[Calidecks]

What didn't she like?

 

[T-towngirl]

 

[T-towngirl]

She is saying the grain is too visible in some places, which you cannot fill very well on the edge radius of a cabinet door. You have to open the door. And stare really hard to see it. I told her if she didn't want any grain she should have ordered new doors. Oak will never be smooth. She also wiped her finger inside of cabinet and said if we did another coat on Friday why was there dust. I explained its laquer dust from recoating She laughed and acted like I was lying. We have put 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of lacquer on these freaking cabinets and she thinks it needs to be redone. She is crazy. I've got the pic posting figured out so I will keep posting.

 

[T-towngirl]

 

[T-towngirl]

 

[T-towngirl]

By the way, hinges were already painted so she wanted us to paint over them. Normally we take all hinges off.

 

[Calidecks]

She is saying the grain is too visible in some places, which you cannot fill very well on the edge radius of a cabinet door. You have to open the door. And stare really hard to see it. I told her if she didn't want any grain she should have ordered new doors. Oak will never be smooth. She also wiped her finger inside of cabinet and said if we did another coat on Friday why was there dust. I explained its laquer dust from recoating She laughed and acted like I was lying. We have put 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of lacquer on these freaking cabinets and she thinks it needs to be redone. She is crazy. I've got the pic posting figured out so I will keep posting.

Maple is the only thing I will use for paint grade cabinets. Oak is the worst. She's nuts. Is she going to allow you back in there. Or is there a disagreement on wether or not you should have to do it?

 

[T-towngirl]

Maple paints beautifully. I saw on other threads that a lot of painters won't paint oak cabinets bc of unrealistic expectations by the customer. I am learning these trade secrets but I think it looks really good for 15 year old oak cabinets.

 

[T-towngirl]

No. She says they have hired another painter to redo the whole thing. This is the reason she won't pay me. She says she has to buy all new paint and hire someone else.

 

[T-towngirl]

I think she is bsing so as not to pay but who knows maybe she is that crazy. I was trying to get my Sherwin Williams rep to go w me today but he couldn't. He said any other day this week he would. But it's over. I'm just going to file a lien and sue like everyone said. It's just hard bc I just redid her kitchen w my money. I would have been better off financially doing nothing. I do have more jobs so ill just keep going and make it back.

 

[T-towngirl]

 

[Calidecks]

From your pics they look good, but it's really hard to see to be honest with you. But nothing screams "bad job" or "hack job" to me like she seems to say. It's almost better you don't throw anymore money at it. Good luck!

 

[T-towngirl]

Thanks. Your right its hard to see. Appreciate the time...nite

 

[KennMacMoragh]

$3000 is enough to consult your attorney. If she fired you without giving you a chance to fix it then she should owe you the money. However, it sounds like you refused to fix it so I'm not sure. But I can tell what you were doing wrong in the first couple sentences of your post. Never let a home owner supply the paint, you're the painter, you know your paint so buy what you know works. Sometimes I tell people I will not guarantee any paint unless it's Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams, then I will recommend the type of primer and paint for the job. Your contract should also say "No warranty on home owner supplied materials". If you just used whatever paint she had without knowing what it was, then I think you were in over your head. You should have subbed that out to an experienced cabinet refinisher, most painters I know would even screw that up. I've never refinished cabinets for a customer because whenever I've gotten quotes from people who I would trust to do it right, the price is just a little bit less than what I would charge to replace them. Maybe you went in thinking you could get it done for too cheap?

 

[builditguy]

I question whether she is actually going to have them re-done. If she called me to re-do your work, I would think to myself, "If she's not happy with this paint job, she won't be happy with the job I do either." I think she is just trying to not pay for the job. With a little research I'll bet there are other contractors out there who haven't been paid either.
Earlier I posted about a $3000 bill that the owner would not pay. When I filed the lien, I found out they owed $54,000 to other people. I had no idea. One of the people owed was the guy's father. The father told me, If I can't collect, there is no way you'll collect.
Your attitude of moving on and pushing through to make money on the next job is the right one.

 

[dom-mas]

Good luck.

All I can add

 

[KAP]

Well, this must be frustrating... before I go on, I believe she is scamming you and is a nut-job...


A few things that stick out...

1. You can get Oak grain to disappear, but it requires a lot of prep that people aren't usually wiling to pay for... in the future, I would recommend taking a piece of oak or even one of the doors themselves, painting it, and have the customer sign-off on the results. Show them one prepped to hide the grain and one not... or get a new paintable door and make a sample (if you don't know how to make them).

