Inside/Out Renovations

Complaint #[redacted]
"">This project started out with an unknown misunderstanding about the level of drywall refinishing to be doneWe started the project with a standard "Prep for paint" finishApparently, the homeowner wanted the walls in his townhouse completely refinished.I never argued that pointAs a matter of fact, I conceded and knocked $off of the price for the drywall because he told me that he had a friend that said he would have refinished all of the walls for that amountIn addition, I knocked an additional $off because we had not painted the master bedroom yetWe then agreed that when he had his friend fix the walls, I would come back and paint all of the drywall repairs and paint the master bedroom for freeThis was all my idea to try and keep a satisfied customer, and he agreed.The morning of day four when this all came to light, the walls and ceilings in the dining room, kitchen, hallway, half bath, son's bedroom and living room were completeWe had also applied one coat to the stairwell, second floor landing, daughters bedroom, hall bath and master bathIt was very apparent with the homeowners hostility that this was a no win situation but, I made the decision that we should finish what we had startedI already had a check for $and could have just walked away, but we didn'tIt was at that point that I came up with the before mentioned solution.Now I will address her complaints.1) "paint all walls." Above, I explained why the master did not get paintedUntil she contacted me using profanity and trying not to pay me the balance owed, I had every intention of going back once the drywall repairs were done to his satisfaction and finishing the painting.2) "low quality paint job." The paint job that we covered up was the "Low quality" paint jobIt is what is known in my business as "Amateur work." All of the "Paint runs" we're in that paint job.3) "walls not wiped." Every where my brushes touched, were wipedThey had to beThere was an unbelievable amount of dust, dog hair and cob webs EVERYWHERE! If "A hair" is visible, chances are that it was painted over previously with the amateur painting before.4) "living room ceiling." It was painted three times to cover.5) "paint on handrail." Again, most likely left overWe wrap the handrail in plastic from top to bottomI use drop cloths everywhere we paint.6) "paint over drywall patch." The five or six patches that were raised above the textured ceiling, I explained to the homeowner that there was nothing that I could do about that and he was okay with that.7) "paint in the sink." SorryProbably an oversightI use a scotch bright pad to clean the sink that we used to wash our brushes in everydayI may have forgotten on the last day.8) "two coats." EVERY wall got at least two coats! You cannot cover up dark purple with beige in one coat.I know that there are two sides to every storyI would encourage you to go out to the property and look at the quality of the paint job yourself.[redacted]

Complaint #[redacted]This project started out with an unknown misunderstanding about the level of drywall refinishing to be done. We started the project with a standard "Prep for paint" finish. Apparently, the homeowner wanted the walls in his townhouse completely refinished.I never argued that point....

As a matter of fact, I conceded and knocked $400 off of the price for the drywall because he told me that he had a friend that said he would have refinished all of the walls for that amount. In addition, I knocked an additional $200 off because we had not painted the master bedroom yet. We then agreed that when he had his friend fix the walls, I would come back and paint all of the drywall repairs and paint the master bedroom for free. This was all my idea to try and keep a satisfied customer, and he agreed.The morning of day four when this all came to light, the walls and ceilings in the dining room, kitchen, hallway, half bath, son's bedroom and living room were complete. We had also applied one coat to the stairwell, second floor landing, daughters bedroom, hall bath and master bath. It was very apparent with the homeowners hostility that this was a no win situation but, I made the decision that we should finish what we had started. I already had a check for $1200 and could have just walked away, but we didn't. It was at that point that I came up with the before mentioned solution.Now I will address her complaints.1) "paint all walls." Above, I explained why the master did not get painted. Until she contacted me using profanity and trying not to pay me the balance owed, I had every intention of going back once the drywall repairs were done to his satisfaction and finishing the painting.2) "low quality paint job." The paint job that we covered up was the "Low quality" paint job. It is what is known in my business as "Amateur work." All of the "Paint runs" we're in that paint job.3) "walls not wiped." Every where my brushes touched, were wiped. They had to be. There was an unbelievable amount of dust, dog hair and cob webs EVERYWHERE! If "A hair" is visible, chances are that it was painted over previously with the amateur painting before.4) "living room ceiling." It was painted three times to cover.5) "paint on handrail." Again, most likely left over. We wrap the handrail in plastic from top to bottom. I use drop cloths everywhere we paint.6) "paint over drywall patch." The five or six patches that were raised above the textured ceiling, I explained to the homeowner that there was nothing that I could do about that and he was okay with that.7) "paint in the sink." Sorry. Probably an oversight. I use a scotch bright pad to clean the sink that we used to wash our brushes in everyday. I may have forgotten on the last day.8) "two coats." EVERY wall got at least two coats! You cannot cover up dark purple with beige in one coat.I know that there are two sides to every story. I would encourage you to go out to the property and look at the quality of the paint job yourself.[redacted]

Review: Refer to the [redacted] Invoice # [redacted].

Invoice Description

Interior Paint Project:

1) Repair all drywall as needed.

2) Paint all walls one neutral color excluding closets.

3) Paint ceilings in living room, dining room, kitchen and second floor hallway.

*Price includes all labor and materials needed beyond supplied 5 gallon bucket of paint.

Instead of the above, this is the extremely low quality paint job I received:

• The invoice indicates that you would paint all interior walls; you failed to comply with this statement. You did not paint an entire bedroom.

• You did not cover all of the walls in 2 coats of paint even though you said you did.

• The walls were not wiped prior to painting as evidenced by hair stuck in the dried paint.

• There are paint drip marks and runs throughout all of the walls that you did paint.

• Your invoice indicates that you would paint the living room ceiling; you failed to comply with this statement.

