Rafferty Contractors

It started out okay and went downhill fast! It?s a Nightmare! Last spring Pete Rafferty knocked on our door, he was ?in the neighborhood doing a job around the corner? and wanted to give us an estimate on replacing the siding and painting the exterior of our home. We put him off because we weren?t ready and he came by at least every month to ask again and again we'd say no and he would always come back. Finally, we said yes and he gave us a quote for $9800. He gave us a written estimate to clean and prep the house, replace rotten trim with wood and bad siding with hardiplank.  Prime and paint the house with 2 coats of Sherwin-Williams superpaint and that included colors of paint a 2-year contractor guarantee, $3200 down and $6600 due at completion.  We liked the quote but weren?t ready to start. Pete and his son, John started coming by every 2 to 3 weeks from then on and in November we said we were close but not yet ready would he still honor the price he gave us and he said yes. Then He came by weekly and called me in early December. He pushed to get the job started using any means to persuade me. I told him that I didn't have the funds then to pay for the whole project just the down payment of $3200. And I told him I couldn't give it to him in 10 days and said I wanted him to wait but he insisted that it was more important to give the painters something to do and he wanted to go ahead and get working. He said ?his employees? were acting like they were going to go to work for someone else and he needed to keep them busy.  I gave in when he told me that and allowed him to start. This was in December.  The crew came the next day and proceeded to tear off siding and partially replace it with hardiplank and begin painting. The second day he started asking me for money to pay his employees and pay for supplies even though he had agreed that he would wait the 10 days.  On the second day I gave him $2000 and on the third day I gave him $1200. On the third day he said they were done and wanted me to pay him the balance. I hadn?t been watching them closely so I went outside and looked at the work. I could tell that the paint job wasn?t finished yet. The new colors looked very nice and I was really happy with it so far but I told him I wouldn?t pay him the $6600 until the job was completed.  The contract said $3200 due to start and $6600 due upon completion and I had paid him the $3200 but I didn?t think it was wise to pay him the balance until the job was finished. I?ve done so in the past and the contractors split and never come back. And I felt it was a good idea to get a professional opinion so I said I was going to get an inspector to look at the job and give me a review before proceeding.  My mortgage company sent an inspector over and in addition I hired a professional painter to do inspection. The inspectors both said that it looked like only one coat of paint had been done. A lot of areas had been missed like the bottom edges of the siding, under the bay window, only, the front of the trim and not the sides had been painted, nails were sticking out, basically the job was 50% - 60%.  They said I should not give him another dime until the work was complete according to my satisfaction and the terms of the contract.  I own a nice home in an upscale neighborhood with average home values between $300,000 - $500,000. It is a 3,000 sq. ft. 2 story house built in late 1990's. The contract was to clean and prep the house, replace bad siding with hardiplank.  Prime and paint the house 3 colors using Sherwin-Williams superpaint and that included 2 coats of paint a 2-year contractor guarantee, $3200 down and $6600 due at completion.  I sent John Rafferty a copy of the inspection and both Pete and John don?t agree with the inspectors. John Rafferty wants to contact the inspectors and argue about the inspection but I refuse to give out their information. The inspectors I hired told me they didn?t want the contractor to be given that information to protect their privacy. John Rafferty said he is only willing to come do "touch ups".  There is a new complication that I don't have $6600 in hand yet.  My husband is terminally ill, disabled, and I am his sole caregiver and he had been very sick this winter and I?ve not been able to work as much as usual and I am an independent engineering consultant so my cash flow slows down when I can?t work full time and I?ve had increased medical costs with my husband?s illness since January.  I?ve told both Pete and John about this and they?ve not been very understanding. Since January they drop by my house, call me, text me and my husband multiple times a day.  It?s upsetting and it?s made my husband sick and now it?s starting to make me sick. It?s become a nightmare. I will get the funds in hand to finish and I?ve assured him I intend to but in the meantime John sends text messages to me wanting to know when he can come get his money and I spent more time dealing with him than working. However, the Rafferty?s are very pushy and they come by my house unexpected, call me, text me, and hound me several times a day to give them their money. They accuse me of lying and trying to cheat them.  I feel that it's really the other way around.  I'm working so I?ll earn the money through consulting this week or the next.  I really want to get my money together and have them finish the paint job right away so I can make this nightmare go away.  But I also feel I have the right to expect to get the job done right and not get cheated. Can you assist in any way to help me?  I understand he's mad and he wants his money. But I told him before he started that I didn't have all the money together and I didn't think it was wise for him to start.  And the worst has happened.  By the way he used subcontractors to do the work. They came to my house in their own truck with their company name painted on it.  I asked him about that and he insists that they are his employees.  I think he should have disclosed that his company was not doing the work; subcontractors would be doing the labor.  I've asked him for an insurance certificate and he refused.  I've asked him repeatedly to stop harassing me and he won't stop.  I've made a bad choice.  He told me his company was a member of Angie?s List and it was painted on his truck and I thought I?d made a good choice.  I didn't join Angie List until this week so I couldn't see how he had been graded before he did the job.  If I had known, he had bad reviews and a low grade I never would have hired him.  Help me Angie!

