Vivax Pros

Initially, we were a bit reluctant to use Vivax due to the lower score on Angie's List. I am SO GLAD that we decided to go with them and I would encourage Angie's list consumers to ignore the few lower ratings because we were THRILLED with the quality and service we received from Vivax. The person who came out to do the estimate was prompt even though the estimate was at the end of the day which is something that not all of the companies were, and I believe is an excellent predictor of promptness for the remainder of the job. He was knowledgable, answered all questions and was able to give us an estimate on site which I very much appreciated. Vivax was the second to lowest bid that we received, but because of their customer service and apparent willingness to please we decided to use them. After agreeing to use Vivax we received a long email detailing the process and expected timeline for the job along with a phone call to schedule the start of the job at a convenient time for us. We were contacted again approximately 2 weeks prior to the start of the job by Jamaya, the office coordinator, who was extremely pleasant to work with. She confirmed our color choices and they were submitted to our HOA for us which was a huge time saver and a nice thing to get to avoid. We were then contacted by our project manager, Zach, 2 days before the scheduled start of our job to set up an initial walk through. Zach was very pleasant on the phone and made sure that we had contact information for him so that if anything came up we would be able to reschedule. Of course, something did come up and we had to reschedule for a couple of hours later. Zach was more than accomodating about the schedule change. On the day of the initial walk through, it was rainy and very cold. Zach did not feel that it was a good day to start painting and we agreed. We went ahead with the walk through so that when the crew was able to start in 2 days time they could hit the ground running. Not only was Zach receptive to all of the details that we wanted addressed with the painting, he even made suggestions about what he thought would look good and about things we had not even thought about. All of which, were going to add more work to his crew without more expense to us, and all of which turned out looking great. The crew started 2 days later and arrived promptly at 8 am. They got started without knocking or ringing the bell which we appreciated since we have a young child at home that was sleeping. I cannot say how impressed I was with the level of work that occurred on the first day. The crew worked until almost 7 pm and essentially never stopped working except to take short breaks to eat, etc. I was AMAZED at how quickly and tirelessly they worked, completing 70% of the job on day 1. They were tidy and very easy to communicate with about needing to leave the house, open the front door, garage door and so on. They respected our privacy, avoiding looking in windows while painting around them, etc. When they left at 7 pm they did an excellent job cleaning up after themselves. There were none of the typical worksite things left lying around such as trash (personal or related to the job), cigarette butts, etc, which is very much appreciated. On day 2 the crew returned at just before 8 am, again quietly starting. They worked primarily on trim, detail work and touchups until about 3 pm. The initial plan was to have a final walk through at noon because the crew was planning to finish ahead of time. However, they were not quite finished at noon so we were unable to do the walk through at that time because Zach wanted to make sure that we were able to evaluate the FINAL result and find any issues that we may have had. We were unable to do it later that day, so once again Zach was more than accomodating and rescheduled the walk through for 9 am on a Saturday. The entire crew arrived on time on Saturday morning. Zach was incredibly thorough catching needed touch ups that we would have otherwise missed. Zach and the crew were wonderful about fixing small drips, cleaning up splatter marks, etc without ever acting annoyed or put out. The crew completed all of the final touch ups within about 2 hours and cleaned up impeccably. It was like there had never been a paint crew at our house. Overall, from start to finish the crew completed the job is just over 2 days making a very minimal impact on our lives during that time. The final result is AWESOME! The house looks great. We couldn't be happier and we would gladly recommend Vivax to anyone who is planning to paint their home. In fact, we have them coming back to stain our deck in 2 weeks.

They have great quality for the price. Overall they were just awesome and I would use them again.

