K.S.Painting Services

Started great...ended in a COMPLETE NIGHTMARE. It's so hard to write this review because my husband and I really liked Keith Shackleford, the owner of KS Painting. But we hired KS Painting based on others' reviews, and while ours may be the type of experience that seldom happens with KS Painting, it seems only fair to share what happened. We first phoned KS Painting from California a few weeks before we'd moved here. Keith's wife, Sharon, told us she didn't think Keith had any big jobs coming up and that he'd be able to complete our interior painting project before our movers arrived at the beginning of August. We met with Keith in early July and discussed the areas we wanted painted. Although we weren't sure about painting all spots, Keith said we could always add areas during the job. My husband and I OK'd the estimate and I mentioned to Sharon that we would be adding areas to the job. The work (which was estimated to take 4-7 days with a crew of 4 painters) was scheduled to begin July 20. The first two days went well. We loved the colors suggested by Sharon and Keith and most of the painters were friendly and pleasant. They were using drop cloths and painters tape and protecting our newly refinished floors. Although Keith was only around for a few minutes the first day, he introduced me to the foreman, Jim, who would manage the job when Keith wasn't able to be there. Those first two days, Jim asked me about trim in specific areas, and I told him the add-ons I had in mind. Days 3-5 only two painters showed. Nobody had heard from Jim, and Keith was absent on the scene. On day 5 Keith stopped in but only to ask for an additional deposit that he needed for payroll. He explained that Jim had a family situation. Completely understandable. The following week, Keith and Sharon were gone for a last-minute vacation. Again, completely understandable. This is when everything--communication, quality, work ethic, professionalism, responsiveness--began its steady decline. We started to notice there was no plan or system to how our house was being painted. Guys would show up and seemingly pick a random area to paint. Nobody kept track or managed what had been painted and what still needed attention. I came upon one of the painters in our master bedroom closet, even though that area wasn't being painted. Day 11 we got a call that the painters were going to be late. Completely understandable. My 6 year-old twins and I hung out in the house all day waiting. Nobody called to say they weren't coming. They just never showed. Day 12 I got several texts and calls saying the painters were delayed but definitely still coming. When nobody came, I would follow-up and be reassured they were still coming. Although the kids were begging to leave the house, I said we couldn't because the painters were coming. Nobody showed. By 5:00 I assumed correctly the painters weren't coming. The next morning (a Saturday) Jim showed up and worked for a couple hours. Never said a word about not showing or calling the day prior. The following week, Jim asked me to go around the house and make a detailed accounting of what needed work and what hadn't been started (a task I thought his responsibility as foreman.) I spent over two hours writing a detailed list of the areas that had no paint, only one coat (we were paying for two), or those that needed attention due to drips, holes, chipping, scrapes, etc. This "walkthrough" would be the first of six; each more frustrating than the last. Areas we were told would be addressed, would get overlooked again and again and again. We would apply painters tape as instructed to those areas that needed attention. The tape would disappear but the problem or concern wouldn't. When I mentioned to Jim that I needed to leave the house for a half hour to register the kids for school, I shared with him my concern about the one painter I'd seen in the master closet where all of our valuables were. I wasn't opposed to this guy painting, but I didn't want him in the house in the half hour I was away. That request was relayed by Jim to Keith as my not wanting new painters in the house at all...something far from the truth, where I desperately wanted the job completed. As the days rolled into weeks, we became disgusted and frustrated. Jim kept reassuring me that Keith would be by to talk, but Keith wouldn't show. Jim would complain that Keith wasn't giving him enough painters to complete the job all the while pressuring him to be finished with it the next day. Individual painters badmouthed one another's ideas and abilities several times a day. For five days we were told that the next day would be the final day. Keith was supposed to bring in extra painters. The crew was going to work late. But each day it was the same deal: 2 or 3 painters would show. There were frequent personal phone calls and smoke breaks outside. Nobody stayed past 3:30 or 4:00. It was obvious the respect and care we witnessed those first days was long gone: Trash, tools, razor blades, and pulled carpet staples remained in the middle of the floors and stairs at the end of the day. Uncovered paint cans sat idle with 1/4 can of paint and brush still inside as if someone had just stepped away for a minute, not the evening. Perhaps the hardest part of all this was that every time I noticed something that needed attention--a clump of carpet that wasn't pulled off the stair face, merely painted over; spatters of paint on our newly refinished floors; or flashing of paint showing through an area that hadn't received a second coat--Jim became increasingly, visibly and/or audibly irritated...not with himself, or crew, but with me. What was supposed to be an 8-day job, ended up a 23-day fiasco (to include many Saturdays and Sundays). Even after Keith had FINALLY seen firsthand the sloppiness and poor quality of the job, he collected his check without addressing all of these concerns as he had "guaranteed." He reassured me that "Hot water, a cloth, and elbow grease" will take the remaining paint off our hardwood floors. We were told we'd be left with plenty of paint for touch-ups. The only thing left was one empty can of trim paint, one semi-full, lid-less can of wall color, and our bathroom sink clogged with gobs of white. Apparently someone was too lazy to clean his brushes outside or in the basement slop sink. Not all of our experience was negative. We love the colors that were suggested and where the walls and trim got the appropriate coverage and attention, it looks great. Dave--whom we've learned is the new foreman--does really nice work. For the areas where we still aren't happy, telling us that everything will look better when we hang drapes, or we won't notice something as much when our furniture is here doesn't fly when we've hired a "professional" painting company. If we'd wanted a ceramic back splash on the wall, we would have put it there to begin with. It's pretty concerning when a "professional" painter suggests tile to cover up his work.