Dominic

Dominic came on time.  He looked at the wall in our living room that was damaged and said he could patch the plaster easily.  He had never seen the "design" on our walls but was sure he could match it because he has over 30 years experience in plastering.  He wanted $400 for a small area (approx. 2' x 2") but felt he needed to remove the whole section of plaster and blend it to the existing wall.  He decided 3' wide and to the ceiling (approx 5") would be sufficient.  He showed up on time to do the job as scheduled.  I was at work but my husband was there to let him in.  He worked for 2-3 hours on this small section.  He didn't cover my curio cabinet which sat in the corner near by, or the 60" TV on the other end of that wall.  When I came home and saw he mess that he made I was angry and shocked.  He had been paid and was gone.  

He didn't come close to matching the existing pattern, he didn't even use the same pattern in the new plaster he put up.  There are some smooth areas, really rough areas, and some you wouldn't believe.  He told my husband it was difficult to match and he had never seen anything like that.  He didn't know what tool they used and that was the best he could do.  That job was not the best for anyone  - not even a novice plasterer.  He splashed plaster all over the TV and curio which I had to scrape and dig off because it was dried when I came home. ( He told my husband he cleaned everything up.)
 
I called two days later because I was so angry.  I asked why he didn't admit that he couldn't do the job, and why did he take the whole $400 if he knew the wall was a mess.  Dominic responed that he didn't feel it was that bad, he knew it didn't match, but it was very difficult and he spent a lot of time trying to match it.  He agreed to come back and do the whole wall "at no additional charge" but my husband and I agreed that we wanted him NO WHERE NEAR our house ever again.  I put my cleaned curio in front of that space to hide the mess he left us.  It was a disaster.