Get matched with top wood stripping pros in Upper Marlboro, MD

"S & J Painting and Remodeling came highly recommended from the Facebook group The Best of Howard County. I was also pleased at the testimonials I read online about them. I had Jerry come out for two separate estimates and was very pleased with his professionalism, confidence, and friendliness. His prices also beat several other companies we had out for the same work. We hired S & J for some drywall work (patching tape seams, holes, etc.) back in the beginning of July. Both Jerry and myself were aware that there was wallpaper underneath the paint, however Jerry was confident that his drywaller could just patch the areas without having to remove all wallpaper. He gave us an estimate for 2 days worth of work. When the drywaller came out on Monday 7/24/17, he said he would have to remove some of the wallpaper and do some other necessary work to prepare the walls. He estimated that it would take at least 4 days. I understand that estimates are just that, estimates, and should be somewhat flexible, however we were unprepared to pay twice the amount and have it take twice as long. Jerry was very accommodating regarding his misjudgement and gave us a discount on the two additional days of work. The walls looked great at this point (after the work was completed). I started to paint our foyer area (where the bulk of the drywall work was done) on Thursday 8/17/17 and noticed tons of pinholes appearing in the drywall. Some were evident before painting, however more kept appearing as I was painting. I immediately called Jerry back to see if this was normal. He told me some pinholes were normal due to moisture. I told him that this was not just a few holes, but thousands! He told me to spackle the walls, however he agreed to send someone out to look at them when I explained that a simple spackling for thousands of holes was pretty ridiculous. He also tried to tell me that the holes came from having wallpaper, however we also have holes in the ceiling (where more patches were performed by his company), and there is clearly no wallpaper on the ceilings. He repeatedly told me that the drywall guy he sent out was the best in the company with 20 plus years of experience. This was not helpful or necessary, as it made me feel like my concerns were not valid. He advised me to finish painting the foyer (we have a split foyer, so it is very tall) with one coat of paint. He proceeded to leave me two voicemails after our phone conversation, also advising me to continue to finish the one coat of paint. I rushed to get the one coat of paint done before his second drywall guy came out on Friday morning 8/18/17 to see the holes. The second drywall guy said it was a ton more holes than is normal, and when I pressed him as to why this had happened, he admitted that the compound(?) that was mixed, was not mixed properly and had too much water in it. He skim coated a lot of the holes that morning and the following day. He also patched some small holes that the first guy missed, which I didn’t even point out. He said I just need to put another first coat of paint on the places he skim coated; just touch it up. My husband asked if they could at least give us a painter for the day to repaint it for us, as “just touching it up” was impossible due to the magnitude of areas that needed to be repainted.The skim coated sections of the wall covered at least 80% of the wall, so at that point, the whole wall needed to be repainted. Also, not to mention the hours it took me to paint the high foyer walls on an 18’ ladder and the cost of two gallons of paint wasted. The second drywall guy spoke to Jerry and called me back on Monday 8/21/17, saying that if we wanted someone to repaint the walls for us (and not fully repaint, just spot roll), it would be $200 extra. I was appalled, as this work should be done for free since it could have all been prevented in the first place if (1) the drywall work was done properly, and (2) if I was not advised to paint a coat on the walls before skim coating. Not to mention the extreme inconvenience of having the work redone with drywall dust everywhere, and with a small toddler in the house. They told me at this point that painting was not their responsibility and they did not owe us anything to make up for the lost time and paint costs. When I said that I refused to pay this company any more money to fix something that was their fault, I was told that they could waive the $200. This fee should have been nonexistent in the first place! They scheduled to come out a week later, on Saturday 8/26/17 to “spot roll” the skim coated areas. I am a teacher and was hoping to have this work (and the house painted) by the end of the summer so I wouldn’t have to worry about any of it during the school year. Unfortunately, an originally estimated two day job turned into a two month nightmare. I would not recommend this company to anyone."

"David and Christian were very professional and helped us get our ceiling painted without issue! They said it would be a two day project and ended up being just complete in one! Thankful for their services and Annapolis Painting for the great service."

"The painters worked very quickly, they were very polite. They cleaned up after themselves. They painted my entire basement in just two days. They patched small holes and really did a professional job."

