pm and I told them that they were supposed to come later when my husband was home. He said they were in the neighborhood and they were gone before my husband got home. A week later he had still not called or anything with an estimate so I called and said that I would never use them. They did wonderful work on our bathroom but they had days when they didn't show up and I had to call them. They didn't follow up or even call back to find out why I said we wouldn't use them regarding the glass block.

They did an excellent job. The only problem that I have is that the paint job is not good, but the floor seems to be fine. So I need to call them back. I felt that they were a little expensive. Their responsiveness was pretty good, but they didn?t show up for the work several times when they were supposed to show up. They said that they would be back the next week when I called them. They showed up when they said they were going to come. Their quality was excellent. They did a very good job. Everything they did, they did really well. I am certainly satisfied with the work that they did. I would use their services in the future too. As a matter of fact, I saw an advertisement from them for radiant barrier for the attic. So I might definitely call them to come and give me a price on the radiant barrier when I get to the point of being able to do that.

Overall, an excellent job. No missed spots, no drips or smears. Everything we asked for was done the first time and on time.

We found Shaw Company very expensive in their proposal. We knew about how much it would cost by doing our homework, and essentially they came in 12K more then the person we used. Their price also did not include tile, vanities, and sinks as we requested to purchase them ourselves.

I am thrilled. Each group of workers did a professional job(cement, covering, railing fence). I love to sit on my patio. I am very happy with it!

Their scheduler did a great job. I requested a certain electrician that I had previous experience with. He came in with drop clothes, did the work, was courteousand professional. He also cleaned up and removed debris. Will have again. Referred neighbor to them and he was very well satisfied also.

I would say Shaw was very professional from start to finish. Eric Shaw was the first person I met who came to my house. We discussed what I wanted done and he gave me an estimate. I changed my mind on a few things as we went along and I only paid for the 'upgrades' I had them do. It took about a month from start to finish. It was a messy job removing the popcorn from the ceilings but they did a pretty good job cleaning up after themselves every day. I can't remember the project managers name, but he was always available when I needed him. I'm pretty much a control freak and he worked with me patiently and professionally. I will and have recommended Shaw to others. I will definitely call them if/when I decide to remodel my bathrooms!

Bought the house and had the bathroom re-done before we moved in. They had a lock-box on the house and workmen were free to go in and out as needed as nothing was in the house yet. The project manager for questions was very helpful and answered every concern as with an older home, you get problems that go with it and they solved it.

Don't be fooled by the flyer the "Shaw Company" sends out in the mail describing "a reputation of quality and excellence" as nothing could be further from the truth. Other than the consultant coming out to your house and collecting the deposit check up front; everything else about the company is a nightmare. As a matter of fact, the experience of dealing with the Shaw Company was so bad that I did not even want to bother with writing this report and I just wanted to forget about dealing with the company all together. Well, it's been over a year since the Shaw Company worked on my house; and I am still finding paint in the carpet and on the tile and on the counters -- so I figured the people of San Antonio really need to know just how bad this company is when it comes to working on your house. Like I said, the Shaw Company is quick to take your money up front; but after that, good luck getting the workers to show up on time much less with the paint they need to do the job. (And if you get two workers to actually show up one time; that is a small miracle for this company) The painters do not tape off the carpet, do not take the time to prep the area they are painting, do not bother to set up lights if necessary so they can actually see what they are painting, and basically, do not care how the paint job comes out. If you are not physically present watching their every move to ensure a decent job; you may as well just have your kids paint the walls. In expressing my frustration with the company, I meet with the supervisors and even Mr. Shaw himself. I'll sum up this experience by just saying what a bunch of bull when dealing with the management of the company. All they offered were excuses and cover ups. First of all, they ALL AGREED that the work was poor but THEN GAVE me a bunch of excuses for the poor work along the lines of how their workers need to go over the areas they are working on A FEW TIMES to get it right. (The only bad part with this reasoning was that I had to be the one to point out the poor work otherwise they could care less -- so much for in-house quality assurance) So, the management of the company ended up telling me to build a "punch list" of all of the items that were wrong with the work so they could fix them; and when I did, they dismissed the discrepancies and said the work was good enough. Well, the work was far from good enough -- so when I had enough with the Shaw Company -- I fired them. Initially, they cried about the contract and how they were "legally obligated" to finish the job; but the bottom line was they had done a HORRIBLE JOB and they knew it. So when I got a lawyer to look into things and see who was likely to lose in court -- the Shaw Company backed off and went on their way. Bottom line -- out of all of the remodeling and residential painting companies in San Antonio -- you can do a lot better than the Shaw Company -- so stay away from this company and save yourself the headache.

They were lots forward when they promised and it turns out that to get them to finish up the job was like pulling tea. Their price was fair and the quality of work was very good. I would not use them again.

we were very pleased with the entire experience. Workers and project manger were very nice and professional. Anytime we had a question or concern, Mr. Shaw was available to talk with us. Anytime we were not pleased with anything, things were taken care of. Even after the project was completed and we saw something we didn't quite like, Mr. Shaw sent people over to make it to our liking. We had professional interior people to help us with tile selection, cabinet selection, and trim selection. We would strongly recommend tkis company for further work.

They have been very good at getting things done. They have done tile floor work for the kitchen and bathroom. They took down the garage door and built a wall as well as taking down the sliding glass doors and replacing it with a wall. They put in an air conditioner in a wall since we couldn't bring the unit into the garage. They did a very good job. They are very professional and very nice.

Job was promised for 2 to 4 weeks, started on 2/6/09 and completed on 4/18/09, 8 weeks. Tile work was excellent and timely in kitchen and bath. Everything else was like pulling teeth to get finished. Bathroom cabinets were promised to match existing drawers but did not match in style or color,explanation was that the manufacturer changed the model style...well why did'nt they tell us that before they were installed? Getting final small repairs and touch ups completed took constant phone calls and email requests. There "clean up" was a "lick and a promise" Was promised the job would be finished by a specific date, but when the last sub contractor arrived they had not cut the granite counter tops correctly. Had get very ugly with the company representative to get the job completed.

The tile work was so bad the master bath floor & shower had to be retiled 3 times and the shower still leaks water. One of the sub contractors has started the process to attach a lien on the house due to non payment from Shaw. Eric Shaw does a GREAT job selling a package that has NOTHING to do with what we actually got. This was an absolute NIGHTMARE!!!