Susan Gregg Wallpaper & Painting

Pretty good initially. Then, could not get them to come out to touch up imperfections, runs, etc. However, after several months, cracks that they said they would caulk separated again into gaps just as large as before. We think they only filled the gaps with paint. Disappointed. Don't waste your money.

Service went very well

I had Susan paint most of our house just before we moved in. She was responsive and got back to me fairly quickly. Her crew was made up of family members and they were respectful to my family and of our home. PRICE. There was some confusion on the cost of the project. Based on our phone conversations and the statement "I charge $22-$25 per hour", my understanding was that I was going to be charged by the hour at or close to the Angie's List "$1765 for 80 Hours" rate (approximately $22 per hour). I took the estimate to be a "not to exceed" price based on pictures and measurements that I texted to Susan. Instead, Susan had quoted it as a lump sum bid that turned out to be over double the Angies's List price after all the hours were tallied up. This is something that I should have paid closer attention to prior to the start of the job as the estimate was written as a lump sum. We did some negotiation on price and were able to come to an agreement. Overall, I was not happy with the price but accept that as my mistake. QUALITY. The quality of the job was adequate but not outstanding. Most outlet and switch cover plates weren't removed for cutting in and of the ones that were removed, they were not all replaced. Several areas needed touching up after the job and there were numerous paint drips on trim and a few on the floor from the cutting in. Drop cloth usage was an issue the first day and I ended up scraping paint splatter off of the hardwood floor for an hour or so that evening. I mentioned this at the beginning of the second day and after that it was slightly better but still a problem. Unfortunately, I have spent quite a lot of time on my hands and knees scraping paint off the floor with my fingernail and am still finding "roller splatter" after a month (see attached picture). RESPONSIVENESS. Good PUNCTUALITY. Adequate PROFESSIONALISM. Good Overall, Susan was friendly, easy to work with, and had good style suggestions that we decided to use. Some coordination was necessary between the painting, carpet cleaning, and movers. This did not appear to be a problem.

I had prior experience with Susan Gregg in wallpapering my Dining Room many years ago and her work was excellent. On the day scheduled for my wallpaper removal, Susan sent two people ( I think it was her daughter and granddaughter) but they indicated Susan would not arrive until later as she needed to go apply finishing touches to another job. I showed them where I had removed the small section of wallpaper so they would be aware of a potential drywall issue. I expected them to use some form of wallpaper removal technique (water, etc.) that would do less harm to the drywall. However they immediately began pulling the wallpaper from the wall in complete sheets with significant damage to the drywall. It took them only 20 minutes to strip the entire three small rooms. They then had to leave and go to Hazel Green (I live in South Huntsville) to get equipment and supplies to start repairing the drywall to get the wall in condition for me to paint. They had no equipment with them. I don't know if that was because they originally expected Susan to be there and she would have the equipment and supplies? They did not charge me for their time in going to and returning from Hazel Green. They seemed surprised when I told them this was an Angie's List effort for 8 hours. They indicated they did not know that! Would it have affected what they did if they had known it was an Angie's List job? After completing the 8 hours of labor which consisted of mudding and priming the drywall to get it ready for painting, there were still major rough areas that required much more work. It was far from being ready to paint. I talked with Susan via phone at the end of the day and told her the situation (she had stopped by briefly during the day to check on progress). I told her I would pay them for up to another 8 hours to get the walls in condition to paint. She gave me what I considered a fair price for the additional 8 hours and she and her daughter came back the next day and worked the eight hours. The walls were greatly improved but still not ready to paint when they finished. I talked to Susan about why they just ripped the paper off without trying removal techniques that might have lessened the damage to the walls. She indicated that the wallboard had not been primed before applying the wallpaper (back in the early 1970s) and there was nothing they could have done to lessen the damage to the wallboard. It was apparent that the people who built the house had not primed the wallpaper in those rooms. I had removed wallpaper from two rooms years ago and it came off with no problems because those rooms had previously been primed by the original owner before the wallpaper was applied. I have spent many hours cutting out and spackling "Bubbles" of wallboard paper and spackling areas that were not smooth enough to paint after Susan and her helpers finished their 16 hours of labor. I now have the three small rooms almost ready to paint and I have learned a lot in the process. I don't really know how to rate the effort I got from Susan and her team. Did I have a bad situation and they did as well as I could reasonably expect? I would not hesitate to use Susan again for work on my home but I would absolutely insist that she be there when the work started and probably insist that she be part of the team doing the work. I think she is very conscientious and is a capable and hard worker. I have no criticism of the other people she used in the effort. When they were there they worked hard, but I wonder if Susan had been there from the start if the wallpaper removal might have been done differently? Also if the two helpers had known it was an 8 hour Angie's List job, would they have only removed paper from one or two of the three rooms and done the chosen rooms to completion. I don't know why they didn't know it was an Angie's List job for eight 8 hours because Susan and I had clearly discussed that in advance. It is very difficult to rate this job because I am not sure what I should have reasonably expected for 8 hours of labor. I thought it was reasonable to get the wallpaper removed and the walls ready to paint after eight hours of labor. Even though I contracted for an additional 8 hours and the walls were still not satisfactory to begin painting, I still choose not to give a bad rating. My expectation that the wallpaper could be removed without significant damage may have been an unrealistic expectation. I contracted for 8 hours of labor through Angie's List rather than for a specific wallpaper removal job to be satisfactorily completed. The facts are in the write-up and will give readers an opportunity to make their own assessment.

