[Chat] recommendation for painters

[Emil Volcheck]

Hello, neighbors,

Fanny Gutierrez asked

    Do you have any info on recommended interior house painters in the
neighborhood?
    Could you send out a request?
    Thanks!
    fg

I have two leads for her, and I'd like to hear if there are any other
suggestions out there.  Please reply to Fanny as well as to the list.

The first is for painters I've met but haven't hired.
A week or so back, Kathleen and I attended a fundraiser
at the BMI called "Disconnecting The Wire" on the closing
of their exhibit about HBO's The Wire.  Part of the event
was to meet not only the actors but craftspeople.
Two of the painters who worked on The Wire were there:
Keith Weaver and Lucy P.  When they're not working
on set (and the film business in Maryland has really
dried up), they paint houses.  Keith can be reached at
(410) 426-4875 (h) or (443) 629-4553 (c).
They were showing photos of their work for The Wire,
including a rowhouse that they painted to make it look
burned out and a floor that they faux-painted to make
it look marble, like part of City Hall.  They have to be
good for doing houses!  Lucy says they are quick
workers, because they're used to a tight schedule.

The other lead I have is from the Chat List archives back
in 2006, so I don't know whether Mr. Denning is still
doing painting, but he's worth a try as well.  The posting
is below.  You can get to the Chat List Archives at

    http://www.mail-archive.com/chat@charlesvillage.info/  .

Good luck, Fanny!

--Emil

----------

Jack Denning, the painter who has been working on my house, will be looking
for more work in the coming weeks. His number is 410-499-8170. He has done a
good job painting my walls and has been very reasonable--$25/hour (including
some Benjamin Moore paint). Jack has one very important virtue: he is 100
percent trustworthy, so you can have him in your house when you are not
there without worrying. He also appears to treat women decently, unlike many
of the male contractors I have met. And he is very tidy--he moves all the
furniture, covers it up, and then cleans up and replaces things.

He has just started working on his own, and I have found that by telling him
exactly what I want him to do, I get better results. For instance, I was not
happy with the first patch he did, so I told him exactly how I wanted holes
patched, and he followed these instructions. The patches now look good. I
also did not let him scrape any woodwork, in part because it's such an
expensive task and in part because he refuses to wear a respirator, which he
says does not go with his beard. Really.

I would rate him B+ on prep and A- on actual painting. Oh yes--he also does
some faux finishes.



-- 
Emil Volcheck
volcheck at acm.org
http://EmilVolcheck.com/