MVP Painting

Had Matt meet me to get a quote and to get a sense of him professionally. He came to the house and looked at the garage. He told me the job would be two days, as two coats were required. He also indicated that he would get a cousin to help him move my shelves, so I wouldn't have to box the items up. He indicated this would be an additional $50, which I found extremely high. The actual cost for the painting was going to me $400 + paint (which he estimated at approx $100). I told him I was not concerned about the tape joints, as it was only a garage, but that I wanted a uniform result, including the elimination of small water stains. The garage had never been painted before. He had indicated that he is pretty particular, and the state of the garage walls would bother him as well. This gave me a sense that he was pretty particular, which I liked. Matt had also done work for my mother. An exterior paiint job didn't have great results, but it was a garage door, and he went back to make repairs in spring. Matt indicated he had 20 years experience painting. He told me he uses a reputable brand of paint (one of the top names). I expressed my concern that I didn't want to go "cheap" on the paint even though it was a garage. He expressed his confidence that the water spots would be covered by this Paint/Primer that all the builders use. Matt does exterior painting as well, and he told me that he was going to wait for a rainy day. I wondered abount the dampness, but he said with the door closed, it would be fine. Matt let me know on Thursday night that he could come the next morning. I talked to him at approximately 7 pm...not alot of time to move much out of the garage. I had been moving things little by little, including wheelbarrows, ladders, items from the shelves, etc. The only things left were the snow blower, lawn mower, leaf blower, and weed wacker along witthe the 2 meatl shelves. Matt insisted he would be here at 7:45 when I left for work. He was not here by 7:50, so I had to leave. I left the garage door open and placed the snowblower and mower in the center of the garage, and I put the garbage receptacles outside. I did this as a way of showing him that these items are OK outside. The snowblower and mower I had moved to the center to indicate this is where they should be as per our original conversation. The day he came was extremely rainy. This is why he chose to do it on this particular day, as he would be rained out of any outdoor jobs. When I came home that evening, he was gone for the day; only one coat had been done, although he said he was going to "bang out" both coats. As I walked around the garage, I noticed my bicycle, snowblower, lawnmower, leaf blower, weed wacker and metal shelfs were drenched in water. He had left these items outside the garage all day in a driving rain. the larger items were purchased inside the las twelve month. Nothing had been covered. He indicated it was, but it was evident that was not true. Also left in the driving rain were my cap and ear protection used when I mow. I immediately started drying everything off and then discovered that a full can of gas was also left out in the rain. I asked him if water could have gotten in, but he said he bent the spout down. The spout was not down when I saw it. One lie after another. Now I have electrical appliances and gas with moisture in it. He told me that he couldnt believe my reaction...that he worked hard all day. He told me that he couldn't work around the stuff in the garage, but when I reminded him that he said we could put everything in the center, he got very defensive and said he thought I was going to move it. Everytime I brought up a piece of our conversation, he got more defensive. Now it is day 2....I had taken many more of the items back into the basement or shed. I also provided him with a tarp to cover anything he had to put outside. I had to provide this.....wow. After running errands in the morning, I returned about 12:30 to see him getting things loaded up into his van. I could still see the tape joints (not the bumpiness of it, but the difference in color. The tape joiints were white, and the sheetrock was off white. It was apparent to anyone who looked at it that the sheetrock sucked the paint right in. I was not pleased as he had indicated that he would "do a great job" for me and that the water stains would be covered and the walls would be all white. He insisted two coats would be enough. I reminded him that I didn't want to go cheap on the paint, because I was making an investment in the house. My brother happened to stop over during this time, and he also observed that evertime I tried to make a statement, he cut me off with his defensiveness. He accused me of accusing him of sabatoging the job. We asked him to call the paint supplier to explain what happened. I am no professional painter, but I think he should have used an actual primer then a coat of paint. What he used was a 2-in-one product that he was told would be appropriate for the job. He saw that the sheetrock had never been painted. We asked several times how much more it would cost to do 2 more coats, and he kept avoiding the question by saying he did everything he could. He kept reiterating his experience painting. He was very condescending toward me, even in front of my brother and my neighbor, who I called over to ask how he had done his garage, Matt said, "you can ask all your neighbors, but I have been in this business 20 years, and I did everything I could to make it right. That is so untrue....any professional would work on the project until it was right. I agreed I would absorb the cost of more paint, but he wanted to charge me $200 more per day to make it right. That may be the way people do things now, but it doesn't get you any future business or referrals. Now I am left with a half-done job that I paid $500 for