This review has been a long time in the coming. I hope it's cathartic that I write this down as the negativity is probably unhealthy to bottle in. Yeah, it's that BAD. Agree that people must have been paid for positive reviews.
Being Yelp Elite that I am, I looked for a painter on Yelp to paint 2 bathrooms, kitchen, small enclave, floorboards and wooden framing near the enclave. We wanted to cover some light water damage recently fixed by a contractor crew and to cover loud colors (green, peach) from prior owner. I saw glowing reviews for Affinity Painting and made an appointment for a quote.
Albert showed up on time and provided a reasonable quote compared to the quotes we had gotten from our contractor who was doing other minor work on the house (the paint job was too small for his team), other painters and handymen (I like to do homework and make informed decisions). Albert seemed a straight shooter and had outlined a detail oriented way of doing the work. For example, he said that he'd sand away the glossy paint and apply 2 new coats of premium paint. We felt some comfort in having a "pro painter" handle this, so we chose Affinity.
From here, things went to SH*T.
Albert subbed this out to a handyman. On his first day, this handyman did yet another walk through and said that Albert didn't know what he's talking about: Handyman saw no need to sand down the glossy paint in the bathrooms or kitchen. He'll simply paint over it with not two but one coat of paint. Also, forget about the enclave and wooden framing - he's not going to paint those since there's carpet beneath and he didn't want to have an accident. Price still holds, no discount despite the significant work he just refused to do. Oh and this handyman dared to give me his direct contact information so that I could call him directly for my next paint job, for a cheaper rate that cuts Albert out of the action. That's not what Albert wants him to do, I'm sure.
I should have cancelled this job here but mistakenly chose to forge on cause I was pregnant and our doctor said that all painting must be done 2 months before the baby arrives due to concerns re inhalation of VOCs.
Handyman shows up and does the short-cutted work, taking twice as long as we were quoted. I noticed paint dripping down the walls into the shower tile, drops of paint on our curtain rods and paint behind the toilet. I clean the paint off.
Two weeks later, my tall husband happens to stretch and lightly touches the ceiling. Paint scrapes off where he touches, revealing the underlying color. We test other patches and every single test area revealed paint that could separate from the wall upon the lightest touch. See, Albert was right that glossy paint requires sanding before applying a new coat. We call Albert and he shows up on time and is visibly surprised at how the paint comes off with the lightest nick. We also complain that handyman didn't include the enclave and wooden framing in his work. He apologizes for the botched job yet again sends the same bad handyman to repaint. He offers no discount, no refunds, no offer to paint enclave or framing, despite the initial quote where that was deemed in scope. WE WERE VERY ANGRY!
Same bad handyman comes and takes yet another week to scrape off the paint from all 3 rooms. He makes a mess (there's a ton of misc crap in the air, bad for super pregnant me) and there is sanded material everywhere, especially on the floor boards. I assumed he would clean and prep the floorboards before he repainted. I was wrong. He painted over the floorboards WITH SANDED MATERIAL STILL ON IT. WTH?? It looks like a 3 year old painted our floorboards as they are very bumpy. Paint again dripped all over (e.g. into the grout of the floor tiles, toilet). 9 month pregnant me again had to scrape that stuff off before it stuck for good - I missed a good deal of it since I wasn't able to bend over with my huge belly.
While handyman claimed he sanded all surfaces prior to repainting this second time, this was clearly not the case. It's been some time since this paint job and gravity has pulled off the paint that didn't stick to the unsanded glossy surfaces of the ceiling. The water stains we were trying to originally cover peak through.
This simple job that should have taken DAYS TOOK MONTHS to complete.
I didn't have time the sanity to give Affinity a 3rd try to fix this - I had to deliver a baby.
STAY AWAY. STAY VERY FAR AWAY. read more