On June 6, 2011 I met with the Vivax Salesman, Dave, and contracted with them to paint my house and stain two decks. The house needed some siding and trim replacement--all included in the estimate. A week or so later Steve, the wood man, came out and said Dave had made a mistake that the estimate was incorrect and the house needed more sheets of siding and trim than originally stated. The additional cost for the siding and trim was $2400 then discounted to $1800. I said I would think about it, as I had budgeted for the original price, and let them know. A couple of weeks went by while I thought this over and Dave left me several phone messages and emails and said that they would be glad to have me make payments for a few months, till I paid the $1800. I was still wondering how I could come up with the additional money when he called back and said they would take payments, without interest for however long it took to pay it off. I balked and said I would try to find someone to do the woodwork on my own. Dave assured me that Vivax charged the least amount to do this. Weeks went by and I could not find anyone to do the work, so I put my foot down and said if Vivax couldn't do it for the written estimated price, then I would just cancel the job. Why I didn't insist on this in the beginning, I don't know. It was Vivax's mistake, not mine and they should have absorbed the additional cost as the cost of doing business when a mistake is made on their part. Vivax said the estimate was correct in the beginning, but a bout of rainy weather was to blame for the damage to the siding--which was not true. The house looked the same after the rain as it did when Vivax wrote the estimate. It was simply a mistake on their part that they didn't want to admit to. When I refused to continue, they agreed to do the work for the original estimate. They also did a few minor repairs on the deck. I did not ask for anything different or additional than what Vivax had agreed to, although there were calls back and forth from the wood man--Steve, to the salesman--Dave to get this accomplished. Next to arrive was Jamie, the project manager, with me repeating again, what was supposed to be done. More calls back and forth and finally the prep was to begin--in mid October, a full 4 1/2 months after the contract was originally signed! The painters themselves were wonderful. They showed up early, worked steadily and got the job done. It was much easier to deal with them than the office. I reminded every person who cam out: first Steve, then Jamie, then the painters, of a split and rotted board on the front porch that was to be replaced--per the original estimate. This was not done, it was simply painted over. Jamie came by for the final inspection and again I pointed this out. Also, during that inspection I discovered that Vivax had broken one of my window well covers and had not told me about it. This too went on Jamie's list. Jamie asked for payment that day and like an idiot I wrote a check. As you can guess--that was the end of it, nothing else was done. I kept waiting but nothing happened: no phone messages or emails as to when the work would be finished. After I left messages--a full six weeks later--Jamie and his crew returned to finish up. They measured for the front porch board repair and the window well cover, and left to get supplies. They returned and replaced the board but their undercoat was frozen so they had to leave to get more. They returned and something was wrong with the topcoat and they left again. Back and forth with the window well cover too. Much wasted time. When they finished and left I didn't even know it--they never knocked to tell me they were leaving so I'm not sure how long it really took them to finish. I went out later to check the work and discovered they had installed the wrong sized window well cover and just jammed it up under a pipe, which comes out of the air conditioning unit, just to hold it in place. Is it a water pipe? Gas line? I don't know, but it is bent now(which I have a photo of) and I will have to pay out of pocket to replace it again. A very sloppy and possibly unsafe job. Several people have asked me if I would recommend this company and in good conscience, I cannot. The miscommunication that occurs because of the multiple levels of people you must deal with in order to get things done is difficult and takes forever to straighten out. There were many calls back and forth and I had to take off work a few times in order to meet with the different crews when they were here. What should have been a straightforward house painting turned into a six month odyssey.

I had extensive damage that needed to first be repaired on my siding before the painters could start on the exterior of my house. When I spoke with viavx, they stated that they had just added on a carpenter team and could add that on as part of their service. The carpenter showed up on time, and we walked the house, where he would place a big 'X' on any piece of siding that would need to be replaced. He submitted his estimate along with the painting estimate and all looked great. The carpenter showed up on time, however when he called to say he completed his job it was not the case. There were still areas of the siding that he had marked that needed replaced that were still on the house. Boards that were replaced were crooked and did not fit together tightly. I called, they sent him back out again, and again the job was not complete. I called for the second time and requested a different carpenter. The new guy came out, and resolved almost all of the siding areas. At this point, I was just happy the major areas were fixed.In talking with the customer service/painting coordinator on the phone we had to continue to reschedule my painting as the carpentry was taking so much longer. Never was I told how long the painters would take to complete my house and some how arrived at the impression it would take 3 days. It took 6. Thankfully no over spray, however there are boards that they did not paint and areas that the paint is already starting to fade away. My house was a horrible 'Smurf Blue', before I painted it; the white trim that I had painted on there are spots you can see the blue coming through already. It has not been a year and I used their paint that they suggested. And best of all, they painted over my windows and had to have cut the windows loose so I could open them.

