Finding a company for house painting or any other contracting job can be a daunting task. There are so many companies vying for your business. How does one make a decision? One can avail himself of services like Angie's List, but invariably one finds that the reviews are mixed; half of the clients had a positive experience while the other half were displeased. Before I was made aware of the existence of Wow - One Day Painting, I had contacted a few “reputable” painters in my area. They were companies I was familiar with, probably because they did quite a bit of advertising. Alas, I was none too impressed with any of them. For starters, I didn’t care for the personalities of any of the people I contacted. They appeared bored, sullen, and irritated, and generally comported themselves like fugitives from a Central Casting call for pugnacious, lower-class mugs. And they did not appear to have any real interest in the job of house painting. In fact, they acted as if painting a house was the last thing they would ever want to do, and if they did do the job, they would be doing me a very great favor. When pressed to reveal details of the painting services they deigned to provide, they all gave me the same basic work plan: a quick power-wash followed by a coat of cheap paint. That was their mantra: quick and cheap. And that wouldn’t do at all. I wasn’t looking for a cheap paint job; I was looking for a really good paint job! And none of these painters appeared to be prepared to provide me with the services I required. They groaned and grimaced at the mention of doing more extensive prep work such as scraping and sanding, and they threw up their hands in dismay when they saw some rotted wood. I consulted Angie’s List and read the reviews, but there were so many companies and so many mixed reviews, with many complaints about shoddy workmanship and owners and painters who were brusque and surly. I was almost ready to buy an extension ladder so I could do the **** job myself when the situation was suddenly brightened by a stroke of good fortune – although it didn’t seem like good fortune at the time. One of my garage doors became completely inoperable. Yikes, another domestic crisis! Who should I call for help? I was back looking at Angie’s List only to be confronted with another long list of contractors. I called four of them, and only two of the companies returned my call. One of those companies was Next Door Garage Doors in South Elgin. The owner, Paul Schifferer, responded to my call for help very promptly and did such splendid work pulling my garage doors back into shape that I had a hunch he just might know of someone who could do an equally solid job of painting my house. When I asked him about house painters, he immediately suggested Wow - One Day Painting. I was a bit put off by their name, as it sounded like they would be like the other painters I had consulted who only wanted to do a quick, cheap paint job. Paul assured me that Wow - One Day in Batavia were "the best," and, as I was shortly to discover, he wasn't just kiddin’ around; he was absolutely right! I called Wow - One Day’s owner, Joseph Novak, the following day. Joe lives just a few blocks away from me here in Geneva, and he was able to come over the very next day to consult with me about the work that needed to be done. I found Mr. Novak to be a very pleasant and helpful gentleman and he put me completely at ease about the job, assuring me that everything would be done to my specifications. (There were no grunts, groans, or grimaces!) I also learned that while Wow - One Day may paint an interior room or two (or three) in one day, their work is never rushed, and they expend as much time as is necessary to fulfil the wishes of their clients. In my case, I wanted the wood trim and siding on my house and garage to be thoroughly scraped and sanded as well as power-washed and then covered with an oil-based primer and two coats of a top-grade washable, low-luster white paint. The project involved a considerable amount of ladder work and entailed painting trim, windows, dormers and overhanging eaves on a two-story brick house. I was concerned that they might get paint on the brick or the roof. Not only did they not get so much as a speck of paint on the brick (or the roof or the sidewalks), they also carefully removed every smidgen of paint that had been splattered on the brick by the last, less than neat, house painter. After that was accomplished, Dennis Larson, from Clear as Day Pressure Washing in Batavia, stopped by and, using a highly effective, but non-abrasive, cleaning process, swept away all stains and soil from the bricks and sidewalks. Dennis was another personable local chap who did very fine work, and I recommend him highly. He made the bricks and sidewalks look brand new again. Joe C., the job supervisor, was an astonishing daredevil who could wield a paint brush with a deft hand while sprinting over the roof like an ace athlete. And he had a sharp eye for detail; he made sure that everything was absolutely perfect. Those other painters I had consulted had made faces and thrown up their hands in alarm when they saw some rotted wood. One confessed that he had no idea how to deal with the rotted wood in the front door sill and he suggested I look up the problem on Google so I could instruct him on how to proceed with making a repair. Wow – One Day does a lot of historical restoration projects, so these issues did not faze them in the slightest. Joe C. carefully and precisely crafted a replacement door sill and he also skillfully restored some other sections of deteriorated wood. He did not, however, do any frivolous wood replacement, as some other less honest painters would have done. Some of the siding was discolored, but Joe assured me that the wood was still sound and did not have to be replaced; it only needed to be sanded down. There was some rotted wood in the front storm door, and I was just about to order a custom-made replacement (at considerable expense), when Joe C., who is a very resourceful and observant fellow, spotted a duplicate door tucked away in the garage attic. Joe worked his magic on the replacement discovery and installed elegant new door handles. And he also did an amazing restoration job with the wood-finished front and back doors, stripping them of all stains and discoloration and applying new varnish in rich colors that harmonized perfectly with the brick and the new paint. The prep work was remarkably thorough. The scraping and power-sanding removed all loose paint and every bit of dirt. It was a solid foundation for a super-deluxe paint job. Joe Novack also helped me select just the right shade of Benjamin Moore house paint. He brought over several samples and brushed them on the side of the garage so we could see how they looked in various lights. The winner was Chantilly Lace, a gleaming pure white. The weather was warm and dry, ideal for painting, and it really was a pleasure to see the progress being made each day. The painters worked with great care and exactitude, and yes, when I saw the completed work I gave out with a most enthusiastic and awestruck “Wow,” not so much for the speed of their work (although everything was handled in an expeditious manner), but for its neatness and precision. It was a beautiful job of painting and I’ve received many compliments. And I can only pass those accolades on to Joe Novak and his wonderful painters. Thank you! So, to wrap it up, I got lucky when Paul Schifferer tipped me off to Wow – One Day Painting. They are highly skilled professionals who are very conscientious about the quality of their work. And they have a sunny, positive, can-do attitude that I found refreshing. There was no grumbling, no complaining. They came up with a sensible solution to every problem that presented itself. And they didn’t have to look anything up on-line, either; they knew what to do because they have knowledge and experience. These fine gentlemen were also very friendly and courteous. They weren’t just “a painting crew”; they were more like a group of good friends and neighbors