MD in Toronto

Sam came out to my house last August to fix a leak caused by an improper skylight installation. He charged $280 to go up on the roof and repair the leak. I wasted my money; don't waste yours. Sam told me the problem was straightforward and he planned to be on the roof 30 minutes;he was up there almost an hour because my sister went up to monitor the work. He would have done a minimal job of caulking around the area but she insisted he apply Gold Bond to do a proper seal. His work was esthetically sloppy but he did come back to fix it when we called him on the same day to say we could see big globs of caulking on the skylight. Sam said he guaranteed his work before he left. In April, the roof started leaking again and we tried to call him back but he had blocked our number. We used another phone to get in contact and he did finally come back. Again, my sister went on the roof once it became clear that his "guarantee" meant he intended to just apply some caulking. She insisted he put a little Gold Bond, which he did grudgingly, but assured us the roof was fine, the skylight sealed and there would be no further problems. One week later, the problem is worse than ever and water is literally pouring through the wall we paid him to repair last August. I have now called in a roofing company recommended on Holmes on Homes and hope they can repair the problem. The $280 spent with some was money competely wasted. Don't waste yours.

Be aware that DJ Painting is now "D" alone -- that is Dave. If you hire this guy I strongly recommend you get all promises in writing - including every detail, however minor. There were a ton of repairs to do with this job. He quoted $1000 to do a fast job and $2200 to "do it right". I was selling my condo and wanted it to look perfect so I agreed to pay the extra $1200 for a high quality, professional job. After the job was completed, I found walls that were not repaired on close inspection, one bathroom wall with one coat of paint, baseboards unpainted and the list goes on. If you do hire Dave, make sure you are there, the whole time. If you're not there to supervise that things get done as originally agreed, chances are they won't be. Get everything in writing. I was told before I hired him that he would go the extra mile. That was the clear understanding on why I would pay him an additional $1200 for the work. He seemed like a good guy so I didn't insist on a written contract that was always promised but never delivered. However, a week after the job was finished we called to point out some of the deficiencies and asked him to fix them. His first words were "you ain't got nothing in writing". I strongly advise that you withhold 10% of the total until 2 weeks after the job is finished. Many reputable painting companies now do this to give you time to fully evaluate the job. Paint fools the eye and it's hard to see what's been missed on first glance. Since the job was "finished" I've spent many hours caulking what he said he'd do and didn't as well as painting what was missed. I feel like a fool for having paid him the entire amount. If you enjoy doing yourself the work you've paid someone else to do, then this is the paint company for you.