Shumate Painting

I obtained Shumate Painting's name from a competitor of Angie's List. The contractor provided an estimate for a privacy fency of $16 per foot, a price that was the lowest by far of four contractors, but they did an absolutely awful job when installing the fence. The contractor left the job before it was finished and did not return my phone calls to finish the work. The competitor of Angie's List did essentially nothing to hep me resolve the problems. Shumate Painting literaly hired some of the workers off the street; not only were their skills lacking but their work ethic was pitiful. The contractor did not replace two of the four corner posts. The handles on the gates were so cheap that they didn't work. The workmanship on the gates was so poor that the gates have sagged badly; one of them is barely functional and will likely need to be replaced. The rot board has warped badly in places and is now separated from the pickets. Over a span of about twenty feet, the pickets have varying height and are unsightly. The contractor apparently used the wrong type of nails and fittings that left long, black streaks on the pickets. The fencing material was on the lawn for so long that the grass was badly damaged and workers also damaged my wheelbarrow that they used without my permission. The workers broke three sprinkler heads and a screen over a drain. They left piles of dirt at every fence post on the property. Not only was the installation awful, but the contractor's respect for us was shameful. We spent well over $100 on food and drinks for them; we even grilled hamburgers for them one evening. I have been working with contractors for over 30 years and can say that Shumate Painting is by far the worst one. In my view, the fence is so defective that it is a great financial loss and is a continuing source of frustration and expense. I made a big mistake by hiring this contractor. I made even a bigger mistake by not joining Angie's List before selecting the contractor and, in the future, plan to use only contractors who have favorable ratings on Angie's List.