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| Our new front |
We recently had some work done around our house. The outside of the house needed to be painted and we wanted to update our patio with a built in grill.
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| Our new built in grill |
We had had a Weber grill in a cart for years. The cart was starting to fall apart and we also realized that when we had the family over with the three small grandchildren, it posed a bit of a hazard sitting in the middle of the patio. I contacted three different builders to get estimates. I got the recommendations from the neighbors.
All three did show up but only two sent final estimates. We chose Lester's as we liked their design slightly better. We reviewed the plan and signed of on it along with a deposit. We were told it would be a month or so before they got to our project. No big deal, we weren't in a hurry, as long it was done before fall.
We didn't hear any more from them until they showed up one Monday morning just as my husband was leaving for work. I was out at a meeting and there were painters working on the house. My husband chose to work from home that day to be sure everything got off to a good start.
The work they did was okay but I was not happy at all with the process. They didn't have enough building materials so work stopped early a couple of days. We were not kept up to date on the progress so we never knew when they would be showing up. The dirt they dug out to make the foundation for the grill, I found on top of my flowers in another part of the yard. I had to unbury several plants so they wouldn't die.
When they power washed the patio to put in new sand, they nearly uprooted my marigolds and the mulch from the edges was all blown back for about a foot. After the sand was applied, I had to wash down all the plants around the patio to get the sand off. We are still waiting for them to put on the door to hide the charcoal bin. Once again they showed up one morning without calling. I was in the shower and didn't hear them so they left. I got a call later in the day saying they had been there. They advised me to put the door on the back porch and they would be by later to install it. Almost a week later and it is still sitting there.
They also buried the outlet for the downspout when they regraded the back, even after we pointed it out as something to be watched for. Add to that, on at least two occasions I could overhear the supervisor yelling at his employees. Not very professional. I would not recommend them to do any work. When it comes time to do our side yard, I will definitely be using someone else.
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| Going from grey to blue |
Now contrast that with Scott Franzen of Franzen Painting. We got our estimate from him and sent him a deposit. Again it would be a bit before he got to us, a lot depended on the weather of course. One Friday evening he called to say his guys would be by the next morning to do the power washing and that they would start the painting on Monday. When the grill guys showed up unexpectedly, he arranged to work around them.
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| Red geraniums pop against the blue in the back |
Almost every day after work was finished, I would get a call or text, or he would stop by to let me know the plan for the next day. I would hear him talking with his guys, asking their opinion sometimes and always keeping them informed also. Yes the day lilies in the side yard were smashed by their ladders and such they stored on the side of the house but they were already done blooming so no harm. I'm sure they will come back next spring.
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| Pink flowers to match the door in the front |
Everything was cleaned up, no stray bits or pieces and the extra paint was nicely left on the front porch. I think Scott has painted almost every room in our house and now the outside a couple of times. I did use a different painter once but never again.
