Hodge Painting & Remodeling

Extremely disappointed -Poor quality, no attention to detail and a SERIOUSLY UNPROFESSIONAL After interviewing 4 other painters, I decided to hire Hodge Painting of Belmont to repaint the entire interior of my new construction home. Due to the sloppiness of the builder there was quite a bit of repair work needed to the sheetrock to achieve a good finish. I wanted the flat finish to be repainted eggshell for easy maintenance. We also changed the wall color of a few spaces. Mr. Hodge met with me at my home to review the scope of work and provide an estimate. He appeared to be professional and I was impressed with his plan for completing the work. I was very clear about my expectations and we spend a great deal of time looking at the areas of concern. Mr. Hodges? estimate came back significantly higher than all four of the others. However I was most impressed with his proposal and he assured me that his work would be that much better than the others. He offered a discount for full payment at the beginning which I?m glad I did not agree to. Mr. Hodges sent 3 painters to my home and the work began on DEC 4. We had not moved into the home so it was completely empty. They expected to complete the job in 3 days, but did not actually finish ? if you call it that ? until Dec 13. We were on a short timeline to move in so it was important that they finished in a timely manner. They had promised to come in on Saturday and work since they had fallen behind, however the lead painter called to say they had stayed out to late. When they thought they were done, I found that had neglected to paint entire walls and closets as well as other touch up items. Several times during the work I had tried to reach Mr. Hodge to discuss my concerns about the quality of the work and the amount of time it was taking but he was unable to take my calls. While in the home they managed to break a piece of crown molding off the cabinets. They scratched my new (and expensive) cast iron sink by placing paint buckets in it and cleaning out brushes in the kitchen. The sink and disposal was full of dried paint. Since we have moved in, we have spent countless hours scrubbing paint speckles off of the hardwoods, tile, cabinets and fixtures. I removed plug plates and light fixtures to make it easier for the painters, but they still got paint all over the plugs and other components which had to be cleaned off. I had provided them a borrowed can of flat paint only for a color match for the satin that I desired. They used the entire can of yellow FLAT paint for trim and some fill and then painted over and around it with the eggshell. The distinction between the two finishes is still quite obvious. We have many areas where wall paint has splattered or dripped on the trim and will not come off. The most troubling interaction was with the owner of this company on the final day that they worked which also happened to be the day that I had a minor surgery scheduled. At my request Mr. Hodge arrived to review the work early before my surgery appointment. My intention was to point out the remaining areas of concern ? paint on the trim, missed walls. I was shocked at Mr. Hodges demeanor. He stormed in my home and said ?What is it exactly that you expect out of me. You are nick picking the f*** out of everything.? Seriously just walked in and dropped the F bomb at me in my own home! Astounded and angry I responded that I expected the job to be finished and done right. I showed him the area that still needed attention and some of the spots ?and walls- that had been missed. He complained about the amount of sheetrock work that had to be done and how long it was taking?.but that is exactly what I had hired him to do and what we had discussed at the prewalk! After he left, his crew repeatedly apologized for his outburst and promised to complete the work. They even offered to return another day to touch up or make any further repairs. I left them to finish the job but found that they also left just after me- not completing some of the remaining tasks. While I was in surgery I received more than 9 calls from the lead painter wanting payment for the completion of work. He said that he would not get paid by Mr. Hodges and that his family would not eat until my check was cashed. Said he needed the money to make it thru the weekend. I found to be seriously unprofessional to beg for money from a client and especially for Mr. Hodge to put an employee in that position. As I had been in surgery I had not even had time to look around the house. He came to my rental house that evening -around 8- after I had returned from surgery and I reluctantly paid for the completion of the work -less $50 for the broken crown molding & used paint. Aside from the remaining paint still to be cleaned up which is extremely tedious, the entire laundry room needs to be repainted along with many many touchups due to careless painting. We also have countless scratches on the new hardwoods some of which undoubtedly from the painters spending more than entire week in our home and dragging about supplies. The lines for the ceiling aren?t straight in many places and there is a lot of debris on the walls that should have been sanded out. Many spots where the repairs were poorly blended and obvious. We wanted top quality but Mr Hodge was only concerned about getting it done as quickly as possible and his painter were slow and careless. Overall I am extremely dissatisfied with the work but even more so appalled at the lack of professionalism from this business owner. In fact I feel so strongly that I joined Angie's list primarily to warn others and save them the aggravation and so that I can find better help next time. I would advise anyone to stay far away from this guy. Not only is the work awful but he is aggressive and rude. We were just lucky that we didn?t have any belongings in the home, I imagine these guys could ruin some furniture pretty quickly.