"Bottom Line: This is the second time using Manor Works, although the first time for carpentry. I hired them based primarily on previous excellent work on external painting of home, including complicated faux painting. Unfortunately, for carpentry they suffered from a serious quality control problem, and I would not use them again in this capacity. Communication: Scheduling the initial estimate was easy and timely, while communications continued throughout the process. Scoping Work: This is probably the most important first step in any project and often either messed up or purposely inflated. I needed pre-painted crown molding installed in one room. We requested professional-level carpentry to absolutely minimize any gaps between molding joints, the ceiling, and the walls – essentially a caulkless project. With the various angles in the walls and ceiling, we knew some tricky detailed cuts were going to be required. Quality of work. Frankly, 75-80% of contractors fail here for three primary reasons: a horrible handoff of details from the estimator to the onsite project foreman, project foreman and/or workers making assumptions vice asking the customer, and lack of quality detailed work. All three seemed to have come into play on this project. I knew I had a problem when the contractor asked me for the caulk. Because some boards were cut short and some angles were imprecise, there was a good amount of misalignment between boards and serious gaps between the board and the wall. In the third image, the corner of the board is broken out, and the carpenter wrote on a portion of the finished wall. That wall was painted in a textured, two-tone, faux appearance that takes time and expertise. It's not a simple paint this spot touchup. Due to the dark color of the trim, some of the joint misalignments I could hide with detailed painting and very precise and limited caulking, but the areas where it was chipped out and some of the wall gaps , especially where you can look up and see the nails going through, had to be completely replaced - meaning new crown molding, sanding, priming, painting, cutting, and nailing — both time and money for me. I realize this work can be challenging when the walls are at various angles. It's meticulous and takes a great deal of patience and care. I do my own baseboard, shoe molding, and short runs of crown, so I know it could have been done better than this. A previous contractor recently did it better in our powder and mud room. Pricing: Price was the best of three highly ranked Angie’s List companies, but in this case, you really do get what you pay for. It was very disappointing"

"Fine it was fine"

"We hired Wow 1 Day for 2 separate projects and each one was high quality work with professional service and communications. The first was after we had a flood and needed to get our basement painted after water remediation. The second time we use the company to repaint our entire house. They were great helping with color consultations. We let our kids have some say over there rooms but the company was great in helping with that process. They also helped us be selective about trim and doors that didn't need to repainted to keep us on budget. I would recommend this company without reservation."

"Excellent! On time, very neat, very pleasant, Reasonable cost. Highly recommend Edward and his crew."

"This was our second time using Diaz for our painting and home renovations. Once again he and his team did an amazing job. For this job, we had Diaz paint our hallway and master, redo our stairs and stair railing, re-finish and stain the hardwood floors, remove old baseboard heaters, and do a complete renovation of our upstairs bathroom (new paint, new floors, new vanity, new toilet, new lighting, new exhaust fan, etc.). He also helped haul out old furniture, removed an old (non-functional) oil gas tank from the basement, and replaced a broken storm door. One of the great things about working with Diaz is that the answer is always yes. His team is more than just painters - he has skilled craftsmen, workers with expertise in plumbing and electric, and everything else. There is no need to deal with anyone else. If you need something done in (or around) your house Diaz either can do it or has a guy. After contacting Diaz, he came right out for a free estimate. He listened carefully to what we wanted but also made a number of important suggestions to improve the results. Each day his team was hard at work - they were trustworthy and courteous, and cleaned up perfectly each day. Diaz goes the extra mile to make things convenient - including hauling away trash/junk, recommending a local showroom, and picking up materials that we had ordered for the job. As with any major project, there were a few bumps in the road. But Diaz worked through the curveballs with good communication. They finished on-time and on budget, and the results were perfect. If you’re looking for versatility, reliability, attention to detail, and overall excellence, then Diaz is your man ."

"Carlos and his crew did an excellent job. They were very professional and efficient"

"The finished look is excellent. The finish is smooth and even. The painters were efficient and friendly. They cleaned up all the dust from the floors and put everything back as they found it. I am more than pleased with the outcome, and plan to use them for the remaining rooms in my home that need to be painted. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"