Next Level Painting

One thing I liked about Corbin, the owner of Next Level Painting,
when he came out was that as I walked around and described what needed painting
and what extra work needed doing, he spotted things I had missed and asked if I
wanted them taken care of as well. (Of course, I did.) Corbin has a general
contracting background, which gave me some peace of mind for any drywall
repairs we may have needed, if they couldn't be patched cleanly. (Another
painter we interviewed said they did not replace drywall--only did minor
repairs.) 
     Another thing I liked was that he didn't need to measure everything. (One
painter I spoke with measured everything to figure out square footage and then
gave us a bid.) Corbin knew his business well enough that he needed to take only
mental notes as we went along. After our walk-through, he restated what I
wanted then emailed a bid within 24 hours. 
     A third thing was Corbin?s willingness to take on more tasks, ie, as we saw how
fast the painting was going and how good of a job he and his right-hand
guy, Ricardo, were doing, we asked if he could take on a bit more painting work
for us. For instance, we said, "With the brightness of the new ceiling
paint, now the 30-year-old ceiling in other parts of the house is looking very
dull. How much if you do these 2 rooms too?" Corbin considered the
difficulties, eg, did the ceiling need much repair or have many nail pops, then
chimed in with a price or asked, "What are you thinking?" to which my
husband named a price and agreement or a bit of friendly negotiation occurred
and it was settled. Thus, it was no problem for Corbin to add on extra ceiling
painting and repairs.
     We wanted to use a specific brand of paint. Corbin knew the
variety of paints offered by the company and made some recommendations. He knew
exactly what his costs were for that brand and the cost to upgrade to a higher
grade of paint for durability, which he recommended and which we agreed to use?it
only cost us an extra $100, and he never upcharged the paint! I told him we
wanted an itemized bill, with paint separate. He said not to worry, because he
always pays for each job?s paint separate on his tab, closing it out after the
job is complete and giving the homeowner all leftover paint from the job.
Hooray!
     The day they started painting, Corbin walked through with us one
last time to review the job and then translated in painting terms what he
wanted Ricardo to start on and how to proceed. For the few days that Corbin
needed to be off-site, he had Ricardo send him pictures and text frequently.
This staying-in-touch for quality control made it seem like the work was being
done by the person we hired, not like it was simply handed off.
     An aside: On the rare occasion when Ricardo or Corbin played their
music, it was at a very low volume, which works well for those who work from
home. The entire job took a bit over a week, and they were finished right
before Christmas.
     All in all, we were extremely satisfied with the work done, Corbin
and Ricardo?s work ethic and cleanup after each day, and their positive
attitudes. Corbin?s final bill was exactly what he estimated plus the additions
exactly as agreed. He will be our first call when we repaint the exterior of
the house.