John Bell Painting

I have used John's contractors for many years. He comes and prices the job and then he sub-contracts. The wonderful painter (Donna) that I used was excellent and paid total attention to detail. The last few jobs, Frank was the contractor. He did a good job and was very patient when I wanted to change a colour. However, you know a fantastic job from a good job when you find areas that aren't visible to the eye, but aren't painted (at the top of the bookshelf under the crown moulding.) I also had to point out some small areas that needed to painted with a Q-tip, which were left unpainted until I mentioned it. As well, I always think it is a good job to call a customer after the job is done to see if they are satisfied and John doesn't do this. I'm surprised at this, actually. All in all, a good job, but could be perfect.

We hired John Bell Painting to paint our hallway (with high ceilings at the stairway) and one bedroom. The company was quick to respond and come out for an estimate.

The work went fairly quickly, although once it was done we noticed a few problems - small things, but problems that shouldn't happen with a professional painter: there were a number of spots where the paint got on the ceiling, 3 or 4 spots with paint on the wood trim, a few areas with thin paint coverage (primer showing through), and a couple hard-to-reach areas between door casings that weren't painted at all.

We emailed the company, and John was quick to come out and look at our issues. He made note of all the mistakes, and had his painter come out to fix them.

In the end, it was a good job - but I'm of the opinion that it should have been right the first time. It seemed as though the job was initially rushed.

I recently used John Bell Painting for the 5th time and as always, knew I could trust the professional results. Over the years, this company has painted two apartments, an office, and removed a “popcorn” ceiling in my condo, creating a new smooth ceiling which required several layers of meticulous plastering over concrete. John’s estimates are careful and specific, and while my paint preferences are invariably accomodated, he is very helpful with choices of colour or finish when asked.

I’m something of a perfectionist and the painters have never hesitated to make a rare small correction to achieve the best possible outcome. They were always on time, were friendly and professional, cleaned up after themselves and even placed furniture back for me. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this company, and will continue to turn to them for painting needs in the years to come.

We used John's company before and were thrilled with the job.We had to have them in again and they did not disappoint. Tom, Dan, and Dave work well together and were great to have around. The work is first rate and was completed much quicker than expected. Minor repairs were no problem for them and larger ones (smoothing out a ceiling) seemed equally easy for this crew. We are delighted with the results. THANKS GUYS!

I hired John Bell's team to paint my entire house. This was a huge job and to be honest was a bit worried if they could finish especially in a short period of time. John and the team were all very friendly and easy to work with. They finished the job in about 3 days. They have great teamwork skills and are amazing painters who work at an incredibly fast pace. They also do some carpentering which made the overall design of the house look much better. The reason I hired them was because I heard great things about them and they lived up to their expectations. The job completely transformed the house and now I can sell it for the asking price I want. Overall the house looks 100% better and we won't hesitate to use this company again in the future.

John and the team of Frank, Ali, and Vandes were all very friendly and easy to work with. The quality of workmanship of the painting was very good as well as a little bit of carpentry and patching that was needed for a few deteriorating bits. They also moved some patio furniture from the second floor deck to ground level to paint, which wasn't in the original contract but they accommodated us easily enough.
Overall the house looks 100% better and we won't hesitate to use this company again in the future.

We had John Bell Painting come in (John Bell personally visited) to assess a paint job we had done by another company in our recently constructed condo. The original paint job was executed extremely poorly (at relatively high cost). The original painters had done considerable damage to our interior doors by applying fast-drying flat paint using rollers to smooth surface doors - this left the doors with an unattractive finish and texture. The original painters had also done a poor job in terms of preparing the walls, repairing minor damage/defects and overall finishing (e.g. cutting in) of the paint work. The designer who had engaged the painters was unwilling to resolve the issues, so we were left with a poor paint job for which we had paid in full.

John saw this as a challenge. He reviewed the existing paint work in great detail. John was very honest and straightforward with us; he was able to point out:
- what were underlying flaws in the walls that couldn't be remedied (without significant intervention)
- what were errors/poor technique on the part of the original painters that could (and in some cases couldn't) be readily remedied
- additional flaws that we had not previously identified, that could be readiliy remedied
It was an educational experience and helped to clearly set our expectations about what could be done to bring the paint job up to professional standards and to restore our damaged doors.

John then proposed a 'trial' solution - he would bring in his best painter to work on one area of the condo, including a couple doors, so that we could see the result and decide if we wanted to move forward. The lead painter, Jeff, was clearly an expert in paint selection - he tried a number of different paints to find the one that would produce the best finish on the damaged doors. Like John, Jeff has an eye for detail and would remedy problems we hadn't seen. Jeff did a great job of repairing minor wall defects so that these did not show in the paint job.

As a result, we proceeded with the full re-paint of the condo; John was sensitive to our price concerns given how much we had already paid and we were able to come to an agreement that suited all of us. John's team completed the work quickly and efficiently, while we were on vacation. We came back to a condo that looked considerably more 'finished' than it had previously and to doors that had been restored, to the extent possible, to their original lustre. John inspected the work with us, quickly addressed any minor misses, and offered a 2-yr warranty on the paint job - i.e. if we see any additional deficiencies, they will remedy.

Working with John and his team was a great experience. He is detail oriented, manages expectations well and delivers a quality paint job with excellent customer service. His services are priced accordingly and appropriate for what he delivers. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend John Bell or to work with him again.

Susan B.

The person came over to the house and did a thorough job of inspecting the walls. He suggested what paint to use. he advised us the condition of the walls and sat down with us , with no pressure to sign a contract, the price and how long it would take.

I hired John Bell Painting to paint the entire interior of my mother's 30 year old townhouse. It was a huge job as many of the rooms had bits of wallpaper, half-finished paint jobs that my mother had started but never finished, a grease-laden kitchen with ugly doors, stucco ceilings and on and on. They finished the job in about 3 days and were meticulous. The job completely transformed the house and helped us sell it for almost 100% of our asking price. They were not the cheapest quote by any stretch, but shockingly, they were one of the only ones who measured the rooms and provided a detailed quote in writing. They were highly professional and I'd gladly work with them again.

John Bell painting repaired a water damaged wall and painted the room. In addition, they repaired chiped and peeling paint on our stairwell trim. Both were done meticulously and we are very happy with the work. I also should mention that they are an honest company to work with (we accidentally over paid and they gave back what we overpaid). I highly recommend this company to others.