Etinde Painting

I wouldn't use anyone else because I love the quality of the work. He painted my son's room over 8 years ago and it still looks beautiful. Whenever I am ready to paint another room, I call him. He is super nice to work with and a hard worker.

Contractor was recommended by family member. Initially started the job and was paid in full. However he knew he needed to come back and finish some touch up and bring his carpenter in to do molding. Etinde painting does not return my phone calls, texts or emails. I am very disappointed and feel I have been duped by this company.

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Overall very good.  Didn't get done pre-winter, but put on coat of primer again for free.  
Good quality. 
Good price.  
Carpentry work done by sub-contractor went above budget.

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My experience with Etinde painting was horrible. Before the job started I did some research on-line, but found very few reviews. The one or two I found were negative. When I confronted Dido Etinde (the owner) asking about it, he said that not all jobs go great, you can't satisfy everyone (dead giveaway that you intend to satisfy no one), and some people are trying to destroy his business, but most customers are happy and my job would be done to my satisfaction. I bought it – HUGE mistake.

The job was to paint the interior of my house including walls, ceilings, moldings, doors, closets etc. We agreed on $9,500 and it was to be completed in 3 weeks, by January 1st, 2014 while we were away on vacation. I insisted on the highest standard of wall repair and finish, and spent a lot of time with Dido going over what was and wasn't acceptable. He indicated that he understood and would make sure everything was done right.

When my wife and I came back from vacation on January 2nd we found the place partially painted, with multiple quality issues and damage to the house. Our recently installed hardwood floors were burned in 5 places by halogen lights and severely scratched by their equipment. The windows' wooden frames were painted shut and many of them broke or cracked upon opening (had to be cut open). The crew also damaged a ceiling fan. In the bathroom, the plastic tub and the toilet seat also had fresh, deep scratches. Finally the woodwork and walls they worked on were damaged by rework and carelessness often beyond repair. They applied clear polyurethane right over the smudges of compound and paint, making them permanent.

The quality of work was amateurish at best. The walls had multiple unrepaired or very poorly repaired spots. After we'd point them out, they would try to fix them, with varying level of success. Sometimes it took 4 attempts and it still was not right. As I later found out from one of the employees, Dido trains his people to cut corners and do things fast. They paint first and then see if it looks “good enough”. Having to point out problems is exhausting, and them redoing things of course takes time and money. As soon as they started losing money on the project, all the interest in doing it right, or even completing the job, went out the window.

All along Dido was absent from the work site. He would pop in for a second to see the progress. At some point he left for Congo, where he apparently has other businesses that he runs in that country. The job was never completed. I was finally forced to hire other people to do the garage, basement and the hallway that were never touched by Etinde Painting, and to correct and finish the rest of the house. The total sum paid by me out of pocket to clean up the mess that Etinde left behind was over $7,000. When I confronted him asking to cover some or all of the losses, the answer I got was: “I'm not paying you a dime”. Of course I didn't see a dime to cover the damage to my house either.

I think Etinde Painting is a predatory business, taking advantage of consumers by using false statements, empty promises, or blatant lies. Dido bids below what he can do the job for (later admitting he did so because he knew he wouldn't get the job otherwise). Then he jacks up the price, extends the time-line and compromises on quality. Etinde Painting is NOT a registered Home Improvement Contractor, which violates Mass GL 142A, since they advertise and perform multiple types of work (carpentry, floor refinishing, wall repair, exterior painting), not just interior painting, which is exempt from the registration requirement (but still there are plenty of painters who are registered). It is a good idea to hire only registered HIC businesses, because in case you run into issues, there are means of dealing with them and holding them accountable. There is a complaint system, an arbitration process conducted by a qualified person, pool of money that will cover whatever the business owes you etc.

Not getting involved with unreliable, shady companies like Etinde Paining is, of course, the best way to avoid problems. You don't want to find yourself in a situation I was in – paying $7,000 out of pocket to fix/finish a job that was over 90% paid for once already, and having to live with all the damage they left behind. STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't say enough I'm very pleased

These guys are the best

They were pretty competent and very friendly. They were punctual. They are pretty good. Their price is good.

Good work with good price.

Went better than expected. Dido Etinde and I get along well. He's very responsive to my calls, emails a quote very promptly and gets to work as promised. We made a mistake on the color of the exterior doors, gave Dido the correct color and within one day all of the doors had been repainted. His crew was prompt, neat, and finished in record time.

We started obtaining painting estimates in April 2012. One of those companies that provided an estimate was Etinde Painting. Our lives got busy and we never got around to following up with Dido until September, 2012, but he was happy to honor his original estimate.
We had called other companies, also. Two of them never returned our calls and one of them had a lower estimate but it did not include changing the color of the house, nor painting the garage.
We hired Etinde Painting I think sometime in early October, after a successful reference check. The work commenced in late October 2012 or early November. I was kind of nervous about an outdoor painting job so late in the year but it went fine.
Our home ended up needing a lot of additional carpentry work, because there was more rot under the windows and eaves than originally estimated, once the carpenter started pulling stuff apart. Our final bill was very reasonable for the additional work needed.
The paint job looks outstanding, and we have received many compliments from our neighbors. Dido was very good about answering all of our questions and returning our phone calls during the course of the job. The work was wrapped up fairly quickly and we now have a good-looking home. Very pleased with the job overall.

They did a good job.

Dido Etinde provided a clear, thorough, professional estimate for the job. It was higher than other estimates, but appeared to be more complete. His crew did an extraordinarily thorough job of preparing the exterior (sanding and scraping), and did a very neat and careful job of painting the exterior and all the trim and having a carpenter address some minor rot problems. The crew was always very polite and unobtrusive, and the house was left looking great.

AWFUL!!! The only good part of this job was that we had someone to remove the wallpaper for us and that the job was done. This company didn't remove any face plate, heating registers or light fixtures; they painted around everything leaving brush marks all around it!. There are places on the walls where you can see the brush strokes, and the color appears to be different. I came home from work one day to find the heat cranked up to 86 degrees to force dry the paint so they could hurry up and put the second coat on. We asked them to paint the vanity...they painted the vanity TOP (not the doors and drawers) which ruined the green finish on it. They were supposed to put everything back how they found it, and they didn't. They left our house in a shambles. I would never, ever reccomend this company to anyone! I am not a professional painter and I think I could've done a better job.

Dido, the owner of the company, came by in person to provide an estimate and discuss the job. He was professional, courteous, and knowledgeable. The workers performing the hardwood floor refinishing were inexperienced, unable to provide quality work (sanding gouges, scratches, and unevenness), and caused minor damage to walls and doors. Dido initially handled my complaint appropriately, and agreed with me that the job was not performed correctly. After having the same workers attempt to correct the problems, the floors were still not acceptable. Dido agreed he would have new workers finish the job, but he apparently lied. He never contacted me again, and failed to answer the two phone messages I left for him. At the same time, his workers left their machinery at my home, and I had to deal with them personally 2 weeks later when they realized they were missing their equipment. Needless to say, Etinde did not perform the follow-up painting job we had also hired them for. While Etinde may be a fine company for painting, they should not offer floor refinishing services. While I'm sure Dido was as frustrated as I was about the floor refinishing problems, he should not have abandoned the job and left us with damaged floors. Based upon his final actions alone, I would not recommend working with Etinde. I must also note that their receptionist was generally unhelpful and did not facilitate our contact with Dido (even before we had problems). I get the sense that the company has taken on too many jobs at once. Lesson learned: don't hire a painting company to do your floors!