Slater Painting

I would never hire this company again. There was paint on the floor. He took down blinds and took off electrical outlet covers and did not paint or replace them. Paint job looked terrible in one room where there was a rough wall that should have been re-drywalled and he should have advised me of such. Owner missed the first meeting with me and was late for the second meeting.

I would never hire Slater painting again. Keith showed up the first day to give me the estimate, first day of the job to let the guys know (who were new to him) that maybe for the NEXT job, they should lay down tarp on the floor, and the last day to get my payment. My job took two weeks. One of his guys even told me that Keith doesn't believe in walking around the house with the customer on the last day of the job to fix any imperfections of the paint job. That is also the same employee that insulted the quality of craftsmanship in my home. The work was incredibly sloppy, there was paint all over my hardwood floors, the cuts were pretty good (because they were done by the only quality guy). But on the corners where two rooms comer together, which are two different colors, it is not neat at all. Keith was annoyed that I used three different colors and told me he assumed I was only going to use one color and that was reflected in the price he gave me. This was without my knowledge and nothing written in an estimate. Parts of the trim were not even painted. His foreman gave me a hard time when I asked him to do a second coat of trim paint on a moulding that was originally not white. He said Keith only contracted for him to do one coat. I then find out the last day of the job that Keith fired his foreman. I was his foreman's first job. The same employee that bashed my house and gave me some insight on how this business is ran also told me that the foreman was an artist and somehow keith thought that parlayed into wall painting. Firing someone who does a poor job does nothing for the customer who was the victim of the poor job done by fired employee.

They were just phenomenal. They were one of the best contractors we've ever worked with and we've worked with a lot of them. They were clean, professional. They were very fair with the pricing for what they did. They were reliable and finished on time.

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Did good detail work. Was very thorough in the way he painted. Took his time. The finish product looks good.

They did a great job. I was very satisfied with their work.

This was probably the fifth, maybe sixth, time I've used Slater Painting. All prior experiences were with my homes, preparing my prior home for sale, and coloring and protecting  the current one over multiple projects inside and out. I've always found Keith Slater to be professional, collaborative, flexible and highly ethical. And his teams have impressed me for their speed, attention to detail, hard work and camaraderie. On one occasion we had a problem when my porch began to peel only weeks after it had been painted. Slater did the right thing -- researched the problem, discovered that the manufacturer had supplied a bad batch of paint, acquired new paint, and redid the job for no additional charge -- and my porch has been fine ever since. I recommend Slater Painting highly and have referred them to many friends who've enjoyed similar experiences.
For this latest project I brought Slater Painting into my corporate office. It was boring and drab, institutional off-white throughout. We created a color plan with an interior designer, then engaged Slater Painting to paint many of the walls and doors in our 8,000sf office. The team was very accommodating, working on evenings and the weekend to avoid disturbing staff or neighbors with paint fumes. Part way through the project, as I saw the colors coming to life, I increased the project scope. Keith took it in stride, and did not take advantage of me as others might have done. 
Few things give me greater pleasure than sharing a gem of a vendor with friends. Keith Slater and Slater Painting is one of those gems, the old-fashioned kind: honest, courteous and hardworking. 

Slater Painting was superb!  They certainly demonstrated the professionalism and quality work that has earned Slater Painting  "Baltimore's Best Painter" by Baltimore Magazine.  Keith Slater, the owner, was a pleasure to work with.  He was always here to ensure our desires were satisfied, and he was very accommodating of our wishes.  The work was performed exceptionally well, quickly, and at a very reasonable price, which was within the cost estimate provided. 
His team of professional painters did an outstanding job!  Slater Painting uses the best quality paint money can buy, and his team of painters seemed as concerned about the quality of work they were doing on our house as they would have been if they had been working on their own homes.  As a home owner, I could ask for nothing more!  It is this kind of professionalism and concern for quality that you wish every contractor would demonstrate! 
I should also add that Slater Painting drove from Perry Hall, Md, to Calvert County in southern Md to perform this work for me, a drive of 1 1/2 hours.  In spite of this lengthy drive to Calvert County and the long drive back to Perry Hall, they were always on-time in the morning and always put in a full day's work.  In summary, I could not be more pleased with Slater Painting!  Keith Slater will be the only painter I ever contact for our future interior or exterior painting needs.

Keith was great to work with i sent a request for a price and we met walked my house and he gave me a price he stuck by even though the amount of work ended up being more then he real thought.

Keith was very professional.  He & his crew painted our house in 3 days.  We had just bought it, so it was completely empty.  We found a few areas that weren't perfect, so we called him & they came back & fixed everything.  My husband & I say that it was the best $3,500 we've ever spent.  We can't imagine painting a whole house.  We're perfectionists, & he met our high expectations. 

Positive:

• Two of the three painters who worked on the job were very good.
• When they took the time to do things right, those two did a very good job.