Excellent experience with the estimate.

Jessica Klein came to our door to sell us on their company. We were in the process of selecting a painter from several bids we'd already received and decided to listen to her description of Vivax Pro painters and what they could do for us. We checked Angie's list and were satisfied with the reports we read. Their bid was higher than our others and they agreed to negotiate the price and came close enough to our other bids that their no interest payment plan convinced us to go with them. They were extremely cooperative and responsive to our every concern and did an excellent job..

Everything went well. Vivax was friendly and completed the job as expected without any problems.

There was an issue with the first painting, but Vivax responded promptly and resolved the issues perfectly. We couldn't have been more pleased in the long run.

Everything went well. They performed the work exactly as expected and charged a fair price.

Everything went well. The workers were friendly and did a good job overall. However, my only critique is that there we had to deal with several people throughout the process which caused problems with the coordination of the job.

Everything went well. Vivax arrived on time, was very informative, did a great job.

The people who provided the estimate were very professional, but they used subcontractors. They left a mess and we complained about it. They were unhappy that we complained. They ended up being so sloppy that they had painted some of our brick that was supposed to be unpainted. They also left paint chips all over our lawn and even painted our lawn. There was a misunderstanding about the fee, and the amount was regarding $200. We now have to hire someone else to clean up their mess.

There painters worked very hard but they were not very careful. They finished the job quickly and thoroughly but that may have caused them to overspray and get paint on my furniture. They say they guarantee satisfaction but they give you a very limited time to claim that before they ask for payment. I would probably hire them again but I would be very picky before paying them.

Vivax project management and painters were all superb -- every commitment made was kept and we couldn't be happier with the quality and service. Highest recommendations!! Terry & Beth

A sales person came and performed an estimate and was supposed to email me a wood work estimate but that didn't happen. I have had problems with my email so when I checked with the company they came out right away and checked the wood work that needed to be done. I received the email the next day. After that things went smoothly. The schedule was right on time and the work was well done.

The crew came in and pounded out the job in 3 Days. They did not do a very good job of sanding and prepping. And had to have 5 days of the Head Contractor coming back to my home to make it right. And he did!

The work done on the exterior of our home was great. There was very little touch up that needed to be done (most was overspray that they were able to get off) and it was done in a timely manner. We have received several comments on how great our house looks. I would recommend them to anyone looking to get the outside of their house done. The interior work done is ultimately pretty nice, but took a lot to get it to that point. They only did one coat in the Master bathroom and on the family room ceiling when I was under the understanding they were to do two. This led to a lot of touch up work that needed to be done. There was also quite a bit of paint that seeped through on the cabinets and baseboards that had to be fixed. They thought they were done after a few coats on the fireplace mantel and stair rail, but it looked really bad...you could still see the woodwork through the paint and there were tons of drips and rouch patches. It took several visits from the painters to fix the drip marks and put on enough coats to make the job look a little better. By the 4th/5th visit I think we were all so tired of each other that we just called it done. I was also pretty sure that no matter how many more times they came out, the stair rail was just not going to look the way I wanted it to . I will likely have my stair rail redone by someone else. Ultimately, all the other paint jobs were completed to my satisfaction. If hired to do interior work I would recommend you supervise them very carefully. I think the lack of supervision was part of the problem. I appreciate ViVax's ultimate desire to get the job done and done right. They did not take payment until the very end. They were always very kind and professional.

