Student Works Painting West

Werner Shuck:

We hired Connor Fairweather to paint the vacant interior and exterior of our new home we had just purchased. We had plans to move in at the beginning of August and there were no contractors available on such short notice. Thankfully, Connor came by for an estimate the same day I called him. The price was reasonable, although I would have paid much more to have the job done before we moved in. I was nervous as the job was being done while we were not in town and having not met Connor in person I was skeptical. Connor did his best to update us with daily phone calls. I gave Connor and his team a generous tip for working extra long days to have our house looking brand new when we arrived. He was a very nice man and I recommend him for anyone looking to have work done.

During the summer of 2017 we chose to undergo a much needed complete exterior paining project for our house. I selected Student Works after getting quotes from three similar painting services. I chose Student Works because the young man who did the quote was very professional and communicative. Although his quote was a little bit higher than the others, I was confident that I would be getting a quality job. That is where the positive aspects of the service and experience ended.

The crew that showed up was almost completely inexperienced and had to be shown basic painting techniques. The first task was to power wash the house in preparation for painting. The power washing was improperly done. Dirt was sprayed onto the front door and on to the walls. Only the front of the house and some of the side and back were washed. The upper part of the house was left untouched.

Painting began on the following day. Unfortunately the power sprayer was not working and I was informed that it would need to be fixed before spraying could start. The crew began cutting in on the windows, doors, and other areas. There was no spot priming, scraping, or removal of flaking paint. They simply painted over what was already there, dirt and all.

Once the sprayer was working, the crew began spraying the house. Windows were not properly covered resulting in overspray on glass and window screens. There were also drips of paint on several windows. In the garage I specifically asked the crew to avoid spraying the hard top of my Jeep which was hoisted up against the ceiling. The crew did not cover or protect the Jeep top with blankets or paper and as a result, the top now has paint spray all over it.

I was initially told that the job would take 3-5 days. In the end, the project took a total of 9 days. The sprayer had to be repaired twice during the project and the crew had to power my personal tools and ladder. On the last day of the project I did a walk around with the crew leader. I identified over 50 deficiencies which I documented for him. They included things like:

- overspray on windows and other surfaces
- paint drips on trim, surfaces, and the decking
- splotchy spray on areas of the house
- railings improperly painted
- poor quality cut ins on trim and corners
- areas missing paint

It took an additional day for the deficiencies to be resolved. For most, I simply agreed to the resolution rather than extending the work any further. In hindsight I should have been more insistent that the work be completed to my satisfaction.

In addition to the sub-standard paint job, which I am confident will require remediation in the next year, the crew scratched and dented gutters by placing ladders against them, damaged fruit bushes by dumping paint water in our garden, ruined the lawn by leaving tarps and other supplies directly on the grass, left garbage in our yard, damaged a hose and sprayer, left tools which I kindly lent to them covered in paint, and left paint drips all over our new deck and arbor.

When providing the invoice, the crew leader explained that a tip was customary and that he would appreciate a testimonial. Before paying the invoice in full (over $6000 including taxes), I explained to the crew leader how disappointed with the service I was and that neither a tip nor a testimonial would be forthcoming.

In summary, even though I paid for a professional quality service, I received neither. What I did receive was the most painful service experience I have ever had with a trade. I will not use Student Works again and I have actively discouraged others from using them as well, based on my experience.

We contracted Trent Lindgaard and his team to paint the exterior of our home in Richmond. From the start, Trent was very professional and knowledgeable. He ensured the surface of our home was prepped properly first (power washing, scrapping/sanding/caulking where necessary). Trent and his associate, Chris were diligent, courteous and professional throughout the entire time they worked on our home.
We are pleased with the results and would definitely recommend Trent and his Student Works Painting team!

Had Trent and his Richmond team power wash the house before painting the exterior, trim, garage door and deck. Professional, friendly, efficient and thorough. Happy with the result. Would recommend to anyone.

Enlisted Trent Lindgaard and his friendly crew to paint the exterior of our home in Steveston. They turned out to be a hard working professional group of students who were enjoyable to have around. We were very happy with the results and would recommend them to anyone. Thanks Trent and crew.

Trent Lindgaard and the Student Works painting crew did a very good job painting and power washing the upper roof and trim of our house. They were professional and thorough. Would definitely recommend these hardworking students.

Thanks to Jessica and her team! Work was explained thoroughly; she was super professional; also followed up with us to make sure we were completely satisfied. Pricing was fair. They were prompt, thorough and communicative. Would hire her again!

Disorganised, do not have proper equipment, not trained properly, try to cut corners. If you want a good job done, hire a professional painter who knows how to paint and do a job in the right order. You will pay almost the same.

Hired based on answers to two key questions: Are your painters experienced so I get a quality paint job? Do you fill knot holes/cracks and caulk because my siding is old? Got a resounding and reassuring yes to both. Turns out neither were true.

From the start, it was a free-for-all with no apparent plan. One guy painting trim, one guy painting siding. Nothing was painted side by side and a lot was missed. No taping, drop cloth not used all the time, paint on wood stairs, vinyl deck, paint on my eaves and soffits, paint dripping down the walls. The students are really nice, but nice does not get your home painted properly.

Prep work was not done properly, didn't power wash properly - just painted over moss and algae.

Just frustrated with whole thing ... We should have read the revues on how this company is run and their hiring practices ... HUGE CLUE as to what we were in store for. Train your students on how to paint Studentworks.

Jessica and her team were professional and very easy to work with. Friendly and reasonably priced for how high they had to climb to get at our fascia boards all over our house. I would definitely recommend Student Works.

the team was very professional and did a wonderful job on the trim will be recommending to all my friends for there painting needs .thanks to the team for all there hard work.