East Coast Painting, LLC : Whitewashed And Shellacked By This Painting Company In Hamden, Connecticut

After having to relocate my mother to an Assisted Living Facility, I began the arduous process of renovating her home.  The amount of work required was massive and it took me 9 months to clear out the crap before the interior work could begin.  Since I was unable to adhere strictly to a schedule, I allowed Justin and Mike a great deal of flexibility in the beginning, with the understanding that when I was ready, they would take me off of the back burner and move forward with all of the work that needed to be done.  Unfortunately, this is not what occurred.  For ease of reading, and in fairness to the contractor, I have broken this review into 3 categories:  the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good:

• When motivated to focus on my home, and pay attention to detail, their work was stellar.  After completing the power washing of the exterior, a relative thought that the house had been painted.  The majority of the home's interior actually does look beautiful.



• In the beginning, Justin and Mike were very respectful, professional, and helpful.  I had total trust in them, even telling them on a number of occasions that they were more like family to me than my own family was.

The Bad:

• I was very specific about a few details, almost to the point of nagging, and Justin simply didn't listen to me.  He acknowledged me each time but did not follow through.



• Several areas were either missed, or simply not addressed.  While the initial plan was to have the painting completed, with a final date set for touchups, I ended up with a list of items that went well beyond touchups.



• Calls are either not returned, or are not returned in a timely manner, particularly after payment is received.



• Commitments are not honored.  I spent hours, and days, waiting for the painters to show up . . . and they didn't.  There was always an excuse, none of which were acceptable, considering that if they had just asked to reschedule, and notified me that they would be unable to meet me, I would have accommodated the requests.



• Despite the fact that the house was in shambles and had not been cleaned in months, there is no excuse for flicking ashes all over the floors (particularly when I had left them with an ash tray), discarding cigarette butts all over the lawn, leaving trash on the floors and counters, spilling coffee on the inside and outside of the microwave, or peeing on the seats and lids of the toilets.  They also left huge bags of trash behind which I was unable to lift.



• Shortcuts were taken.  The new paint stopped abruptly on the back stoop, leaving a span 3 inches high and 12 inches wide unpainted and peeling.  Instead of removing obstructions they painted around them, making it obvious that these areas were missed.



• They failed to replace the items they did take down and my general contractor, a saint for whom I would walk through fire, had to put the house back in order, despite the fact that the painters were required, by contract, to do so.



• Instead of using a dropcloth, they removed my mother's plastic tablecloth from her dining room table and placed the transom rods and curtains, which were never replaced, upon it.  In doing so, the velvet table pads were ruined from the dust arising from the floor refinishing.  I was going to discard the table cloth anyway, but there is no reason that the table pads needed to be destroyed.

The Ugly:

• While my home was being painted, a burglary occurred.  At this time, I estimate my losses to be substantially over $20,000 and I am still discovering missing items.  In fairness, at least 6 people had access to the alarm code and house keys, however, nothing was missing the day before the painting began.  The paint was not smudged in the areas where I had stored the items so someone would have had to know exactly when the paint would be dry, or got very lucky with their timing.  My grief is in no way associated with the monetary value of the items, and I have no intention of filing any insurance claims.   I am deeply saddened that all of my family heirlooms are now lost and they were my only connection to departed family members.  To add insult to injury, Mike screamed at me, blaming me for leaving the items in my own home at a time when people are desperate.



• While painting an entry way door, Justin removed the glass, told me that he was leaving to pick up some coffee, and never returned, leaving my home exposed and vulnerable to another burglary.  That was 2 days ago.  He has not returned any of my calls and sent me a text this morning, despite me specifically telling him to call and not text.  The text said that he was volunteering at Sandy Hook Elementary, the site of one of the most horrific events of this century.  The school is closed until further notice and is being processed as a crime scene.  It is entirely unconscionable that he would capitalize on such a tragedy just to come up with another excuse to blow me off.  My general contractor will, once again, do what should have been done, and my house will, once again, be secured by the end of the day.



• Upon searching the CT Department of Consumer Protection database, I discovered that this company's license - HIC.0633211 - lapsed on November 30, 2012 and he has been working without a valid license for the past 3 weeks.



• I issued 2 checks for the work that was done.  The first was made out to the company for $4225.00 and the second to Justin directly for $3800.00, at his request.  This was not a small amount of money and, if not for my general contractor stepping in to correct everything, I would be required to pay another painter just to complete what should have been a simple job.