Most of my painters have always asked if I want the closets painted. If they didn't ask, they didn't paint them unless I specifically told them to. Were the closets empty?

Repairing plaster is another issue altogether. Unless someone has been specifically trained in plaster, don't count on the job getting done.

What did your contract say? If you aren't satisfied, then he needs to make it right, IMHO!

Thanks for your response.

Yes, the closets were empty, the entire house was empty. I hired him to paint the entire first floor except the sunroom before we moved in. The estimate lists each room as I showed above and he checked off if he would be painting the woodwork, ceilings, walls , priming etc. There is no option to check off for closets, so unless he listed them as a separate room I don't know how they would be included in his estimate.

As far as the plaster work, his estimate does specifically state that he will be doing major plaster work on the living room ceiling. He charged me about $1200 extra for this and the work needs to be redone.

I am considering going to small claims, especially over the plaster ceiling, but don't know if I really have a case. HE did do the work, but it is awful and needs to be redone. He presented himself as able to do the work when apparently he isn't.

Unless your contract specifies a schedule of payments with, say, 10% withheld at the end pending satisfactory completion of the job, you will probably have a very hard time getting anywhere with this contractor.

Painters, in my limited experience, can do some limited plastering, to fill in hairline cracks and such. But walls and especially ceiling that need extensive work should be done by a contractor who specializes in plastering. The process typically takes at least 3 steps, each one done on a separate day, with 2-3 days delay between steps so the previous work sets and solidifies. A real professional will give you a perfectly smooth result with not even a hint of the previous mess. But they are specialists, and they are expensive, and they do not paint.

I have already paid the contractor in full and do not expect to get anywhere with him in terms of a refund or redoing the work. I don't know if I have any recourse to go after him in small claims court for the poor workmanship. He saw the previous repairs and said they had done shoddy work, his contract states he was going to do major plaster repairs. Within weeks of finishing his work, my plaster ceiling again has slits and bubbles that are popping out all over the room. In addition some one of the patches look as wavy as the ocean at high tide.
What I'm not sure of is if I can recoup the cost in court since he did work, even though it is poor quality and my ceiling is in the same condition as it was before he began.

If you've talked with him and he refuses a refund on the ceiling work, then I'd go to small claims. Before you go to court get a bid from a contractor that does plastering so you'll know what the repair will cost. This will also let you know if, and how much, the contractor overcharged you.
Also take lots of photos of the current patch job. Do you have any photos of the 'before'?

You must have had a lot of woodwork for them to paint since $20K seems really high. I'm assuming you're happy with the paint job?

Yes, I do have a fair amount of woodwork, a few builtins and a window seat, a nice sized staircase with 3 spindles on each step,wainscoting in a large foyer. The price was steep and they did a very nice job with the woodwork. Although if I had too do it again, I would have used someone who sprayed all the woodwork.
The bigger problem with my painter was that there were a lot of small details overlooked and a few items left unfinished. He was VERY difficult to work with in trying to get these things taken care and tried to nickel and dime me for things that were clearly included. He even tried to charge me travel time to come back and correct items he screwed up on(painted my bathroom cabinets white and the doors offwhite and wanted to charge me travel time for him to come and fix it).

I haven't talked with him about a refund because he has become completely unprofessional so I am simply going to write him a letter and ask for a response/check within two weeks and let him know otherwise I will see him in court.

Absolutely go to small claims court. Write him a letter, send certified mail, telling him you are unhappy with the work, etc., etc. This will help you in court. Above all, if you can, have witnesses present if and when you speak to him. Also take photo's of the work he screwed up.

If you have an attorney who can send him a letter, that would be even better.

I know it's too late for your situation, but this is one reason why one should not pay the full bill until you're satisfied with the job. Going through to inspect at intervals can help with some of the issues. The biggest carrot to dangle is money -- sad to say. good luck!

I have a different take. By no means am I wealthy but, it just would not be worth the time, the hassle, aggravation, anger, etc., to pursue a $1200 claim on work that was done, albeit badly done. Sounds pretty iffy to expect the judgement to come out in your favor and, if you do lose, then you'll go thru another cycle of being P.O'd. It just wouldn't be worth the wear & tear on my self.

