Ed Carlson Painting Inc

Very pleasant and neat to work with. Ed checked in frequently to see all was going well. Areas where they had to match 1918 stains, Derek, are so well done they are hard for me to see. I wash and inspect the exterior of the house each year and I have discovered no missing places or drips. They were willing to use Fine Paints of Europe products, new to them and tricky, and the resulting finish, except for the South side which has severe storm weather, seems as if it will be good for 20 years or so. They are booked up with large projects, which may explain the other review, but I would happily hire them again in the future.

He was hard to get to come out. When he finally came out to look at the job he then asked to wait till late summer (over 6 months) to do the work. Waiting was no problem and we agreed upon a price to refinish the lower part of the door. I called repeatedly to attempt to schedule with him to come out to do the job, after weeks of this he sent a painter named Derek out to do the work, the product failed and Derek refinished that part of the door again. Derek seemed to be very good at matching stain and I had no complaints regarding the finished product
After 6 month the product failed again and bubbled and peeled. I called Carlson again and after 5 weeks he came out and was unwilling to just redo it. After many conversations he came and took the door and boarded up my front door. He said it would take a week to a week and a half to finish the work. He was adamant that he would do this just once more. After two weeks of being boarded up and using the garage to enter the house, I called to ask when they would return the door, he again delayed with a needed additional coat and would for sure reinstall and caulk and paint the door jam he had screwed the board into no later than 10/9 or 10/10 of the next week. I called on Wed 10/9/13 and he again said the same story about needing an additional coat. I think he forgot he had already used that excuse. He said he would install it on Monday 10/14/13. HOWEVER I have a wedding planned at the house on10/13/13. He said he would install it Thursday, tomorrow. We will see what it looks like.
My biggest complaint is the continuous excuses and delays and stories. He doesn't keep appointments at the agreed upon time and I just wouldn't sign up for the fight to get the agreed upon product in the agreed up time. I am a real estate agent and have been here in Salem for 25 years. There are plenty of other painters, use them instead and save yourself the grief.

UPDATE: this is a follow up for a front door that was to finally be delivered on 10/10/2013. I got an irate message recorded and saved on my telephone from Ed Carlson himself threatening to sue me for the review I had left regarding his company. I was surprised that he would have such a fit without even reading what I had said for himself. Apparently someone had seen my review and told him. He then picked up the phone and told me how he was going to make me regret it and sue me for any loss of income.....REALLY? I will tell you that I was very pleased with the Door when they got around to installing it and would have been happy to complete my review with a final good comment regarding Derek and the work he does for Carlson. However, Carlson showed his true colors again with a loud, angry, threatening and harassing phone call. He seems to be unaware that true statements are a defense in themselves. What a difficult person, I would never recommend him to anyone, it doesn't matter that he employs a painter with a great talent, Mr Carlson apparently also has a talent for shooting himself in his own foot!! I will always stay as far away from him and his company as possible.

Carlson's employee was always on time, seemed to work efficiently and was very thorough. My problem with this business was that Mr. Carlson did not give much on-site time to matching an existing stain so that process drug out awhile. At the end, he tried to bill beyond his fee (the amount he originally gave to the remodeling company) although no component of the work changed from the original. I refused to pay the additional amount (in the $400 range) as I expected him to stay with the original contract unless the parameters of the job changed. It is important to me that a contract bid be honored unless I make changes or an unanticipated problem arises. Therefore, I would not use this company again.

Ed was given a sketch of the kitchen by the cabinet man who came out to make the estimate and to give us suggestions about alterations to the 40 year old cupboards. He made his estimate from a conversation with the cabinetmaker as well as from the dimensions shown in the sketch. He understood that we wanted the finish to be as near as possible to the walnut color in the original cabinets, and he took a cupboard door to his shop to make a sample for him and us to see alongside the existing cabinets. He also gave us choices about the amount of sheen we wanted in the finished products. He was meticulous about matching and showing us what the finished product would look like at different angles in the window light. His original estimate was $148.00 less than the actual price, because he rightfully charged us for his employee to refinish the woodwork around the double window in the kitchen as well as two door openings that had been badly scratched from the wear and tear of family life for many years. Those finished "extras" enhanced the entire kitchen project, and we were happy to have them done. Both Ed and his employee were prompt, courteous and pleasant to have in our home. We would be interested in hiring his company again if we had interior painting or other finishing work to be done.