I contracted with this company to paint my oak kitchen cabinets. They advertise they specialize in cabinets. I was told by the estimator Jeff that my cabinets would be smooth yet show the wood grain when completed. I agreed to that as a finish.They used Cloverdale Paint called Renaissance. They started the job one day later than scheduled. During the first 3 days in my home I made small talk, provided them with coffee, and asked about the painting process. At first it seemed they were respectful to me as a customer, however as the job progressed, that changed. To my face I was told that I was their most difficult customer to deal with, that I was always interfering and because they are the painters they should be left alone to do their job.
Lots of issues: (I could list many more but these will give you the idea)
-the estimator brother, Jeff, told me they would use my garage to paint the cabinet doors and that a dust barrier would be put up so dust would not adhere to the newly painted cabinet doors. That did NOT happen.
-Jeff told me his brother Jeremy was the kitchen cabinet expert so he would ensure Jeremy would be available to do my cabinets.
-Jeff told me Jeremy would put up a dust barrier between my kitchen and living room and upstairs to keep the dust out of the remainder of my home. That did NOT happen.
-Jeff told me Jeremy would start the job on Tuesday and be finished on Friday, a 4 day job. Actually, they started on Wednesday and the job from start to finish spanned over 20 days with stops for weekends and to allow Jeff to return from vacation. During that time frame I could not use my garage.
-they threw all my cabinet and drawer handles into an old paint can with no regard for the brushed nickel finish. Many handles became scratched, damaged because of this. had to be replaced at my cost, not theirs.
-as with any trades working in my home, I observe and ask questions. As a customer I have a right to know what I am paying for. Jeremy became defensive when he discovered I had sought an opinion about the paint finish from Cloverdale Paint staff. Jeremy called his brother Jeff who was out of the country, then the job stopped until Jeff returned.
-Jeff called in a Cloverdale Paint rep who attended my house to report back about the orange peel effect. The rep said he would mediate as he also saw some application deficits and would inform Jeff and Jeremy. I agreed to allow them back to correct those issues. MY MISTAKE.
-Jeremy returned to finish the job and basically said his brother Jeff told him what he needs to do so I did not have to speak to him at all. He spent less than 7 minutes using a hand held foam sander to correct the orange peel effect. NOT a belt sander that had previously been recommended. I have 4 panel ends, 32 cabinet doors, and 13 drawers. Sanding should have taken much, MUCH longer than 7 minutes.
-they returned the cabinet handles and drawer pulls tightly on the last day, even though I had previously asked them NOT to put them on until the paint cured as they made marks into the soft paint.
-Jeff returned on the last day to finish the job. He told me they did the best they could for me but I had been a very difficult customer to deal with.
-damaged CrockPot
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THEM FOR KITCHEN CABINET PAINTING.
I noticed they primed over the soft bumpers on the inside of the cabinets and drawer panels so I asked them to remove them before painting. After the first coat of paint was dry, I noticed they did not remove them. I was concerned about the paint finish after the primer and the first coat of paint was on the cabinets so I asked why they were so bumpy and Jeremy said "this is it, this is what you get when you paint cabinets". As the painters did not work on the weekend, I had a couple of days so I took photos and went to a Cloverdale Paint outlet. I asked what a Renaissance paint finish should look like when painted on oak cabinets and I was shown a sample that was much smoother. I was then informed that the finish I showed them was called "orange peel effect" and was from overworking the paint, using a foam roller that was overloaded, or there was not enough drying time between coats. I was told my Cloverdale Paint staff that the way to correct this is to belt sand the "orange peel effect" and repaint them. When I told Jeremy what I learned he became argumentative, saying he had 18 years of painting experience and he knew what he was doing and then said I was a most difficult customer. He stopped work and called his brother Jeff who was in Thailand on his honeymoon. I also spoke to Jeff and asked if I could visit a kitchen paint job that their company completed as a reference to my kitchen. He made several excuses, first he said it would be a violation of customer privacy, then when I said some customers are okay with it and he could ask first, he said he would have to search too many archived files to come up with a customer and this was not going to do it. read more