The estimator was prompt for our appointment and explained the process his company uses for completing jobs. The estimate was detailed enough and payment would be requested at the end of the project after satisfied with the results. The project manager called to double check paint colors and the project start date. The project manager estimated three days to complete the entire job. The project manager and paint crew (three guys) showed up on time on the start day and got right to work. The paint crew were very attentive to details during the prep work phase and seemed very competent. The exterior painting was finished early in two days, with only the deck staining and touch up being done on the third day. After the deck stain dried, it looked very blotchy in spots, so the crew came back out and applied another coat to even out the finish. I was impressed with everyone I interacted with at the company and would not hestiate to use them again.

The person from Vivax arrived on time and completed the bid. My complaint is that the person providing the bid began to speak of a $1,000.00 minimum that he was certain was mentioned when I called. He explained that this job wasn't quite that expensive, so I'd just have to pay the $1,000.00 minimum. The he said he'd forgotten to include the cost of the spindles and hand rails. That would be an additional $200.00. He provided a total estimate of $1200.00, which didn't seem to quite add up. Perhaps he misspoke, but either way, I was not informed of the $1000.00 minimum on the phone. I would not have asked for a bid if I had known about it.

The estimator was prompt and courteous. He seemed very knowledgeable and assured me that all aspects of my project were easily doable and could be scheduled for completion in a timely manner. He provided a written estimate for the interior and exterior work that addressed all the components of the project. He assured me that every consideration would be given to the assuring minimal disruption to my family and our horses during the painting process. The horses were of considerable concern due to the amount of painting that needed to be done on our two story barn. The project manager called a few days later to schedule the required pressure washing of the exterior. I had expressed the desire to have the painting completed prior to the end of the college term so that my daughters returning for the summer would not be inconvenienced. Dates were set and I was assured that the painting would take two days. I cleared my calendar for the first day so that I would be available to take care of moving our horses on the day I was told the barn would be painted. The project manager showed up on time with a crew of painters, but no paint. He walked through the areas scheduled to be painted with me and indicated that they would not be able to paint our rain gutters or some of the wood on the barn because they required a different kind of paint (the gutters) and a section of the wood on the barn needed repair (something I had discussed with the estimator and had been assured that it would not be a problem). I was told that the painters would start on the side of the barn opposite my horses, the paint for the house was scheduled to be delivered, and that someone from the crew would knock on our door to let me know when they needed to have the horses moved to the other side of the barn. When I heard nothing after an hour, I went outside to find no workmen, no painting, although there was now a pile of paint cans on my porch. The project manager called that afternoon to tell me that they had gone to do touchup on another project and would return the next day. They did, but not until the early afternoon........this saga continues in the same vein as our painting project stretched to over a month in duration. There were numerous communication errors amongst the crewmembers and project managers. I had to struggle for adequate completion of every item on the original estimate. We are finally finished, and the next level up in the management division was pretty solicitous and tried to compensate for the disastrous project with additional discounts and painting, but I still cannot recommend this company. I am relieved that I no longer have painters trundling through our property at all hours of the day and night. Our house and barn look nice, but I have never experienced anything like the treatment we received from Vivax.