I was very pleased with Susan's work. The cost was very reasonable, and she was very responsive (returned my calls, showed up the next day to give me an estimate), and provided design ideas regarding the tile around my tub, which looks great. The painting was very good and very thorough; unlike some painters, she removed lights, towel bars, outlet covers, etc., instead of just painting around them. I thought I was just getting a painter, but I really believe she can tackle most of my home projects (e.g., wall tile, crown molding, etc.). She also has a very good design eye. I plan to use her next month for similar work in my other two bathrooms.

Susan was great from beginning to end. She scheduled my appointment and arrived promptly and ready to work. Her crew was very pleasant and professional. We had a little hick up due to the fact that my husband brought home the wrong paint. They began painting my daughter's bedroom, and was darn near finished when my husband came home and told them that it was the wrong paint. She totally understood, explained to him what he needed to do to get the paint switched out at Lowes. When my husband returned with the paint, Susan and her crew were ready the same day to finish the room. She repaired small holes in the wall prior to painting. She gave us very good advice about what needed repainting, what needed touch ups, and what to leave alone to save money. She was great, and I would definitely recommend her to everyone...A+++ Susan!!! The rooms look great, thank you.

Miss Susan was fantastic! A wonderful woman all around.

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They did a wonderful job.  They came out about a month after I purchased it.  I hired them to do additional work but they did not charge me more  than the $229 of the big deal.

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The work was okay. The difficulty was getting them to schedule the job. I purchased in mid to late August and it was end of October before they completed the job. Susan was responsive through messaging on Angie's List but did not return a phone call I made to her. <br />

Susan Gregg and her grandson were extremely professional. Not only did they do a quick, efficient job but it looks great. They cleaned up wonderfully and were very careful not to leave any mess. After they completed the job I hired them for, I had them come back and paint another room in my house. I plan on hiring Susan Gregg again for more paint jobs in the future and would highly recommend her. <br />

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She is an extremely nice person but the job was slow and not the quality that I expected.. She wasn't able to complete everything.  They do not use sprayers, only paint by hand. <br />

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<p>The 3 of them were great people. They were responsible people that kept a constant flow of work without goofing off. I was truly at their mercy to keep track of their own time and gave them their own key. My husband was in the hospital most of the time. It was great to feel so confident on their character when in need.</p> <p>I bought a BIG DEAL in order to get a cheaper rate for up to so many hours. Susan ended up giving me the cheaper rate for the project. I wish I had asked for an estimate. Instead, the cost was only based on the time Susan kept to finish. As they worked in each room, they pointed out different things that needed added. There are good lines in the paint, no sloppy cross colors. The only complaints I would have would be that I am still finding paint I need to remove off of my floor tiles, windows, screens, tub, etc. from the splash. She had us do a walk through, but I was only looking at the painted surfaces. One of the doors painted over is bleeding through.  Also, I have barely scratched the walls in three different rooms and the previous paint shines through. I'm not sure if that is due to bad priming, not enough coats or crappy paint on my part.</p> <br />

