Neil in Toronto

Our experience with Renaissance Painters was, on the whole, extremely stressful. We really liked Jason (the owner) and Joe (our painter) as people. I am certain that if money is no object and you we could afford to pay for many days of work the completed job would be satisfactory. The way things worked out for us, we are very disappointed that we went into debt to pay for this job. If you choose Renaissance my advice would be to be sure to *clearly* set out and understand the parameters for what is expected ahead of time (eg. are you paying by the "entire job" or by how many days it will take, how many hours constitutes a work day etc) and if there are any issues as the job is happening, bring them up with Jason and/or Joe ASAP. Also, have a good look at the completed job and be sure you are satisfied before paying. It started off well. Jason came by our house and helped us pick colours for our kitchen and entrances. He was patient throughout that process and impressed us with a song on our piano before he left. We felt great about the job ahead. The first two days of painting also went well. Joe is genuinely sweet and likeable. He is a fast worker and was able to quickly get through his job each day finishing up by early afternoon. On the second day, he also told us that the job would be completed a day earlier than planned! Needless to say, we were thrilled. The problems began on the third morning and fall into two categories: 1. Issues over the final total based on how many days work the job would actually take 2. Dissatisfaction with the final job 1. COST & LENGTH OF JOB ISSUES Our biggest and most stressful issue was confusion that came up around how pricing and billing was done and how long the job would ultimately take to complete. When Jason came by to do our colour consult, he explained to us that the job would cost more or less depending on how many days it would take to complete. As we understood it, we were paying Joe by the day. There was miscommunication on the second day (by Joe) and the third morning (by Jason) that the job would be completed and paid for on day 3. That morning, with the walls repaired, primed and ready to paint, Jason called to tell us what the cost we were expected to pay Joe at the end of that day would be. We took issue with being billed according to the initial "worst-case scenario" quote which accounted for *two* additional days of work. We felt we should be paying for the three days of work the job actually took. After addressing this we were told that now it would in fact take four days (which was what the initial quote was for). Suddenly there was extra patchwork that had to be done on day 3 after the walls had already been sanded and primed to our satisfaction by the end of the previous day. Joe would have to return for a few quick coats on the morning of the 4th day (just over 1 hour work in total) which we felt could easily have been completed on day 3 if day 1 & 2 hadn't been such short work days. We did not feel comfortable paying for an extra full day of work for something that took just over an hour. This all caused some major stress and awkwardness for everyone involved the entire third day of the job. We felt *terrible* about making Joe feel bad as it was obvious he cared about making us happy. At the end of the third day, we worked out an agreement with Jason over the phone regarding pricing that felt fair to us at the time - we were to pay for 3 days of work + materials. Ultimately, he came across as caring that we were satisfied. I believe he tried to handle the situation in a way that pleased everyone which I respect. 2. COMPLETED PROJECT ISSUES At our consult Jason emphasized that he and Joe were both perfectionists. We were not prepared to be so disappointed. The completed job looks good at first - a big improvement after years of a dreary entrance and kitchen that we hated looking at. After Joe left and we spent some time cleaning up, putting things back into place, and looking at the room from different angles (with day-light shining on the walls etc), many flaws became evident. With anything more than a quick glance, the walls do not look uniform. There are bumps in the walls where patchwork was done but not sanded flat, leftover bits of painted over wallpaper backing, paintbrush streaks, spots where shiny trim paint went over into the very matte wall for strips more than an inch wide (showing the divide), as well as paint splatters on the edge of a new range hood we had just installed previous to the paint job (which we did our best to scrape off with a razor blade - yikes!). Joe returned a few hours after completion to fix up some of the more obvious areas that we noticed quickly that were missing paint completely. At that point in the day we had not really focused on the general condition of the entire job. We were happy to have it over with and were more focused on getting things back into place. I feel this was a big mistake on our part and we should have taken more time looking things over before Joe left and spoken up earlier that day. Another disappointment in the final job was that our main requirement (which we emphasized with Jason during our consult before the job began) was that, as the walls were to be painted white and we have young children, we needed a paint that could be easily wiped of fingerprints etc. The final product is a matte finish that looks "chalky" and like it will be dirty within weeks. I emailed Jason to ask about this and about all the flaws. He replied that "The only way to make your walls any smoother would be to re-surface them completely with plaster and basically create completely brand new walls" and that the matte is the best choice both for hiding all those flaws and would indeed clean easily. I will have to take his word for this but anyone with young children can understand my apprehension. I did not pay all this money to have a dirty looking kitchen within a few months. Also, I wish that we were told before the job began that it would not be possible to make the walls look smooth instead of being told to expect perfection. To my eye it looks like something that could have been achieved with closer sanding (or perhaps by not doing an extra day of plastering on day 3 when the walls seemed in good painting condition at the end of day 2). We were very clear before the job that we didn't expect perfection behind our appliances and didn't want time or money wasted behind those - just the very visible parts of the rest of the walls - in a small kitchen I might add. Although the experience started off as one of our most positive "reno" experiences, it turned out to be very unpleasant. Jason always returned calls and emails but the process of reaching him became more and more difficult as the project became more stressful. We understand that we were not his only clients and that he has a busy job, however we assumed when there were problems needing to be addressed we wouldn't have to wait so long. The onus was always on us to contact him, and there were times we had to make repeated calls and leave emails as well when the voice mailbox was full. Overall not a great experience.

We are very satisfied with our range hood install from Metro West. From our initial contact with him, Nick was a pro. Our home had no existing range hood or duct work and he was clear and forthcoming as to what would be involved, giving us an honest appraisal of what the work would entail. His quote was reasonable and spot-on. It's nice when someone knows their job well enough that the estimate is an accurate reflection of what the job will actually cost. When booking the install, he accommodated our schedule and was able to squeeze us in on rather short notice. The job was completed in a timely and professional manner, is functional, and looks great. Thanks Nick!