BEWARE!
We hired 2 Sons Painting to paint the entire…read moreinterior of our newly purchased home in Milford while we were living out of state. Harry, the owner, talked a great game during the estimate. We agreed on a price, timeline, contract, and the amount of paint to purchase. I offered to buy the paint at a huge discount out of state and deliver it, which he accepted. We provided a detailed floor plan identifying room dimensions, colors, and paint types for each room. The contract specified two coats of paint for all areas, with doors and trim included.
Harry eventually called to say the job was done, claiming he looked it over and it looked great. I came down a few days later for the final walkthrough and was shocked. I truly could not believe my eyes.
Two rooms clearly only had a single coat of paint--leaving completely missed spots right in the middle of the walls. Furthermore, we specifically purchased two gallons of expensive bath and spa paint for the two bathrooms and kitchen ceilings for easy cleaning. Instead, they used flat ceiling paint. When I pointed this out, Harry accused me of attacking his credibility. I asked how they allegedly put two coats of paint on 700 sq. ft. but only used two quarts of paint, and he had no answer. It was clear the two quarts were used to put just one coat on a single bathroom wall. We had massive amounts of paint left over, left in the middle of the floor with loose lids, many of which were put onto the wrong cans.
We had only two explicit requests for Harry, both of which he agreed to:
1. Do not move the clothes dryer. The vent hose and ductwork run tightly into the crawl space and are difficult to hook up. They moved it anyway, crushing the ductwork so badly it fell through the floor. It cost us $185 to hire someone to repair and rerun it.
2. Do not wash brushes or tools in the sinks because we have a septic system. I found paint residue in all three sinks. Harry tried to claim it was "caulk residue from washing hands," which was clearly not what happened.
The contract also included removing a ceiling wallpaper border and smoothing the surface. They removed it and spackled fine, but then wet-mopped the sanding dust. This left a permanent white spackle haze all over our wood floors. Though the contract stated all floors and appliances would be covered, our washer, dryer, and refrigerator were splattered with paint.
We found no less than 40 paint drops, brush strokes, and splashes across the floors. They got paint on the light switches, outlets, kitchen cabinets, and a bathroom mirror. The trim work and edges were rushed and sloppy. Doorknobs had paint on them. Some closet doors were only painted on one side, and multiple frames were left completely unpainted, let alone given two coats. Harry also promised to fix 23 ceiling nail pops; they only fixed 9.
When I called Harry to ask for an explanation, he arrived and admitted he had inspected the house in the dark using only his cell phone light. What!! His crew had already packed up the work lights. He left a helper to fix everything, but the helper noted it was too big of a job for one person. Harry sent two more guys who arrived late and immediately took an hour lunch break. Harry told them to "Swiffer the floor" for the spackle, which only made it worse; I ultimately had to have the floors steam cleaned.
While they fixed a couple of nail pops, the breaking point came when I walked in on one of the painters washing his brush directly into the bathroom sink again. I immediately ordered him out of my house. When I called Harry, he just said it was "highly irregular."
The two remaining workers were tired and embarrassed by the situation. I ordered dinner for them because they were working hard to fix a disaster they didn't cause, and I excused them for the night. I told Harry my massive disappointment and expected an appropriate discount. The best he offered was a insulting 8% discount. He refused to budge, and I reluctantly paid the balance just to get them out of my life. In hindsight, I should have withheld payment.
I am writing this solely to save someone else from this horrible experience. 1 star is generous. Over-promised, under-delivered, and breached his own contract. I wish I had never met Harry!
(PS: Since moving to Delaware, every other contractor we have hired has done an outstanding 5-star job--2 Sons Painting is the lone exception)
