B & P PAINTING

Description of Work: Phone disconnected

Description of Work: Contracted with BP paint to paint my house.

Description of Work: I contracted with B&P Painting to paint my house because he came very highly recommended by a well-known businesswoman in Front Royal. The only thing she warned me about was that I would "have to stay on him to get the work done timely." In my original negotiation with this company, I indicated that I had done research on the paint I wanted and where to buy it. It was $40/gallon paint that could be used as the primer and again as the final coat. At the outset the owner, Bert Hatfield informed me that he could not scrape all the old paint off the house, because it was labor intensive and would take several months and the cost would be prohibitive. I told him to get "what was reasonable so that the house would look good and that the job would last for several years, and paint would last" (it lasted two years when the paint started to peel). I assumed that he would hand scrape what he could reasonable get, and then brush paint the house. I expected him to take about two weeks. It took him three days, and, as he came so highly recommended, I did not monitor each days work, because I worked 65 miles from Front Royal and commuted every day. At the end of the third day, I came home, and he was on the roof of the front porch spray painting the remainder of the already painted house. He had three laborers helping him. I saw the work at a lower level where I could see well, and it was quite obviously only one coat of paint. The wood underneath was very roughed up, and I could tell that he used a pressure washer to attempt to remove some paint. There was very little paint on the ground, so, he didn't get very much off, and the prep was very bad and unprofessional looking. It actually showed through the new paint. Even today, it's very obvious that only one coat of paint was put on the house. Initially, he asked me for funds up front to buy the paint, and I gave him $2,400 to buy to paint from the Sherwin-Williams company in Front Royal. He calculated what paint he would need and ordered it from Sherwin-Williams. In retrospect, when I later went to Sherwin-Williams to inquire about this painter, the company informed me that he only used half the paint. In discussion with him on the third day, I told him, I wasn't happy with the paint, and that it didn't look like two coats of paint, which I had specifically told him in the beginning that I wanted on the house. He got very belligerent and raised his voice to me, told me it was two coats of paint, and started to make a scene, so I backed off. I paid him his remainder of funds, which was my mistake, even though I was intimidated, because the paint only lasted two years before It started to peel off the house. Every house painter and specialist who has seen the paint job on my house has said from the very beginning, that it was a substandard job, and that I got "taken" for my money. I paid him $8,400 for the whole job and I'm not embarrassed to tell this, because I don't want any one else to get taken like I did. Today, I have a terrible peeling job, which I cannot afford to have repainted. I admit that in the beginning I should not have paid him for the whole job, because I was unhappy, but, I will admit I was intimidated by his behavior toward me. I will have to state that he has a very good eye for color, and I believe he could do a good job if in my opinion he was not out to "do it as quick and dirty" as he could for the biggest dollar amount he could get, and I feel he took advantage of me, because I am a single woman, who was surprised by his belligerent behavior. After all this was said and done, I have found out on more than one occasion that I should not have used him, because of his bad reputation. I realize this is several years later, and the statute of limitations has expired on this kind of problem for any recourse on my part, and I've thought about this long and hard, and even considered taking him to court, but I was not at that time up to a court battle, but, as my house gets worse, and I have less money, because I am retired and on a fixed income, and I've been very upset about this for a long time, and then, Angie's List came in to existence, I thought it can't hurt to put this information out there for the benefit of anyone in the Front Royal area that is considering using B & Painting to paint their house. I believe he can do good work and he has a good eye for color, but, I feel in my experience that he will cheat and cut corners if he can, and you have to be very on top of him (which I was not), as the lady who recommended him to me stated in the beginning. The bottom line is that I expected more professional work and behavior than I got. If anyone asks him about my house, he probably will say that he took off what paint he could, and that he initially stated that I would not take the paint all the way down to the wood. I understand about painting, and I understood what he said, but, I never thought he would do as little as he could to get my money, and I am the one suffering for it now, and he got my money really easy.