After purchasing the deal on Angie's List, I contacted the owner. She was helpful and friendly and we agreed on a start date. It turned out that more paint was needed. I have moved out of state, so she went to buy more paint. That was very helpful. <br /> She sent me pictures of the finished rooms, and they look really good. She also made suggestions for future improvements. <br /> Since the work was finished, I have tried multiple times to contact her (phone and text) to complete the porch area. Because I have not received any response, I have no choice but to reduce her responsiveness and overall grade. Otherwise, I would have given her an A. <br />

Normally rather than giving a negative review I would just not give a review.  However, after paying to become an Angie?s List and selecting a Service Provider with a 92% ?A? rating I did not expect to have the problems I had.   <br /> The Job started off on the wrong foot, Susan has her daughter working for her part time.   Susan told me her daughter had Thursdays free and to expect to see her between 7:30 and 8:00 am, but apparently forgot to tell her. Susan called me about 9:00 am and apologized saying she was late because she had to go to another job site and pick up a ladder. Her daughter finally arrived about 11 am, but had to leave by 1:00 pm to go to her regular job because the other cashier had quit.  So I told her she could leave her tools so they would be ready for her on Friday. Her wallpaper paste tray had a hole in the bottom, so while she was gone I had to clean the paste off the front of the bathroom vanity and floor where the contents had leaked out.  I cleaned out the tray and patched the holes so it would be ready for her. <br /> When she did not show up on Friday I called and was told to expect her Saturday.  She arrived Saturday and started work, but her boss from her full time job kept calling her every 15 min asking when she was coming in.  He had her so befuddled, she miss cut a whole double roll of paper.  Susan arrived and finished the job so her daughter could go to work.  Susan told me she did not need to spend the time smoothing out the paper that her daughter did.  She said her daughter put up paper like her dad who would rub the pattern off getting it smooth.    When she left she told me the bubbles would disappear as the paper dried, but if I had any problems to give her a call and she would come fix them.  <br /> I sent her some photos of seams that overlapped and were puckered, I did not send photos of the bubbles. She told me she could not make it for a week and set up an appointment for Thursday (10 days later).  Wednesday night I called her and she said she could not come on Thursday but would come on Saturday. Friday night I called to confirm a time and was told she would be here early afternoon. She did not show up, and at 6 pm  I tried calling and she did not answer the phone, I sent her an email asking when she would like to reschedule, Five days later she has not responded to the e-mail.  <br /> I have now used a syringe to inject glue in 2 bubbles, sliced 5 bubbles with a razor blade and glued them down removing the excess material, and two seams I had to steam to lift the overlap and trim about a 1/16 of an inch off the lower paper so the edges would butt.     <br /> Maybe I expected too much, several places the pattern was mismatched.  I suppose some mismatch is unavoidable, but rather than putting the mismatch in a corner it was in the middle of a wall or doorway.  Since I was using paintable wallpaper some of the errors I was able to cover with calk.  I thought I hired a professional so I would not have to fix my own amateur mistakes, I did not expect to spend so much time fixing professional mistakes. <br />

Quick quote, showed up on the date promised and finished work on time. After the initial painting we requested some touch ups and Ms. Greg never did them. 

I purchased a deal of 24 hours of painting. Instead of one painter coming in 3 days for 8 hours, I asked for 3 painters for one day for 8 hours. They caulked and filled nail holes for base board and quarter round in three bedrooms/two closets and then painted. They also painted a bedroom and ceiling after filling nail holes and repairing the damage done to a wall made by my dog. I made the mistake of purchasing primer as recommended by the Sherwin Williams employee. She told me I needed primer to cover the dark blue, so a lighter color can be applied. However the primer was too dark of gray.  Susan Gregg had told me to just buy paint with primer. That's what I should have done, regardless of what Sherwin Williams said. Because of the primer being too dark, the painters had a hard time trying to cover it. During drying times, they painted other small areas around the house. By the end of the day, the gray on the ceiling was still showing through. They were good enough to come back and finish on a Saturday! I do want to say the negative remark about Sherwin Williams is not against the paint. I love the brand. It was just a mistake made by one employee. The store actually gave me a free can because the ceiling needed more paint.  My entire house and garage is painted with Sherwin Williams. The paint is 9 years old and still looks good.  But, from now on I will listen to what my painter recommends. <br />

