Mary P.
07/01/2018 12:00:00 SA
Jeff came out to do the initial quote for painting the exterior of the home. I was debating between just the fascia trim or the whole home (including fascia). It turned out, that although more expensive it was more cost effective just to do the whole house.
Jeff arrived on time for the initial visit and was very professional. Among the other quotes I received, theirs was a reasonable amount (not the lowest, nor the highest for what was being done). I liked the fact they use Sherwin Williams paint, a plus in my books because it's one of the brands the HOA wants.
In terms of the quote write up, it was very vague (especially when trying to compare apples to apples with several companies), I had to go back and forth a few more times having to ask questions to figure out if the service was right for us. The administrative staff was really good about answering questions and getting back to me in a timely manner. Ultimately I decided to move ahead with J&M and scheduling a date was pretty reasonable (they had dates available within the next two weeks).
The morning of the start date for painting was off to a rough start. The administrative staff had advised me they would be here between 7am and 8am. Unfortunately, around 6:30am J&M's painter was on our roof banging around - talk about a rude awaking! I just don't get the point of confirming what time they are coming, only to be woken up much earlier? Had I known 6:30am was the start time, I would have prepared accordingly...
I did let Jeff know about my frustration then being woken up, a couple of times, (once by phone and one by text) he finally apologized.
Another issue with the painter starting before I was able to meet with him, is that we had patio furniture to deal with. I was advised we would receive some help in moving it, by the time I was able to throw clothes on and get outside it had been all moved. Which moving the patio furniture in itself isn't the problem, moving the patio furniture under trees with lots of birds uncovered is another issue. I ended up having to rummage around the garage for tarps and garbage bags to protect the furniture.
Ernesto did a wonderful job when it came to the actual painting and covering of windows etc. The best part of the whole endeavor was the final product on the paint job. The process took three days, though I'd say the first and last day were half days of work, with the middle day the longest.
The only complaint I have with the actual painting, is that some things that shouldn't have gotten paint on them did. Some plants did, I was rather worried about the one as it looked like it was going to keel over. It hasn't died yet, but has been a little sickly as it has a fine coating of paint on it (from the spray settling I presume). Inevitably some of the paint debris settled into the pool, I ended up shocking the pool to keep it from getting out of whack. The brackets for the outdoor curtains had some paint on them along the edges. Lastly, the most upsetting are the three garden lights with drops of paint on the tops. I was hoping I would be able to pull the paint off, but it seems to have adhered permanently to the finish of these lights. Unfortunately, anything I try to remove the paint, is removing the finish as well. I am most disappointed about the lights getting paint on them because it's the most obvious of all, and at the time we got the house painted they were brand new... I mean at least if they were older I could somehow justify they would have to be replaced soon.
All and all there were some good things and bad things with the job (which is why I have given them a mixed rating of 3/5). Would I recommend them or consider them again? Maybe. J&M isn't awful. J&M could improve most with better communication, they certainly would have received at least a four star rating with better communication. A five star rating would be reserved for a near perfect or perfect experience, but I can't justify that here with the outlined hiccups.
I didn't bother contacting Jeff about the paint splotches on the lights, because I didn't notice them until a couple days after when I was tending to the plants in the garden. I was also hoping to get the paint off the lights myself (nothing seems to be working). I also wasn't entirely sure how much Jeff would even care, because it seemed he was a little nonchalant about the whole start time episode I mentioned earlier.