Gray Painting and Restoration

I hired Brian Gray to restore the front of my Tudor from 1928. He was to remove all previous coatings, caulk, and restore any rotted cedar. His original estimate was $10-14K, or 2-3 weeks of labor, which included materials. He did specify it could go over that and would keep me appraised of progress. His quote included a high end linseed oil paint that required all previous coats to be removed for optimal adhesion. We never discussed any other coatings. Throughout the four weeks Brian was here, I was concerned with his pace of work and original estimate. I tried to have him use different stripping mechanisms, ordered different tools, and these were usually met with great reluctance since they weren’t adhering to his way of doing the job. Brian often did work in the snow and rain, slowing his pace as well. After being $16K into the job and not even half way finished, we had to let Brian go as his poor estimation and pace of work left us no choice since we were so over budget. It took me 26 minutes to let him go. I was told multiple times “I didn’t know anything, had no critical thinking skills, and just read things on the internet” when letting Brian go from this job. I prepaid Brian for primed marine board that will go behind stucco panels, as well as high end paint, and requested material and hour logs. I have yet to be successful in hearing from Brian on when he can pickup his ladders and drop off the materials I’ve paid for. I’ve asked twice now and he’s not in a particular hurry. He mentioned on 4/2 that he’s “on another job and I’ll get my materials”. With the front of my house stripped off, I would think he would want me to get these materials sooner. He also mentioned he has many clients waiting for him, yet he has left his ladders in my garage since I left go of him on Monday 3/25. Lastly, the manufacturer says paint must be applied >60°. Brian was doing an original 2-3 week job when temperatures were in the 30s-40s. Very bizarre. Very disappointed.

The final result looks ok. The "bubble" is gone, however there is now a 1/4" ridge on one side of the cut out area, which casts an odd shadow on the ceiling. I had Brian come back and take a look at the work, and he offered to add another skim coat. I told him not to bother, but appreciated the offer. He mentioned that he dripped some paint on the walls in a few small spots, which I had not noticed. After inspection, I told him that I would fix those spots. Later that evening I took a closer look at the paint on the ceiling and could still see the ivory color through the new white paint in many areas. Having painted many rooms before, it seemed odd that the old color would be visible after two coats of paint. Since I did not catch this before he returned to take a look at the work, I didn't want to inconvenience him with another visit, so I went ahead and added another full coat of paint on the ceiling. Overall, from our conversations, I expected meticulous work. I felt that the work came up short. Brian is a great guy, and provided lots of tips/pointers with various pieces of work around the house I could get myself into.