LUX INTERIORS INC

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Steve Irish was punctual for both the estimate and the work. He provided a detailed estimate in advance. His work covered 3 days. He was meticulous in his set-up and clean-up. Throughout the work he kept us appraised of his progress both in person and

Steve is a true craftsman. He is professional, and a pleasure to work with. Steve was called in to repair an old, badly done water leak repair in a plaster ceiling as part of a partial remodel of my kitchen (total remodel of kitchen nook). The ceiling bowed, and had a horrible lumpy repair from an old water leak before I owned the 1925 house. Due to the bow, we were concerned that possibly more plaster had failed in addition to the patch. I met with all of the three plaster specialists on Angie's. Steve was not the cheapest in total, but he won the bid because he was very thorough and thoughtful about how to tackle the repair and he considered how to incorporate the repair with the rest of the project. The remodel entailed a partial wall and header removal to join a nook with the rest of the kitchen. Steve said he could repair the ceiling and bridge the main kitchen ceiling with the nook across the area where the old header existed. He said he would install a fiberglass cloth across the entire ceiling to eliminate future cracking in the ceiling. He also said he could plaster the new drywall - which meant no taping, mudding and sanding.. He provided me with a very detailed and professional estimate via email (his hourly rates are incredibly reasonable for such skilled workmanship). The other two plasterers threw out ballpark oral estimates that were widely different. Steve masked off the entire area with plastic to seal all the dust in the kitchen. He did all his mixing outside in the backyard. He removed the old patch and plaster that was no longer keyed. Turns out a beam is bowed, so only about a 2-3 foot diameter section of the ceiling plaster had failed. He re-plastered the cleaned ceiling lathe, incorporated the fiberglass cloth across the entire ceiling, plastered the nook walls, and skim coated the ceiling and walls. He also installed metal corner protectors and patched a few areas outside the nook on walls where trim was removed. The work took place over about 2 1/2 days. The workmanship was top quality. The ceiling looks fabulous and the skim coat on the walls is just like glass before it is primed and painted. I will definitely have Steve back to address some cracks in other rooms before I repaint those rooms. I am particular and have high expectations; I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Steve's services whole-heartedly. He exceeded my expectations.

After removing several layers of old wallpaper, we discovered our plaster ceilings and walls were in very poor condition. Steve came by to give me an estimate and let me know how the surface should be prepared before he got started. I got 3 other estimates, 2 of which were lower than Steve's, but I knew the repair was going to be tough and felt he would do the best job. He takes pride in his work and clearly considers it his "art" rather than simply a way to make a living. I also justified the higher price because he said he could tint the plaster so we wouldn't need to paint, which would save us money. Unfortunately, that didn't work out, which was my only disappointment in the process. He was very willing to work with me to reduce the price where possible by letting me do some of the "easier" work like masking surfaces and other prep. It took a while to lock in on a start date, but once he got started he worked quickly and efficiently. It took about 3 weeks total and he did a FANTASTIC job. He had to fill some very large areas with new plaster and even out some difficult surfaces. Our walls and ceilings now look brand new--you'd never know that they were falling down in huge chunks just a few months ago.

Steve Irish is a pro! He's very much an artist and cares about his work. He did a fabulous job matching the original plaster pattern on the walls, and we were very happy with his work.