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.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $6,000.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Company Response
Hi Shannon
We are aware of your issues with our company and are currently doing our best to handle the issues with your home. There was clearly something that was done wrong with your house and we have spend over 40 hours there so far this year fixing those errors. It was only upon your request that the crews did not complete the work as you asked us not to prime until at least 48 hours after completing scraping and sanding on the house in order for the wood to dry out.
We are deeply sorry that you did not experience a great paint job with Brandon, whom clearly did not do your house justice. We are however standing by our commitment to solve this issue. As per our warranty, we have agreed to and will continue to scrape and sand your home as long as there is paint peeling off when we do. Once that loose paint has been removed, we will prime all the peeled areas and repaint those areas. All of this at zero cost to you. We do this because it is our responsibility to stand behind our work and make things right. We also wish that you had brought these paint drips to our attention sooner, as we have had many previous discussions regarding your job and you did not mention these issues we have been unable to rectify them until now. When our crew returns to your house to complete the job, we will be sure to have them seek out any drips and attempt to clean them up.
Unfortunately, we cannot, as you requested, strip the entire house of paint and repaint the entire house free of charge because many of the areas on your home are not peeling and therefore do not need to be redone. The crews doing the work now should not feel obligated to strip down the entire house as our warranty covers only the paint that is actually peeling, not the paint that may peel in the future. That would be equivalent to Apple replacing a computer at the end of every warranty period because it could breakdown in the future. It does not seem to make sense. I wish there was a way to start over and not have you go through the inconvenience of having us return to complete these touch-ups but the reality is that this job has failed. The only thing we can do now is move forward and fix the mistake that Brandon made. To be clear Shannon, we are going to fix all the areas that have failed, but we are not stripping down the areas that have not failed.
We hope that you will be satisfied with the warranty work completed by our crews and appreciate our diligence, following all the guidelines you have laid out for us when completing this project. If you would like to discuss anything further, do not hesitate to contact our General Manager, Patrick Lalonde, at 613-277-0442.