I needed exterior trim painted on my house in Bethesda and found Alberto Contractors, along with 2 other highly rated painting contractors in Checkbook Magazine. I went with Alberto based on their fast response, reasonable price estimate, and the sense of trust when I met Alberto. Our house was built in 2011and is in excellent condition, so I wanted a very careful and high quality job.
I left a phone message at 7:30 am, asking for a callback to arrange an estimate. I was impressed to get a response within 30 minutes, and he came to my home the next day to provide a written estimate. He was very experienced and observant, and caught details that I had missed. I was also really pleased that he would clean our white metal gutters so they would look good next to the new white paint he was applying. Many other people have told me that cleaning gutter stains is difficult, so I was intrigued that he volunteered to do this, and would not charge extra for it. I received two other comparable bids, though no one else offered to clean the gutters. I felt comfortable with Alberto and one other company, but he was most responsive and willing to come down 7% (maybe more if I really pushed but didn't). I put down a 30% deposit and he started two days later.
I was impressed that he came with three vehicles, all emblazoned with his company name on the side, and a crew of 5-6. They always arrived 20-30 minutes early, but were respectful enough to wait outside our house and did not ring the doorbell until the agreed-upon start time. Alberto came himself, introduced his team, including two people for me to interact with throughout the 3-day job (one being his son), as he did not stay. Those two people spoke excellent English, though communicating with his entire team was no issue. Seems like the entire crew works a solid day from 8 am - 4 pm, though I did not stay the entire time to observe.
They did excellent work, cleaned-up each day, and never left any trash behind. They use Sherwin-Williams paint, so did not cut corners with a no-name brand. They only painted the white trim and their edge work was crisp with straight lines and no sloppiness beyond the trim. They patched nail holes in our trim so it looks smooth and pristine now - even better than the original condition when the house was built. They also lived-up to their commitment to clean the exterior of the gutters. Most are sparkling white now. While most responded well to their cleaning, a few spots still have some faint stains in some places, but even those are much better than before and difficult to notice from the street unless you are looking for it. We also have quite a bit of landscaping on three sides of our house. I was concerned they might damage some, but there was no sign they were even there.
We also had some minor interior work too. Some decorative molding needed re-caulking, and a couple places needed touch-up to cover some scuffs. They matched the color and texture perfectly and again were very clean and neat.
They finished a little over a week ago. Everything still looks good as one would expect. Our builder happened to stop-by two days ago and he commented on how well the job appeared. I don't know how things will fare long term, but based on my experience, I will certainly use him the next time I need work done. read more