Add to that, you will still have the hassle of finding someone to re-do the work, the delay, mess, etc.; or, since you're fairly handy, doing the work yourself.

If the situation is iffy to go to small claims court I probably wouldn't do it. I guess I thought I had a pretty strong case. My motivations stems from the fact that he continues to try and rip me off by charging me travel time to come back and fix things that clearly were part of the contract and has turned beyond rude - I feel as though I have no choice but to see him in court.

What is about my case that make you refer to it as iffy?

I don't think it's iffy. We took a roofer to small claims and had no problems winning with lots of photos and documentation by an independent inspector. This same inspector attended small claims with us but the judge never asked him a question.

The advantage we had is that we had not paid the remaining balance.........$3000.........which was the max of small claims.
We ended up having the roof repaired for half that amount.

During our research of how to file the claim, we learned that we were not the first to file against the contractor. You may want to check court records and see if your painter has any other claims against him.

If you get another bid, ask if they'll document what they find wrong with the ceiling as it is now, and take that to court with you.

I said 'iffy' because you hired a painter to 'fix major plaster problems' and on a ceiling, at that. That's a bit like hiring a framing carpenter to build fine furniture. Plaster is a whole other art and skills area from painting and ceilings are triple tricky. Implicitly, you accepted some degree of skill limitations by hiring a painter vs a skilled plasterer & for a job that had already been badly done before the painter attempted to repair it.

I do not know which jurisdiction you are in, however, in California another avenue to pursue is initiate a complaint with the state contractors' licensing board. They have an immense amount of power over the contractor and will advise you concerning the propriety of his actions. Taking that action in no way precludes you from initiating a small claims action, in fact, the evidence you obtain at the licensing board can be used in court against the contractor.

good luck.

I think you have a case in small claims. He took on the job and took the money for the job. That to me was him saying he was trained/capable or a drywall/plaster expert.

I do NOT think you would lose in court.

There is no reason you can't go ahead and have the work redone by someone else. You don't need to wait until AFTER court. I would send this guy a certified letter, give him a time limit to make the job right or refund you, THEN if he doesn't refund or fix his botched job, pay someone to do it. Take that invoice/payment to court with you as further evidence. And do NOT forget pics of his mess and the final results IF you hire someone else.

Just an idea, check and see if your painter is registered with the BBB. If so, they will help negotiate a settlement with the painter. This might be a little bit easier than going to small claims court. Also, if the painter is bonded you can try and collect the money that way. This painter gives a little insight into being bonded.

I hope you've had progress in getting this resolved. Just wanted to comment on the painting vs plastering. I would not have known that generally painters are not thought to be proficient at plastering issues, hadn't really thought about it. We're currently remodeling our kitchen and our wonderful painter has removed our popcorn and done a fabulous job of plastering to make our very wavy ceiling flat. If your contractor represented himself as being able to do the plaster work, I don't think it's unreasonable that you believed him!

I don't agree with ci lantro's philosophy of not hiring the right person for the job. If someone takes your money and says they can do the job, then it's their responsibility to do the job. I don't think your case if iffy at all. I wish you the best.

We hired a painter to paint the interior of our new home and a couple of weeks later, after more careful inspection, we realized some of the rooms did not have 2 coats of paint, he had not taped and floated some areas correctly, etc. I tried contacting him, but to no avail. It's not a real big deal as DH can fix what the painter screwed up. However, the painter made a huge mistake by screwing around with us. We would have given him the job of painting our current house when we vacate to move into the new one, not to mention more referrals to new customers. His loss in the long run!! I seriously suspect he has a drug problem by things I have witnessed. So sad.

How could he NOT include painting the closets ??!! Entire first floor mean just that ... ENTIRE FIRST FLOOR !! Geez.

Responding to the BBB suggestion. The BBB does nothing to help the consumer negotiate a settlement. The only thing they are good for is to check for complaints against a contractor prior to hiring. Unfotunately I think you have to take legal action or start smearing their name on sites that allow you to submit reviews/ratings.

For future reference, check out these two articles on hiring a contractor. Hiring a Contractor and Contractor Hiring Tips

Here is a link that might be useful: free classified ads