Negative: 

• One of the three painters was not good and had to be replaced after the first two days.
• We had hoped that they would do more prep work but when it became clear that was not part of the plan, we TSP'ed the walls ourselves before they came back for the second day of the job.
• Keith was in too much of a hurry.  He initially pushed the painters to finish in two days, which was not at all realistic; in the end it was a four-day job. The whole time we felt like we had to police them to make sure they were taking the time to do things right.  
• In the end, there were two problems that left the job just short of fully complete:

1. Keith underestimated the quantity of paint needed for one of the colors; presumably he was trying to save money.  So we had to go buy an extra quart ourselves and had a heck of a time trying to get it to match so we could finish the last part of the kitchen behind the refrigerator where they had to use multiple layers of plaster/spackle to fill out a damaged section.  Fortunately that section is mostly behind the refrigerator, so it won't be too noticeable that the match is not perfect and that I am not as good a painter as they are.  
2. Keith said they would be able to fix two small but prominently-located water-damaged sections of the popcorn ceiling in the kitchen, but his people did not take the time to build up the plaster/spackle properly before applying the popcorn spray, leaving us with two spots that look terrible, almost as bad as they did before the repair and repainting.  

The first day started well. The 6 or 7 man crew spent a couple of hours covering up all interior surfaces not being worked on (in other words, everything but the ceiling). They put dropcloths down on the newly waterproofed and stained deck. They moved the furniture out on the deck and at the end of the day, moved it back inside. Keith Slater showed up in the late morning, and supervised. After the prep, most of the crew started on the exterior work. Mr. Slater said that there was a good chance his crew would be done with the interior work by the end of the day. I started getting concerned when, as I was working in the garage, Keith started berating his employees as they were having lunch just outside my garage. They were taking too long and not doing a good job keeping his trucks clean, he said. Then it all went horribly wrong. The painters were having a difficult time with the patches adhering to the ceiling. Keith said they would finish up with the interior work the next day. Keith did not show up the next day. His ?foreman? and one other helper worked on the ceiling while the rest of the crew continued on the exterior. For some reason, they had taken down the carefully put up plastic protecting the walls and everything else in the room. So when they did their work, paint and sprayed popcorn got all over the walls, the blinds and a pricey original painting. Also, this time, they moved the furniture onto the deck but did not cover it. At the end of the day, they didn?t bother taking in the furniture. It sat out all night, uncovered! Also, the dropcloths were no longer covering the deck. So they tracked footprints all over it which did not wash off. They worked a third day on the ceiling, and did some cleanup. I did not realize how bad the damage was to the rest of the room and the deck until they had left that day. The foreman told me that the stuff ?just comes off easily with a wet rag?. He started wiping the stuff off the walls and the rag left marks that did not come off! He actually started to scrape the stuff off my painting with his fingernail. And the ceiling looked worse than it had before they started! Even the foreman (who did the work) said it was not good and I shouldn?t have to pay for it! I called Keith that evening telling him about the problems and he agreed to come over first thing the next morning. He looked at it, shook his head, said there would of course be no charge for the ceiling, and he would paint the 3 damaged walls for free, as well as replace the blinds. Well, I still needed someone competent to repair the ceiling so I asked him if he would do it after that was done. He agreed. He asked me for the balance of the payment for the exterior work and I told him I would give him it once he fixed all of the problems with the interior, knowing that he wouldn?t show up to do the repair unless there was financial incentive. Well, he didn?t show up anyway. After I got the ceiling repaired by someone who knew what he was doing, I called Keith to schedule the repair work and to ask the status of the replacement blinds. He would not answer my calls. In fact he once answered accidentally (he was trying to make an outside call), and hung up when he heard who it was! His crew is very young and inexperienced. He had to tell them how to stain the exterior, which they did incorrectly. They used rollers and rolled across the boards, which is wrong, instead of rolling a few boards end to end. They also borrowed items they should have had; like my vacuum (which they got paint all over), my broom, and my bee spray. Guys, you?re painting the exterior, did you think there might be bees or wasps nests? All in all, a horrible experience. Don?t ever use these guys if you want the work done right!

He is maticulous, skilled, clean and quick. He is also a very nice, kind and considerate man. I recommend him highly.

I am just delighted with the work performed by Slater Painting. They were on the job 12 days and spent 8 of those days prepping the house. They brought 10 people for the job. They scraped, sanded, and caulked and put 2 coats of Sherwin Williams Duration paint on the house. Most of the house was sanded down to the bare wood. They used 15 cases of caulking. The house looks beautiful! My neighbors have been telling me that they have never seen a house prepped that well and neither have I. The painting crew was prompt, courteous and worked quietly. I recommend them to everyone!!!

There were no problems. They completed the work on time and did a very nice job. We intend to use them again for the front.

Keith (the owner) returned my call promptly, and was very polite and professional when he came by to survey my house and give me an estimate. We scheduled the painting for a few months out, due to his schedule and mine. I selected the colors and called him with my selections (note: Keith uses Sherwin Williams brand only). Keith ended up sending 6 or so painters to my house that day, so they could complete the job in one day. I had to remove the pictures from the walls, and other small items from bookshelves, etc., but the painters took care of moving/covering the furniture. I was unable to be home that day, but the family member at my house that day said the painters were very nice and thorough, and I'm pleased with the results.