Brian Davis Painting

In the interim, Brian had moved to ATLANTA, GEORGIA (please note this, Angie! -unless he is back in the NJ area as well.) He said he had personal business to attend to back in New Jersey, and that he would be able to come in March 2013 to do the job. It seemed to start well.  Brian started in the foyer. On the second day I realized that Sherwin Williams had mixed the wrong color.  Brian went back there, and they not only replaced the paint, but also gave Brian a credit equal to the day of work he had already invested. Brian seemed ok with that. He kept the old paint for another job. (over $150 worth) He repainted the hallway walls he had already done, and then painted the 2 story foyer wall as well as the foyer ceiling soffits. He did NOT repair several obvious nail pops, telling me that I "wouldn't really see them" once the pictures were rehung. The he proceeded to strip the wallpaper in the kitchen. It became obvious that this was something he wasn't used to doing. After the walls were painted, you could see small pieces of painted-over wallpaper in several places, as well as a few spots that would have benefited from a spackle repair. And the ceiling where Brian had repaired some flaking is flaking again. By now it was becoming apparent that he did not allow himself enough time to do the job.  A big part of the lack of time management was the fact that Brian kept going outside to have a smoke and talk to his girlfriend in Atlanta. This took him outside for over an hour of combined time each day. He was here for 10 days. He wanted to leave for Atlanta on that Friday, so he hired another painter to come and help him for a couple of days.  As Brian was finishing in the Kitchen, the other painter started doing spackle repairs in the living room. He was doing an excellent job, but Brian stopped him, telling him that he "didn't quote the job for that." [Translation: now that Brian had to hire another painter, he was making less money- IMHO due to his smoking/chatting time squandering-and therefore was cutting corners] The other painter painted the trim and cut the wall paint around the trim for Brian as instructed. BUT! When Brian painted the 2 story living room, he failed to roll the paint down into the the cut-around above the top of the 2 story window, leaving a 3 inch high, 9 foot wide stripe of the old similar paint color remaining above the window.  The contract said he was SUPPOSED to paint TWO coats; had he done this, I would not have been left with this stripe. Brian must have painted only one coat, given the amount of paint remaining. Unfortunately, due to the similarity of color, I didn't notice this stripe of old color until after Brian left (it looked like a reflection of light from the  window; upon further inspection I realized what it was). On that Thursday, after "finishing" the living room, Brian was headed for the powder room.  We both agreed he would not have enough time to strip, seal & paint in there, so I suggested he return at another time for that part of the job.  But he insisted that he get as much work done as possible before leaving as he had budgeted a certain income for this trip. He stayed into that evening stripping the walls and ceiling.  He did some spackle repair (not his forte').  On Friday he returned to prime the walls. As he was preparing to leave, I went in and looked at the ceiling. It very obviously needed further repair, so I mentioned that my husband wouldn't be happy to see that.  Brian seemed really annoyed.  He told me that he wanted another $20 to stay and fix that.  Stupid me, I gave it to him. The "fix" was rushed and not done properly. The room still needed to be painted. Brian said he would call me when he got back in a month.  He did credit me the nominal cost for painting the room.  He wanted to get back to his girlfriend in Atlanta. He NEVER called me.  I kept calling and leaving a message on his phone to call me and tell me when he would be back.  He NEVER returned my calls. FYI- Brian had to borrow some of MY tools: my 10 foot a frame ladder, my extension pole, and my step ladder.  He did not clean these when done, just telling me that "you can clean them with rubbing alcohol." And he never returned my tube of wood repair putty; not a lot in the scheme of things, but just another thing. Epilogue: I called Brian again a few months ago when I discovered the peeling facia boards outside.  Still no call back. And I hired the other painter to correctly repair and paint the powder room.

.Brian left an advertising flyer in my door.  He had recently moved from Florida back to his hometown in NJ and was restarting his business in this area.  I thought I'd take a chance.I was glad I did. Brian was very professional.  He had a handyman friend to do appropriate repairs to the facia board and window frames as needed prior to painting.  Brian caulked where needed and was careful, neat & clean.  His price was very reasonable for the size of my home.Pleasant and nice to work with.  Took time to make sure everything was done right..
Note- Brian asks that you show him where he needs to be careful (specimen plants, door hardware) and he will be even more diligent in those areas