• You painted over peeling paint.

• You failed to sand down raised drywall patches.

• You left paint in our kitchen sink.

• You sloppily left paint on the hand railing going up the stairs.

The total cost of the painting service was not an accurate reflection of the quality of the job.Desired Settlement: The total cost of the job was listed as $1810.00. The inadequate and low quality service should reflect a discount of $450.00. I've already paid $1200.00. I should only have to pay $160.00 additionally.

Business

Response:

Complaint #[redacted]This project started out with an unknown misunderstanding about the level of drywall refinishing to be done. We started the project with a standard "Prep for paint" finish. Apparently, the homeowner wanted the walls in his townhouse completely refinished.I never argued that point. As a matter of fact, I conceded and knocked $400 off of the price for the drywall because he told me that he had a friend that said he would have refinished all of the walls for that amount. In addition, I knocked an additional $200 off because we had not painted the master bedroom yet. We then agreed that when he had his friend fix the walls, I would come back and paint all of the drywall repairs and paint the master bedroom for free. This was all my idea to try and keep a satisfied customer, and he agreed.The morning of day four when this all came to light, the walls and ceilings in the dining room, kitchen, hallway, half bath, son's bedroom and living room were complete. We had also applied one coat to the stairwell, second floor landing, daughters bedroom, hall bath and master bath. It was very apparent with the homeowners hostility that this was a no win situation but, I made the decision that we should finish what we had started. I already had a check for $1200 and could have just walked away, but we didn't. It was at that point that I came up with the before mentioned solution.Now I will address her complaints.1) "paint all walls." Above, I explained why the master did not get painted. Until she contacted me using profanity and trying not to pay me the balance owed, I had every intention of going back once the drywall repairs were done to his satisfaction and finishing the painting.2) "low quality paint job." The paint job that we covered up was the "Low quality" paint job. It is what is known in my business as "Amateur work." All of the "Paint runs" we're in that paint job.3) "walls not wiped." Every where my brushes touched, were wiped. They had to be. There was an unbelievable amount of dust, dog hair and cob webs EVERYWHERE! If "A hair" is visible, chances are that it was painted over previously with the amateur painting before.4) "living room ceiling." It was painted three times to cover.5) "paint on handrail." Again, most likely left over. We wrap the handrail in plastic from top to bottom. I use drop cloths everywhere we paint.6) "paint over drywall patch." The five or six patches that were raised above the textured ceiling, I explained to the homeowner that there was nothing that I could do about that and he was okay with that.7) "paint in the sink." Sorry. Probably an oversight. I use a scotch bright pad to clean the sink that we used to wash our brushes in everyday. I may have forgotten on the last day.8) "two coats." EVERY wall got at least two coats! You cannot cover up dark purple with beige in one coat.I know that there are two sides to every story. I would encourage you to go out to the property and look at the quality of the paint job yourself.[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that Mr. [redacted] response does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

It should be known that Mr. [redacted] is completely dishonest; uses obscene profanity with his customers, hangs up on his customers, and instead of owning the truth about his low quality, inadequate paint job (which was full of short cuts), uses personal attacks against his customers. He has refused to provide a receipt for services rendered or to rectify our complaint of his unsatisfactory service provided. According to the [redacted] invoice, he did not abide by or comply with, its terms or statements (refer to the [redacted] invoice in the original complaint). He was on our property for all of 3 ½ days (Dec 15, a few hours on Dec 16 in between meeting other people outside of our home, Dec 17, and a couple of hours on Dec 18), not 4 days, as he’s falsely stated, and the time he was on site was sporadic and disorganized. For example, he commented to his son, who was helping him on the first day, that he had no idea what area his son painted and what area he had painted. He was on his cell phone much of the time while he was working. There is clear evidence, as we took note upon his departure each day, that he did not paint 2 coats on several of the walls. There is no evidence that he painted the living room ceiling, as there are marks/scratches on the ceiling and peeling paint around the wall edges where the ceiling meets the wall. He did not cover the banister in the stairwell prior to painting as there was no paint on our dark wooden banister prior to his arrival and now there are smudges, smears, and speckles of paint on the banister wood and the banister hardware. We did not have paint runs on our walls prior to him coming into our home, nor did we have hair and other debris painted into our walls prior to his short cut job on our home. Again, we took careful notes of the work done each day he left. He is untruthful. As soon as we brought up the issue of the inadequate wall preparation, he took offense and stated, “I guess I should have defined a paint job and perfect before I took this job”. Based on his lack of customer service and his unwillingness / inability to perform quality work, we were not inclined to have him back in our home after we repaired his poor paint job. More importantly, we have incurred a huge, additional cost to go back and repair, patch, sand, and repaint the wall areas that should have been addressed prior to his painting. He did not caulk picture holes, painted over peeling paint, and did not sand the wall surfaces. This basic service of surface preparation is foundational to painting contractors and is defined in the regulation under the Commonwealth of Virginia Board for Contractors: "Painting and wallcovering contracting" (Abbr: PTC) means the service that provides for the application of materials common to the painting and decorating industry for protective or decorative purposes, the installation of surface coverings such as vinyls, wall papers, and cloth fabrics. This includes surface preparation, caulking, sanding and cleaning preparatory to painting or coverings and includes both interior and exterior surfaces. The CBC and RBC classifications and the HIC and CIC specialties also provide for this function. Mr. [redacted] of Inside/Out Home Maintenance did not abide by the stated invoice terms nor did he abide by the subject regulation for “surface preparation”, which has cost us substantially to correct. We are requesting a refund of $450.00 to apply to the additional cost, time, and effort we have had to incur for his inadequate and incomplete paint job.

Regards,