After seeking estimates from 3 different painting contractors, I decided to use Vivax Pro Painting as their price was the best for my budget and I was impressed with the attention to detail from Mike, their estimator and the guarantee that I was promised. Overall: Vivax is a bit too big for their own good. In the short time that I was working with Vivax (on my small project), I encountered 9 different members of their staff: Lauren, Mike, Chelsea, Seth, Jose, a power-washer and 3+ different painters. This resulted in a number of communication breakdowns that are unacceptable. I had high hopes for Vivax and looked forward to writing a great review on Angie's List. Unfortunately, this is the first critical review I will post here as I feel compelled to share my truth. When I first sought out an estimate, Lauren was prompt in trying to schedule a time. I first agreed to a time that I quickly realized would not work (I called her back within an hour). We found another time for the estimate easily and I put this on my calendar. Upon my scheduled appointment, no one ever showed up. After waiting plenty of time, I called Mike (the estimator) and he still had me booked for the first time - Lauren never communicated the change. Mike was apologetic and we easily re-scheduled. Mike and I finally met and we walked around the exterior of my home and noted all the little holes that may need patching, areas that required re-sealing, discussed the benefits of sprayed vs. rolled paint, color options, etc. I really appreciated the time and genuine care that he demonstrated during the estimate. He also explained that they didn't ask for ANY payment until the job was complete and that the work comes with a minimum warranty for 4 years after. Mike provided me with a color sample book to peruse as he calculated the estimate, which came back at nearly a third of another I'd received. I was impressed! I decided I should wait for one final estimate from another company before making my decision. I chose Vivax. Chelsea followed up with scheduling the actual work along with all the details about what to expect. She was always responsive to any questions I had, kept me updated about the scheduled days for the pre-project powerwash and the actual days booked for painting. I let her know the colors I'd chosen according to her request and just before the project began, she let me know my Project Manager would be Seth and to expect to hear from him. Seth called the day before the project began and we decided to do a walk around at 9am on Monday. I was ready to go and he met me at my house just a few minutes late. Just as we met, the paint crew pulled up and began to get ready. Seth seemed nice enough, but perhaps a bit too nonchalant. We started at one corner of the house and we discussed a few particular details about exactly where the paint line would fall, as my property is one-half of a duplex and I wanted to ensure to respect my neighbor's property. Seth seemed to be very agreeable and insistent that all the details I was pointing out (just as I had with Mike, the estimator) were quite commonplace and I needn't worry. Seth assured me that they would take care of everything. Halfway through our walk-around, Seth pulled Jose into the conversation. I heard Seth repeat back what I'd just told him to Jose, but in far fewer words. It seemed that they had an understanding and spoke in quick, "painter-speak". Jose seemed to understand everything and he went back to getting the other two guys on the crew ready. Even though I told Seth that I'd scheduled my day off for Tuesday (the second day of the project) in order to be available to unlock the exterior doors for painting, etc, Seth insisted that the crew remove the weatherstripping from the doors on Day 1 so they could paint them if they got to it. I reluctantly agreed. While I waited for the crew to remove the weatherstripping, I noticed that Seth had finished passing the paint over to Jose and he took off. I assumed he needed to get to another project, but figured he'd be back to check on their progress. I locked up my "loose" doors and went to work. When I returned from work (already dark out), I was impressed with how fast they must've worked! The body of the entire house must've been prepped (which I understood would take the majority of Day 1) and they'd also painted all of the main color, painted part of the trim, and even the doors were already painted! The project was much further along than I'd expected. The next morning, in the light of day, I could see that there were plenty of details still to be taken care of and trusted that they knew what they were doing. I saw no reason to intervene in their process. The morning was a bit cold and humid, so I finally saw two people show up around 10:30am. I recognized one of the painters from the previous morning and it turns out he was just being dropped off by a woman I'd never seen. He got right to work and eventually knocked on my door to ask me to open the doors to work on the trim. I happily agreed, despite the cool, breezy temps outside. I remember thinking it was odd that I still had not seen Jose, the paint crew lead nor Seth, the Project Manager. Around 1pm, the painter asked if he could use my phone. Since he had dried paint on his hands, he told me the number so I could dial it on my touch-screen phone. He spoke with someone for a few minutes and returned my phone. About 30 minutes later, the woman I saw earlier showed up with some more paint and got out and began to join in on the painting. I could hear and