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Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Exterior Wood Trim repair and Paint
Posted by:
Need Trim & Paint
()
Date: May 27, 2015 08:19PM
I have a single family home in FFX with wood trim around windows and roof. The north side of house has a lot of wood rot. Got an estimate from Williams that was $6,800 for painting and $110 an hour for carpenty. Obviously a rip off. Any suggestions on local companies?
Re: Exterior Wood Trim repair and Paint
Posted by:
888377372721
()
Date: May 27, 2015 08:51PM
I would be very worried about going with the lowest, cheapest bidder you can find, or a couple guys working out of a truck. That's a great way to get boned.
About four years ago I paid about $8000 for pretty extensive wood rot replacement and coil wrap. Went with a well-established company that had done good work for me before, Paul Davis Restoration. Had several meetings with the fellow I'd worked with before, talked over everything, we're all good to go.
The day the work was to be done two guys show up. Two. (I find out later that Paul Davis subcontracted the work out.) There's a big stack of new boards in the driveway, boxes of coil wrap, and two guys. The Paul Davis guy goes over the work, the two guys look very concerned / disappointed / whatever. I leave for work but tell my wife to keep looking out the window, to pay attention to what is happening, to listen for the saw. That saw should be buzzing all the time.
I come home during lunch and the guys aren't there and about 1/4 of the job is done. Wife says the guys left a bit ago and that she hasn't heard the saw much at all. The big stack of boards in the driveway is virtually untouched. I go back to work.
I get home that night and half the job is done. New coil wrap on everything. Wife says she hasn't heard the saw much at all. I climb up a ladder and peek around. Yep, they just put coil wrap around all the rotten wood. All the work Paul Davis said would be done, the wood replacement and all that, never was done.
So I fired off some emails at midnight talking about fraud and going to court, and the Paul Davis guys showed up the next morning. They took pictures of the wrapped rotten wood and I told them to send out a new full crew and to do the job right. I told them I wanted an English speaking foreman there.
To their credit, they did all this. I think PD called their subcontractor and raised a stink and the subcontractor sent over a better crew.
Big takeways: Get it in writing. Get a lot of it in writing. Get it clearly laid out. The contractor standard is that if a board will hold a nail it is not rotten. So that piece of crap mildewed bowed out board, according to the contractor, is just fine as long as it can hold a nail. Hash this out beforehand. Tell them you want boards on the verge of going replaced.
Tell them you want cut edges painted before they're put up. Contractors hate to do this. It slows them down. It also is the best way to make wood last. If you don't do this the board rots 5 times faster.
If you can, go with the new plastic boards. They get around the whole rot issue and last for a long time.
Stay home while the work is being done, watch, and tell them you want every piece of rotten wood left in the driveway. That way you can keep track of what is actually being done.
Let me tell you, it's all "We'll replace this" and "We'll fix that" while the job is being negotiated, but once you sign and give them the check they're doing it as fast as possible.
I should say that after I raised a stink with Paul Davis, the new subs who came out did a very good job. I was watching every step of the way, though.
About four years ago I paid about $8000 for pretty extensive wood rot replacement and coil wrap. Went with a well-established company that had done good work for me before, Paul Davis Restoration. Had several meetings with the fellow I'd worked with before, talked over everything, we're all good to go.
The day the work was to be done two guys show up. Two. (I find out later that Paul Davis subcontracted the work out.) There's a big stack of new boards in the driveway, boxes of coil wrap, and two guys. The Paul Davis guy goes over the work, the two guys look very concerned / disappointed / whatever. I leave for work but tell my wife to keep looking out the window, to pay attention to what is happening, to listen for the saw. That saw should be buzzing all the time.
I come home during lunch and the guys aren't there and about 1/4 of the job is done. Wife says the guys left a bit ago and that she hasn't heard the saw much at all. The big stack of boards in the driveway is virtually untouched. I go back to work.
I get home that night and half the job is done. New coil wrap on everything. Wife says she hasn't heard the saw much at all. I climb up a ladder and peek around. Yep, they just put coil wrap around all the rotten wood. All the work Paul Davis said would be done, the wood replacement and all that, never was done.
So I fired off some emails at midnight talking about fraud and going to court, and the Paul Davis guys showed up the next morning. They took pictures of the wrapped rotten wood and I told them to send out a new full crew and to do the job right. I told them I wanted an English speaking foreman there.
To their credit, they did all this. I think PD called their subcontractor and raised a stink and the subcontractor sent over a better crew.
Big takeways: Get it in writing. Get a lot of it in writing. Get it clearly laid out. The contractor standard is that if a board will hold a nail it is not rotten. So that piece of crap mildewed bowed out board, according to the contractor, is just fine as long as it can hold a nail. Hash this out beforehand. Tell them you want boards on the verge of going replaced.
Tell them you want cut edges painted before they're put up. Contractors hate to do this. It slows them down. It also is the best way to make wood last. If you don't do this the board rots 5 times faster.
If you can, go with the new plastic boards. They get around the whole rot issue and last for a long time.
Stay home while the work is being done, watch, and tell them you want every piece of rotten wood left in the driveway. That way you can keep track of what is actually being done.
Let me tell you, it's all "We'll replace this" and "We'll fix that" while the job is being negotiated, but once you sign and give them the check they're doing it as fast as possible.
I should say that after I raised a stink with Paul Davis, the new subs who came out did a very good job. I was watching every step of the way, though.
Re: Exterior Wood Trim repair and Paint
Posted by:
Need Trim & Paint
()
Date: May 27, 2015 09:39PM
Thanks for the input. My house is 2700 sq ft for the 2 levels above ground. I paid $3500 to get the lower level inside painted. I think $6800 is a joke to paint trim on the outside. The Trim repair will be at least as much. I've got an extention ladder and might end up doing it myself.
Re: Exterior Wood Trim repair and Paint
Posted by:
htcpY
()
Date: May 27, 2015 10:51PM
Need Trim & Paint Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a single family home in FFX with wood trim
> around windows and roof. The north side of house
> has a lot of wood rot. Got an estimate from
> Williams that was $6,800 for painting and $110 an
> hour for carpenty. Obviously a rip off. Any
> suggestions on local companies?
are you sure it's not $800 for paint and $500 for carpentry ?
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a single family home in FFX with wood trim
> around windows and roof. The north side of house
> has a lot of wood rot. Got an estimate from
> Williams that was $6,800 for painting and $110 an
> hour for carpenty. Obviously a rip off. Any
> suggestions on local companies?
are you sure it's not $800 for paint and $500 for carpentry ?
Re: Exterior Wood Trim repair and Paint
Posted by:
fuck 'em
()
Date: May 28, 2015 10:19AM
That's what you get nowadays. A smooth talking white guy that negotiates the job. Then a bunch of Mexicans from the 7 Eleven show up to do the work---completely unsupervised except for the head Mexican who may know a few words of English, or not. They will work like immigration is on the way---whatever is fastest and easiest.
If you see the white guy again, it will be to pick up the check.
I gave up trying to get any halfway decent work done on my house. If I can't figure out how to do it---it don't get done. I'm pretty handy, and even if the work ends up with some flaws, it's still better than if a "contractor" had done it, and a LOT cheaper.
If you see the white guy again, it will be to pick up the check.
I gave up trying to get any halfway decent work done on my house. If I can't figure out how to do it---it don't get done. I'm pretty handy, and even if the work ends up with some flaws, it's still better than if a "contractor" had done it, and a LOT cheaper.