Responded timely to my inquiry. Very efficient. Excellent repairs and painting. Owner went above and beyond helping us determine interior colors and picked up samples for us to try. Very patient. We had a slight misunderstanding on price of interior painting but we worked it out to something I was happy with. They are very concerned with customer service and customer satisfaction.

The work was great  with the siding and the windows and the gutters.  It was top notch and the crew were very professional and on time every day.  The problem was with the front door.  Apparently I had the nerve to order a "special" door from Home Depot that seemed to rattle Rafferty's world.  It took over two  weeks once the door was delivered to get him back to finish the job and then he wanted to charge me above the quoted price.   My beautiful "special" door that Mr. Rafferty approved before I ordered it is not hung right.  From the inside you can see how it's offset with the frame and the locks are not lined up correctly.    

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John & Pete Rafferty and their crews showed up on time got right to work and completed job quickly. Not my cheapest bid, however they stuck to the bid. Would definitely use again for similar and other jobs.

Went great, contractor did everything and more then what he was contracted to do, very good crew. This contractor also did a paint job next door to us, customer was not happy, misunderstanding about work to be done, contractor returned the following week and did additional work for no additional charge.

Very professional, nice workmen.  Good job power washing, replacing boards, painting, and cleaning up.  Would definitely use again.

Went very well. Showed up on time. Finished in a timely manner.

Did exactly what he said he would do, was prompt and efficient in completing the job with good results.

I think they did a very good job. They had quality work, they were on time, and they got it done very quickly.

I wanted to paint the extra bedroom b/c I am having company next month. I called John and he came out 1-1/2 hours later the same day! He told me he would paint the room the next day, although he normally would not do such a small job, but since I was a returning customer, he would. I then told him how much I'd like to have both bathrooms re-done by taking down the wallpaper, texturizing them & painting them and he gave me a good enough price so we could afford to get it all done. He and his crew came the very next morning and worked almost 12 hours to get it all finished in one day! I was so impressed with his response, the quality of work, their good attitudes, and an excellent job!!

We had a lot of damage from Hurricane Ike, both inside & out. They were eager to do the work, kept calling to show interest in doing the job, were available soon. There were 3-4 men who were very good at their craft and John was the person overlooking the whole job. They really did excellent work. The only complaint I had was the living room needed an extra coat of paint but it was at the end of the 2nd day and the workers had already packed up and were in a rush to leave, so they just touched up where the white was showing through the paint. But they left all the paint with me and had done some extra jobs for me, and they had another job to go to.

Great Job! He promptly completed all work.

The job turned out fine. We would call them again. They did exactly what we paid them for doing. It was all done timely with little mess. We really have nothing negative to say about them. I will not give out my price, but it was nothing to complain about.

Pete and his crew were prompt and thorough. We were pleased with his work, and would hire him again. The only reason I gave them a B in professionalism was that at the end of the first day, I had to move a large plant and a bit of debris that was blocking my way into the garage, which they must have just overlooked, as everything else was tidied up so nicely.

Rafferty was ok I guess. The work was done right and they seemed to be pretty experienced in this type of work. I can say that they did not leave any mess behind and boy was I glad for that. The last thing I want to do is have to clean up after something I had already paid for. Rafferty is pretty reasonable, I also used them to paint my home and pressure wash my sidewalks. The people are very courteous and I would use them.

Raferty Contractors are very professional, punctual painters who painted the outside of my house. They spray washed the house down and painted the house and all the trim work in about two days. The painters were very efficient and went the extra distance and painted the front door for us without changing the estimated price, even though the door wasn t included in the estimate. The house looked great, and the men cleaned everything up very nicely.