MICHAEL A JACKSON PAINTING SVC

We were referred to Mike by friends for whom he had done 2 or 3 paint jobs. We first called him late last fall, but he recommended waiting for warm weather to do the painting. We called him again this spring, and he put us in line for his attention after he finished jobs he was working on. He told us where to pick out the paint colors we wanted, which he then purchased and picked up for the job. We had to be out of town when he was ready to start, so we arranged for him to have access to our house and garage while we were gone. He worked alone, usually arriving sometime between 8:30 and 9:30 am and wrapping up the day's work sometime between 2:30 and 3:30 pm. His commute was about 17 miles (~1/2 hour) each way. He never used a spray gun, doing most of the work with a brush; although the final coat on the siding was usually with a roller. When Mike had visited us to see the job and prepare his estimate, I showed him extensive damage to the siding and soffit caused by flickers hunting insects, and I told him I planned to repair that damage before he started painting. When he arrived to start work, I had not yet done that, largely because I didn't have a clue as to how to proceed; furthermore, we had not yet returned from our trip. He started work on another part of the house, and when we returned, he coached me in detail on how to do the repair carpentry before he started painting in that area. That guidance and encouragement alone has given me the confidence to start some other home repair tasks I have been putting off for years. When he presented us with the final bill, he apologized for a significant increase in the cost of paint and supplies that had occurred in the months between his estimate and the job completion. (His labor estimate was firm.) We are so happy with the final product that the extra 15% in the total cost does not bother us a bit. The job took him a little under 5 weeks in the hottest part of the summer, and we feel we got to know him pretty well, now considering him a friend. And our house looks better than it has in many years!