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March 19, 2008
Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater
After searching high and low for a reputable, reasonably priced and skilled plasterer, I am over the moon happy with the results I received from William Prates Plastering. My husband and I recently purchased a 750sf pre-war 1 bedroom apt, and though there were no real cracks in the walls, there were many layers of gloppy, old paint that really made the place look shabby. William (who goes by Junior) came in and completely transformed our space, making the walls look like they were brand new.
Though we were not planning to replace our baseboard moldings, he realized almost immediately that it was going to be necessary, and quickly switched gears, headed out to Home Depot and took care of that as well.
He hired a painting crew for us as that painted our entire place from top to bottom (including the floors!). He was professional, flexible, and truly gave us a great price.
I am totally and completely head over heels in love with our space now. I remember feeling a bit of sticker price shock upon hearing how much it costs to skimcoat, but having gone through the process now, I can say that it was completely worth it for us.
Contact Junior via email :willianprates68@hotmail.com
(not a typo). His wife Aida often does his scheduling, coordination and translation (Junior speaks Portugese, though his English is very good--he always has Aida follow-up, however, to make sure that he is fully understood) and she is beyond fantastic too.
Feel free to email me at ericabethg at gmail dot com should you wish to hear more about my experience or get a reference.
Comments
I just want to know what was the price. All In!
Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 11:42 PM
Around $10k for all skimcoating/painting and replacement of baseboard moldings (though we did pay for painting supplies--all other supplies were covered). Again, we were painting our floors and all walls, ceilings and kitchen cabs. FYI, I rec'd 3 other quotes--the highest of which was around 20k.
Posted by: ericabethg at March 20, 2008 12:07 AM
why'd you paint your floors? Just nosey/curious.
Why was it necessary to replace baseboards?
Any photos?
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 12:33 AM
Timely post as I'm renovating a rental that needs this work. If it cost you 10 grand for a 1 BDRM, I guess it shouldn't run me more than $50,000 for my 6 room. Jeez.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at March 20, 2008 10:32 AM
Was painting the floors part of the plan?
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 10:40 AM
10:32, i would just hire someone for the plastering and paint it myself to save some money.
then again, i've become a pretty decent painter over the last 5 years renovating my own house.
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 10:54 AM
I love it a painting contractor that can only be reached by email.
I guess he thinks he is more important than the people who pay him for the job.
Another controlling contractor.
Posted by: Ysabelle at March 20, 2008 11:27 AM
what a helpful comment, Ysabelle! very relevant to the thread and it really added a ton of value.
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 11:54 AM
I prefer email communication with contractors. Everyone seems to reply faster and there's a paper trail. Would you rather leave a message on a cell phone?
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 12:13 PM
I know this is totally offtopic but I love painted floors! Pls post a photo!
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at March 20, 2008 12:36 PM
I just finished a loft project and everything is white. We stained the wood floor white. It looks spectacular!!
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 12:44 PM
Yes, painting the floor was part of the plan. Our apt faces the interior of the building and it does not get a lot of light. All of the decisions we made were based on bringing as much light and "lightness" to the interior of the space as we could and we chose to paint our floors white.
The baseboard moldings were not in great shape...which became all the more obvious once we started skimcoating the walls. They were standing out like a sore thumb, so we chose to replace those as an afterthought. We also ended up ditching the frame and picture molding that was in the living room and replaced it with it crown molding (also an afterthought). Our original estimate was initially lower, but after adding the extras, it was bumped up a bit. It still ended up way lower than any other estimate we received.
In terms of pics, I have a couple, but I'm not so slick with this posting thing and am unsure how to include--feel free to email me if you'd like to see them.
As for the contact info, including the email was my call. Of course, I was in constant cell phone contact with Junior, his wife and his crew throughout the entirety of the work.
Brooklynnative I def wish you luck :)...6 rooms will be a pretty penny. BUT, you might not have to skimcoat everywhere--we did. If you are painting on your own, that will also be a savings.
Posted by: ericabethg at March 20, 2008 12:49 PM
Most of the walls were in terrible shape and the electrics were really old. So we're rewiring and using that unit to go up and down into the units above and below. Now there are huge holes in the walls. They need more than just skimcoating but also repairing. I've heard of people that just slop on a ton of joint compound and it works - a lot cheaper than skimcoating and it's just a rental. I haven't gotten a quote yet but I'm getting somewhat nervous.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at March 20, 2008 2:39 PM
HI CALL MR LUIS HE ARE MASTER PLASTER 646 296 8466
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 7:17 PM
Hi, I saw your recommendation and I used Junior to replaster the rooms in our apt and I would have to say he did a great job, he was very clean and the price was very reasonable. I would recommend him too.
Posted by: guest at May 14, 2008 5:25 PM
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