Great Lakes Painting LTD

Mike Muldowney, owner of Great Lakes Painting, did not deliver what he contracted to do. There were also many flaws in his work such as runs in the paint, hairs and dirt in the paint, spots that were never painted, thin spots, and generally lots of paint drippings all over the hardwood and ceramic floors. When some of these issues were pointed out along the way, his on the spot repairs were just as ugly as the original flaws. Part of his contract was to repair the finish on the ceiling. His excuse for not doing it was that his son had the tools. When he announced that he was done with the job I sent a few text messages and he dropped by the next day, dropped off the tools, and spent 10 minutes on a thin coat of drywall mud PROMISING he would be back the next day to finish it. We had told him that the new floors were going in starting in 4 days. That was months ago and the tools are still here and he never came back. Instead of a high volume phone conversation I elected to document and notify him of all issues in a letter. This letter was sent 3 times. Once to him online, once to him in the regular mail and once to his office manager. Still no reply. Mike Muldowneys only response was to my fiance via text messages and not myself late Saturday night after he received the letter. These texts were not professional and ended up becoming harassment with false accusations against her. I was the customer who contracted with him and I have yet to hear back from him in any way shape or form. Example: When asked to fix runs in the paint...he picked the thick part off with his fingernail, peeled it off and then a few swipes of paint over it with a brush. He called that done when it was just as noticeable as the original run. I later sanded them down flat and touched up with a roller to match the texture of the wall. The various runs were all in VERY visible locations at eye level that we complained about. . Example: Various walls had dirt in the paint that created visible bumps. I had to sand the entire walls and hit with another coat of paint myself. Again...Mike was shown areas like these and spent less than 10 minutes to correct...end result was just as bad as the start. ( He doesn't clean or wash his rollers or paint pan each night. Instead he wraps them in tin foil and takes off the next day with half dried paint in the roller and pan.) When I contracted with him to do "everything" from the hallway forward I also expected that the closets would be done. The paint inside them was scuffed and needed fresh paint badly. Apparently closets were not included in "everything". Even the foyer closet with sliding doors where the paint goes past the doors into the living area was not done. Old paint was still visible when you walk in the front door. ***Thinking of asking for extra work to be done? You'll pay double for that - we did"*** . My fiance paid him to finish painting a bedroom so I wouldn't have to due to hurting my back. She asked him how much he would charge to finish the bedroom. He said he would get back to her and let her know. Instead he just did it and charged her $200.00 for @ 2 hours work. My mom was present when he did the bedroom and was surprised how quick he finished it. I personally had already done the ceiling, baseboards and trim, the doors and had started the walls. Not much work left. $100 per hour is a bit steep when the hard part was already done AND the extra cost was not approved ahead of time. My fiance only paid him that much due to his relationship with her boss. Lesson learned. In the end I would NEVER recommend this company to anyone. A partial refund was in order and instead nasty text messages were sent to someone other than myself who actually contracted with him. I would have at least appreciated and respected an apology. Nothing was ever sent or received except the harassing text messages to my fiance. Even the smallest attempt to make things right would have kept me from writing this report. The membership fee to this service was spent specifically to let the world know what to expect from this contractor. His last day he announced that he was "Done". My mom showed him a few runs to fix which he did in 10 minutes and left as quick as possible before she could find any other areas. His repairs had been so lacking I decided to do them myself and send him the letter in hopes he would try to make things right or at least offer an apology. I couldn't believe it when he began texting my fiance late one Saturday night referencing the letter getting angry with her instead of dealing with me personally. I personally spent over 20 hours sanding, repainting, and retouching. Some of these areas Mike had already "fixed" himself. The ceiling still isn't done and looks worse now than it did before he started. PUNCHLIST - Comments in ( ) are the repairs I made myself . Living room wall where tv goes - hairs and boogers in the paint ( sanded the whole wall and painted again with fresh coat) Hallway wall - right side- thermostat wall- hairs and dirt in the paint - after inspection it was obvious you had rolled over the return air vents rough drywall edges and picked up dirt from there...would have thought you'd stop short of the rough drywall- (sanded the entire wall and repainted) bedroom door - runs - quick fix with fingernails - ( sanded down flat and repainted) All bedroom doors and bathroom door - messy brush marks all over.... (rolled with small roller just like yours) Foyer closet - old dirty nasty scarred paint still showing on wall that the sliding door butt up to- (painted with new paint) Stairwell - trim by actual stair steps needed second coat ( repainted) Trim around door at bottom of stairs...no paint at all (Painted) Foyer closet doors - runs (sanded flat and repainted) Foyer hardwood floor - covered in paint ( scrubbed on hands and knees for 45 minutes with 409) Front doorway - window framework - brush marks and thin (needs a second coat of paint, will do this week) Baseboard from utility room north all the way to the dining room wall - thin and brush marks - no second coat (painted with second coat) trim over partial wall above kitchen sink - brush marks no second coat (painted with second coat) Kitchen to the left of the sink- multiple runs (sanded flat and painted two coats) Kitchen by bay window - wall with switch - hairs and dirt in paint (sanded the whole wall and repainted twice) Kitchen counter tops and back splashes - paint dripped all over them (will scrub) - Kitchen - ceramic floor - paint drops all over (started to scrub) Ceilings - various areas - thin or missed spots...noticeable color differences ( will retouch with paint) Various areas of walls at ceilings and baseboards...paint thin - brush strokes and old paint visible (second coat needed) Living room ceiling finish repairs never completed and tools left at house. It looks worse now than it did before. (Will hire someone else at a later date) For the record...there were more issues that will never be noticed and I did not include them on this list such as runs in the paint where the refrigerator goes...this list is not a perfectionist list of craziness....but more a list of sloppy hurried work.