see ladders being moved about and assumed they were making good progress. By 2:30pm, they were wrapping up the day and left. (A light rain had begun, so I understood why they had wrapped up.) On Wednesday, Seth called to see when I'd be available for our final walk-through as they were all done. I asked "have you been by my house? The project certainly isn't finished." He reassured me that's what the walk-through was for and I could point out anything that was needed at that time. We couldn't find a time that worked for both of us until Saturday morning. Once again, Seth came dressed in clothes ready for the club, clearly not ready to pick up a paint brush. We started our walk-through on the same original corner of my house, only this time I pointed out the uneven paint lines that went further than we agreed upon, the leftover masking tape, the drips of paint, the un-patched holes, the opaque paint on most of the trim, more drips of paint, uneven lines around the windows, unfinished paint behind both downspouts, over spray on the door hardware, masking tape balls on the ground, unpainted eaves, half-painted downspouts, weatherstripping re-installed backwards, paint drips on the concrete, etc. Seth said "Wow - I've never seen this many mistakes... of course we'll make this right!" and he proceeded to put a piece of blue masking tape on most of these areas. The errors were so many, he finally called Jose directly and told him that he needed to get his crew back to my house ASAP to finish up. Fortunately, my roommate would be home in order to open the doors that also had much detail work to be done. Since it had been so difficult to arrange a meeting with him and since the work came with a warranty which we both signed off on, I very reluctantly agreed to write a check for the work. I trusted that Seth would see to it that these errors were fixed and I left for work. Upon my return home, I could see that much progress had been made and all the blue tape was gone. Again, it was dark, so I didn't notice that there was still many errors... until the next day. I was frustrated as I learned that the crew had only stuck around for a few hours (according to my roomie) and there was still much left to do! I decided to wait for a follow-up phone call from Seth or for another visit from the crew. ...This never happened- but my check was cashed! I finally called Mike on Thursday and expressed to him my frustration with the entire project, Seth's poor attention to customer service (oh yeah... and to the project that he was supposedly managing). I told Mike how frustrating it was to have to continually repeat my expectations and point out every little detail over and over as there were so many communication breakdowns. He listened to me vent and wholeheartedly agreed that my experience didn't meet the kind of service and performance that Vivax stood for. He said he'd make some phone calls and get back to me. In a few hours, he called to apologize and say that another crew was scheduled for Friday and that they would make this right. Mike also said he'd call me after to ensure everything was okay. Leaving no room for confusion this time, I got up early and used my own ladder and roll of blue painter's tape to mark up every single error (80+) on my house. I also posted a 4-item list which detailed things like: 3) entire trim needs another coat of paint and 4)paint trim boards behind each downspout. I crossed my fingers... third time's the "charm"??? FINALLY, all holes had been patched and painted, drips and lines corrected, trim fully painted, second coat applied, etc. Aside from two tiny spots that I knew I could correct myself with the bits of leftover paint, the job was complete. I know that the work still comes with a warranty, but I was just glad to finally have it finished. I never received another call from Seth or anyone from Vivax until two weeks later, when Mike called and left a voicemail. I guess he finally remembered, but I didn't call him back. In their "Guarantee of Quality" it states "Other companies say these things... we guarantee it! Take $100 off your project if we don't deliver on these promises." Too bad I recalled this detail until AFTER I wrote the check. Too bad it took 2 weeks vs. 2 days. Too bad I trusted VivaxPro!

Vivax was great from start to finish. Sales team did a great job explaining the whole process, giving an accurate estimate, getting everything scheduled. Juan and his team of painters were awesome! Unfortunately, we had rain during our week of painting- so they were here quite a bit working between the rains! John was terrific as our project manager- he had a great eye for finding places that needed touch-ups. Some of our windows were stuck after the job was done and paid for. They came back out to open them up for us. We'd recommend Vivax to everyone- hands down!

Professional, quick and thorough. Especially impressed with baseboard work. Excellent job on all counts!! Will definitely use again and have recommended to others.

Lots of time and effort went into this project. 12 ft ceilings were painted, and accent walls of various colors were selected. Took almost 2 weeks to finish by a crew of 4-5 people. Every room was inspected several times looking for imperfections. Didn't pay a dime until I was satisfied!

They do not require any money down. He was very informative, and went out of his way to explain everything I needed done. The extended warranty was a great deal. Plus he called the day before to verify the scheduled time for the estimate. He was very punctual.