Student Works Painting

Jamie and Aaron arrived on the day that was specified and began working very hard. The day was very hot but did not seem to slow them down. The prep work was done very well - sanding and scraping. The colours were a perfect match and the painting was done with great care. I would recommend Jamie and his crew for any job. They painted a lot of our old fencing and our garage. In the end, everything looked fresh and clean. Great way to support our summer students and get a good job done.

I couldn't be happier with Bryn and Student Works Painting. I first met him when he knocked on my door on a bitterly cold day in February. (I later learned that he was using his mid-semester break to promote the business.) At the time, I wasn't thinking about painting my house but kept the contact info. Then, in early April, I emailed him about the cost of a coat of paint on all the interior walls. He estimated the work over the Easter weekend. Then he and the team completed the work in the three days between the end of their exams, and the beginning of my trip to Nova Scotia to celebrate my grandbaby's first birthday. I am impressed with their professionalism, work habits, and painting skills. I don't think there was one drop of paint, they arrived on time and worked more than 8 hours each day, and treated me and my home with respect. I have already recommended them to my friends and neighbours.

Our recent experience with Jamie Tweedie and his team of painters from Student Works Painting was completed to a professional standard. The work consisted of painting from top to bottom, five rooms and a stairway from a dark color to a more neutral light colour. In addition Jamie and his crew our sanded, cleaned and stained our large deck and surrounding railing, a deck and lattice fence around our pool and two wooden arbors; which had not been stained in several years.

Jamie is very conscientious and provided excellent customer service throughout the entire process. When short-staffed, Jamie stepped in himself to ensure that the work was completed on time. He always did what he said he would do, and showed a genuine concern for getting everything right.

Overall they did a fabulous job and we are very satisfied with the work they completed. In fact, we have recommended him to our friends.

We meet with an operator who seemed pleasant. She had a professional sales pitch offering a professional job and brought in a portfolio which looked impressive.
I explained we just moved into the house and wanted the job completed ASAP, but were flexible with the times as one of us is at home all the time. We paid a $450.00 deposit and that’s the last we heard for a month. Finally, getting in touch with the operator she said we can do it in 3 weeks time, which wasn’t good for us as we had family visiting from overseas. After a lot of discussion she said she would get a crew together in a weeks time.
The first day I arrived home from work, there was paint all over the floor, which I pointed out, and was told that it would be cleaned before leaving. The second day there was paint over our floors; dogs bowls; our bedding and all over our deck outside. We still have paint on our floors.
On top of this we were promised: the base boards would be wiped down prior to painting, that did not happen; holes would be filled, that did not happen; prior to making final payment an inspection with a coach, that did not happen either.
When the operator arrived at on the second day she started giving praise without having looked at the job. Fine for building confidence in your team but not good for home owners.
It would have been nice to examine the job room by room to noting the deficiencies. We were initially told it would be a three day job but when asked on the second day if they would be returning, they said that they were booked for another job!
We were especially upset when we found out that latex paint damages septic tanks. When we mentioned it the operator said she didn’t know about it and continued to let the staff wash their equipment in our kitchen sink! While she was here we did more research on the internet, we presented the information i.e. that it is harmful to the microbes and she became very defensive almost argumentative at that point challenging us that latex is waterbourne paint and should not be harmful.
There are many areas that have not been touched, staircase railing and spindles; around the edges of the walls and in the hallway two walls have not been touched, you can see the lines of the old coloured paint.
We paid over $1700.00 for this under par job, had I known beforehand I would have selected one of the three companies we had quotes from, we being students in the past thought we would give StudentWorks the job BAD CHOICE!
On top of this we have forwarded a complaint to the Head Office in Ontario and they do not want to know. My husband has called 5 times to speak to the Area Manager, who no one knows the name of, and he has not made it passed the Receptionist (Natalie). Messages have been left but no returned phone, appalling customer service. Just icing on the cake when you consider and unprofessional, unqualified, uncaring company.

First problem is Brandon used the wrong primer, an industrial non oxidizing primer for metal, that doesn't allow the shingles to breath. This is not the paint that was quoted in the contract. They also primed and painted in the rain or only a few hours after it rained. He painted over mold and mildew, that is now showing. This is despite the fact that i caught his crew doing it and told him about it. Brandon said he would fix it but only TSP'd one area, when i wasnt home he and was back to painting over wood that wasn't cleaned. i have paint runs all over my house, paint all over my roof, trim, windows, pavers in front of my house, on my rock and mortar foundation, and patio furniture. The furntiture wasn't near the house so i believe they were using them to stand on. They didn't use any drop sheets and left peeling paint all over the ground along with some of their garbage. They put the ladders up against the shingles, broke some of them and bent the aluminum edging underneath. They have had to come back twice for warranty work. They refuse to remove the metal primer, I was told by Patrick that I was upsold because that primer was more expensive. After much discussion they agreed to remove, all the peeling paint and all the paint from one side of the house, it is about 50% peeling. They only removed about 20% of the peeling paint and won't remove any more. Apparently head office refuses to pay the students to finish the job. The guys that came back the second time were awesome and were willing to prime and paint the remainder on their own time. But I was stuck with the remaining peeling paint about 80% of the job. The local student owner Liam did all he could to help me but the local rep Patrick refuses to give them enought time to strip all the peeling paint off of my house. In fact Patrick told me that they wouldn't remove the metal primer because it would cost the company too much money. I have called head office several times, I have sent emails, talked to the local rep. They don't care that they used a non approved industrial product on my house. Furthermore, they won't even finish the job unless the students are willing to work for free, these aren't even the original painters, they are in an awful position. I wish I would have had them paint my house the first time.
Note to company rep: Don't even try to tell me that you aren't aware of my situation or that you tried to work with me. I've documented every phone call, with who, when, and what was said. Student Works Painting did not follow through on their promises, won't honour their warranty and have put me in an awful position. I can barely stand to look at the exterior of my house without breaking into tears. This is going to cost me several thousands of dollars to fix and I spent all my savings to have it painted. I am sure there are many great employees at student works but if you get a bad one you're stuck with the consequences. Big sign going up in the front yard today.

Overall: Good. Garage door frame and deck look good so far, although we just had this project completed yesterday and it is pouring rain outside right now, so I'm curious to see how the deck paint holds up. The powder room was left with a few concerns: none of the panels for the light switches were put back, the mirror in the powder room was sitting on my couch when I arrived home, and the floor outside the powder room was quite dirty when I arrived home. We've used Student Works twice previous to this, and both those times turned out very good.

We were pleased with the end result of the exterior painting and enjoyed the team doing the work. The price was good and they communicated well with us. Nice to see hard working young folks!

We had a very pleasant interaction with James and his crew. They were always on time and polite and worked hard all day without much of a break. The powder room was originally charcoal and we chose a light green which I assume was a bit of a challenge. There were some spots that had to be corrected after the job was done because you could still see dark streaks underneath. But the touch-up was done within 2 days no questions asked. The bedroom was done very well. The team also helped me with a fan cover which was appreciated. Overall a good job for a fair price. The team was super friendly and respectful and I trusted them fully roaming about in my house. Thanks.

BEWARE. The sales people don't know anything about painting and they send kids over that don't even have a drivers license. Terrible work. Got ride of them mid job. Caused more in damages then there cost. They sent over kids that never painter before. Painter over nails in the wall instead of removing them. Painted door shoot. Never covered our floors causing major damage. BEWARE