Why you should be wary of subcontractors
The first day of this job looked good, primer looked good, he was using masking tape, I had a good feeling about this.
Until I came home today...
Using masking tape was, what, too much trouble?
You thought you had a steady hand?
You thought you had the eye of a, what, painter?
And this wood trim looked alright to you?
You thought I would not notice?
What, you ran out of painter's tape? You know, the tape that would have prevented this mess?
More importantly, I am sure the original quote said to paint the ceiling and not my walls. Who gave you the go ahead for this? Where did you get the color from anyway?
Don't get me wrong, this is just paint, nothing constructional. It can be fixed. But this was supposed to be an incredibly simple job. I hadn't budgeted to paint the entire upstairs because of the gripes of one painter.
This is a subcontracted professional independent painter and decorator. Or so the papers say.
Comments
Supposedly, he is going to be back today to "finish" his work. He may be able to finish the work as laid out in the original scope but in order to fix his, shall I say, unwanted side effects, a lot more time and money will be required. Not mine, though. I have shot dozens of photos and video footage and I even have the number of a lawyer on speed dial, just in case...
I guess we'll see in an hour or two.
Unbelivable , it was done on purpose by him for so he can have a job, sick!!!
Plus, when you told the painter to stop painting, he completely ignored you and applied "one more coat"... I have looked at the video footage I shot and it looks really, really awful! I am no painter by any means but I should have insisted on bringing me the paint and letting me do this job myself... Would have been cheaper for the insurance, too.
That is what we think as well, this is not an honest mistake, but a deliberate action to try to gain more money. But in the end, he will either restore the home to what it was, minus the original ceiling job, or he will be forced to pay for another contractor.
OK, so threatening to sue was not necessary (yet). He agreed to fix this.
We verbally agreed he would paint the east and south walls in a color of our choice, clean up the bricks, screen door, and door trim. Clean up and touch up all other spots on the north and west wall that will remain the color they have, and he would make sure the crown molding looks good.
The hallway he will paint in the color of our choice, including all currently unpainted surfaces.
The kitchen will be stripped of all its wallpaper and border and be painted in a color of our choice.
This job started Monday, June 14 and was supposed to be finished today after lunch. The way it looks now, it will be another day or 4 before I can have my house back in livable state. Right now, there are tools and paint cans everywhere.
I don't know about cost, but this is going to cost significantly more than the simple "paint this ceiling" job for $823 as agreed with the insurance adjuster. So far, it has been like opening a proverbial can of worms.
This simple paint job turned into a small scale home renovating job. The kitchen walls alone needed a lot of work. And this was only the start.
The first week's done. Some progress has been made but lots of work remains to be done. I would personally have undertaking this by doing one wall, one room at a time. Now we are still living in one corner of the living room and the nursery with at least another week of work ahead of us before we can live again in this house the way we used to.. Half-painted walls, tools everywhere, paint fumes, no base boards, half-painted crown molding...
At last, we finally have our kitchen back after a week of sitting in a mess. Installed toddler proof receptacles while I was at it.
The kitchen is the only room upstairs without stuff in it, the living room has all the furniture placed in the middle because the walls are still wet from the base coat today.
At least there is some progress now.