Susan Gregg and her Team of 3 experienced painters showed up promptly at 8am and did a very good  job of painting 5 areas in our house during the day. They worked very efficiently ( one cut in and one was rolling the other painted and prepped as bneeded ) and quickly but at a  careful pace and were very professional. they took great care  to protect the floors and areas  by  placing drop cloths where ever they worked, and cleaned as they went . Susan did an initial  walk though at the beginning with my wife to make sure  she and her team understood  what we  wanted done and that there was no confusion (w e had 3 colors ) she left her team on site and she left to attend to other business  after making sure  they understood what we  wanted and we were in good hands . They worked at a good pace putting on 2 coats  and Susan would call back and check with  them and us throughout the day. After they finished their painting they walked through the areas doing an inspection with my wife and  touching up/ cleaning  up any minor areas making sure we were happy with everything. They cleaned up everything and left  their work area   very neat. These were professional painters and they worked very well as a team. Susan called us back shortly after they had left and did a  follow up to make we were happy with their work and if there was anything else we needed. (very good management )  Painting is never a fun thing to do in my opinion on a large scale but these folks made it as painless as possible and actually was a very nice experience . We will  be calling them again to do more work for us! Bottom line was great service and quality of work. <br />

<p>I purchased the 3 ppl for 8 hours for $499 deal. After going back and forth a bit, we decided on a date for her to come and repaint a couple rooms in my house. I told her that the two rooms (master bath and guest room) I needed painted were currently painted in really bright colors; I verified with her that I didn?t need any special paint to cover it. She said the paint didn?t matter ? she was good with Behr, Valspar, Sherwin Williams, whatever I wanted. I tried to call and email her the day before she was scheduled to come, just to make sure we were still on track ? I never received a call back, so I assumed we were still on. She showed up a few minutes before 8:00 (the scheduled time), which was great! My husband and I had already moved everything out of the way in both rooms and removed all of the wall plates. So she and her guys were able to come right in and get started. We chose a pretty light color for both rooms, so I knew it would take multiple coats to cover the bright colors. They started on the master bathroom which took a while, then they moved to the guest room. They worked pretty efficiently together. After the first coat in the guest room, they moved back to the bathroom for the second coat. Then they took a 1 hour lunch break. When they returned from lunch they put a second coat on in the guest room, and touched up the bathroom. Since they had a couple hours left, I asked that they paint a small hallway too. They were out of paint though, and I didn't want to leave them in my house unattended, so I gave one of the guys some cash to run up to Lowes to buy some more. While he was gone, the other two began cutting in the hallway with what little paint they had left. When he got back, they finished the hallway. I looked at the clock and they still had about an hour left, so I asked Susan what they would do. She said the guys had already packed up. I said they had too much time left to just leave, so could they start cutting in the hallway leading upstairs. She said ok, so they came back in and did that and still ended up leaving about 20min early. When I asked her about it she said other than lunch they didn?t take any breaks all day. I let it go, but then she asked for gas money for running to get the paint (Lowes is less than 10min from my house); I said no. </p> <p>When my husband got home that evening and looked at the paint job he was really disappointed. The old color was really showing through in the bathroom. It looked like they only did a second coat on half the wall (the ceilings are really tall), so the top half of the walls were not covered completely. So my husband and I spent 2 evenings applying a second coat to the top half of the walls. I understand that the old color was really bright, but instead of having so much left over time in the end where I had to find something else for them to do, they should have applied another coat in the bathroom. It is my fault for not seeing the issue in time. There were drips on my baseboards, the tub in the master, and a little on my carpet, but overall, they did a pretty good job. They saved us hours of painting ourselves. </p> <br />