2. As the expert, you need to set the expectations and it MUST be documented in your contract so customers like this one can't come back later and claim ignorance. She could very easily say "if I knew it would look like this, I wouldn't have spent the money"... legit or not... You make the point about oak showing the grain, so I guess I would ask... what would you say to her if she said "you mean you KNEW it would look like that?"... and wouldn't she have a valid (if not unreasonable) complaint?

3. Additionally, at a minimum, your contract should contain a mediation clause, an interest clause, and a collections clause (that customer is responsible for all costs of collection)...

4. NEVER leave so much money on the table... structure the payments to be sure to have a maximum exposure of your NET profit or 10% (less if your state allows it).

5. ALWAYS buy the materials yourself... this way the cost is worked into the project and you don't get left holding onto the wrong set of paper... if a customer insists on getting the material, note it in contract, how it affects the warranty and that 100% of the money is due on delivery if you are getting it.

6. All Change Orders are paid 100% upfront once a project has started.

7. Assuming what you posted is accurate, the only one who has breached this contract is the HO...

As you can see, being the nice guy and leaving the money on the table does nothing but expose you to this kind of BS...


From this point on... Whatever action you are going to take... take it immediately... hit them right between the eyes with a lien sent by a lawyer with the lien and lawyers costs, etc. added on.... make sure it includes notification of accruing interest if your contract allows for that as well as the running total...

Be sure you keep all records... emails, texts, contracts, phone conversation records, etc... and be sure to send her a letter and email stating the timeline of the seven days work and what happened and that even though oak shows grain, that you were willing to make her happy, and that she refused to allow you to do so putting her in breach... send everything certified return receipt.


Scroll down to "Retainage" on the following link...
http://newsletters.dsda.com/construction/October2010.htm

Or you can just blow all this off, consider it a lesson in the school of hard knocks and move on with life...

Best of luck... 8^)

 

[KennMacMoragh]

Well, this must be frustrating... before I go on, I believe she is scamming you and is a nut-job...

A few things that stick out...

1. You can get Oak grain to disappear, but it requires a lot of prep that people aren't usually wiling to pay for... in the future, I would recommend taking a piece of oak or even one of the doors themselves, painting it, and have the customer sign-off on the results. Show them one prepped to hide the grain and one not... or get a new paintable door and make a sample (if you don't know how to make them).

That was my thought when she said she used the homeowners materials. Benjamin Moore Fresh Start is the only primer I know of that might hide the oak grain. It's thick enough you usually get a solid opaque finish when you are done.

 

[T-towngirl]

Hi Kenn. Thanks for your reply. I just wanted to make clear that I NEVER once refused to fix anything. After she fired me (upon asking for second draw) I told her I would have my Sherwin Williams rep come and look at the cabinets and we would do whatever he suggests. She refused. I also offered to bring in a very reknown painter in my area to fix it. She refused. I did not personally paint the cabinets, I have a paint crew that did it. I buy all my paint from Sherwin Williams and they know me very well. Even though I have a paint crew do the majority of the painting for my jobs, I do the specialty finishes such as glazing and faux finishing myself. I can paint, caulk and spackle with the best of them, but as GC and Designer on my projects its not cost or time effective for me to do this. In fact, the job before this one we sprayed two big rooms of library paneling and kitchen cabinets. My main painter had two guys out sick and asked if I could help him spray or we were going to be very delayed. i have my own little Grayco. I did the paneling while he did the cabinets. The customers were super happy with the finish. This is truly the first unhappy customer I've ever had. I am very picky myself and because I can paint I notice everything. This is a great paint job. There are 2-3 spots on the radiuses where the grain is more prominent and I told her we would take those doors off and respray them off site so we would not have to make another mess. She refused. She is stating this all has to be redone. That's why I wanted my SW rep to come and take a look but the night I met w her he could not come bc of family emergency. He said any other day, but the lady thought this was stupid. I just want to be clear that I was willing to do whatever was reasonable to make my customer happy.

 

[T-towngirl]

Hi everyone. I got a text from the husband today (Sunday) asking me to call him and that he would like me to come back. I have not called him back. They both stated they had hired someone else at the last meeting. They were also adamant they were not interested in any of my before mentioned solutions to satisfy them and get paid. What has changed? After being screamed at by his wife, I do not think I can step foot back in that house. The job is finished. The money is owed. There are two or three spots they can obsess over but I have already contacted my attorney. Opinions?