McKinley Painting

We just contracted with McKinley Painters to paint the exterior of our house, and McKinley and his crew did a great job. McKinley was responsive and professional, and really helpful in choosing a new shade for the house. We needed a particular kind of paint for the job, and he was very knowledgeable about it (in contrast to some other painters we contacted). His crew completed the work efficiently and did a beautiful job, even doing some additional work that we added at the eleventh hour. We definitely would use McKinley for future work.

This is the second time i’ve worked with McKinley and i don’t think I’ll have to hire a different painter ever again. Super easy to communicate with, punctual, and really great work. Zero complaints — if you need a pro stop checking others out and give McKinley a call.

We had fraternity letters painted on the side of our house and they look excellent.

McKinley just completed a job at my house in Berkeley. I’m very happy with the end result — the house looks great. Just as importantly, McKinley was honest and thorough, kept his promises without over-​promising. Stayed on-​budget and had a clear scope for what was (and what was not) included in his bid. I would recommend him to others and would definitely hire him again. Good job and thanks.

We have a business in the Rockridge area that needed repainting. We found McKinley through a recommendation of a business associate. They came out, gave us a great pricing on their bid, and did a wonderful job. They even helped us get a difficult color matched for our flower boxes that ended up being perfect! They were professional and courteous, and most importantly their painting was perfection!

I contracted with McKinley Painting to paint the exterior of my small (951 sq. ft), almost 100 year old bungalow in Berkeley in October 2013. The reviews on Unilocal were a major factor in initially contacting him. I was quite impressed with our first interview. He was very thorough and generous with his time. He was also scrupulous in outlining what would be included in his quote and what would be extra, depending on time and materials. We discussed color, whether or not to paint or take down the 1930’s-style awnings, renovating a window sill that had rotted, whether to stain or paint the front door (I followed his advice and had it painted, it looks great). His mantra was, «If this was my house…» His suggestions and advice were very valuable and caused me to re-​evaluate how to consider my house from an objective standpoint.
It wasn’t all talk. Execution of the project was good. Aldo, his work person, is very professional, and personable. I trusted him to the extent that I left him a key in case he needed to come into the house while painting the front door.
In short, McKinley provided me with a ‘full service’ approach to painting my house for which I am grateful. I think that’s called «exceeding expectations».

McKinley Painting is an excellent company! I called 5 different painters this Fall to do a small job for us, and 2 called me back. One of them said they couldn’t get to me until April (7 months later), and McKinley called and made an appointment right away. He met with me and explained how he would handle the job, and it was clear that he has tons of experience and that he does quality work based on his explanation. Then he sent a detailed contract, which I find only the best contractors do, and I really appreciate.
The work was done quickly and they did a thorough clean-​up. A week later, I noticed the paint was peeling in one spot, and the next day they were back to fix it (I guess it was because of the cold weather).
I highly recommend McKinley Painting!

We have Victorian that is well over a hundred years old, and knew that it would be a big job to repaint. We talked to several painters and eliminated those that we thought would not do a quality job. Of those that were left, we made a detailed comparison and selected McKinley because he met our requirements the best.
Here are some key things I’d recommend looking for in any painter: Warranty, license, bonding, meets EPA standards, on-​site foreman, regular crew, solid prep with power-​washing, bleach for mildew, sanding and smoothing, protection of fixtures, roller or spray painting with back-​brushing. McKinley does all of these as do many other reputable painters. McKinley was also the only painter to offer an epoxy sealer on older wood. This provides a better surface for priming and improves the life of the wood and the paint job.
McKinley has a great crew with a wonderful on-​site foreman (Aldo). In addition to doing a great paint job, they were extremely respectful and a pleasure to have around. They also did thorough cleanup, which we really appreciated. Despite the need for some extra work when we discovered problems, the entire job was completed on time and faster than the estimates of some of the other painters we talked to.
McKinley gave us a lot of advice on different aspects of the job and choices about how to proceed. In some cases he gave us his respectful, professional opinion, which was very useful. His ideas all made sense. McKinley provides colour consulting as part of his services. We came in with our own ideas about colours, but also took his advice. He’s great at explaining which colours might take more coats and be more expensive, or which colours might fade more quickly than others. He also has good colour ideas if you need a full consultation.
As mentioned, it’s an old house and there were bound to be issues. Once the old paint was removed, McKinley was very diligent in explaining where extra epoxy and primer were needed. He was patient explaining where and why this was needed and the consequences of doing or not doing the extra work. At every stage of the job he emphasized that he wanted to do a quality job and wanted us to be happy with it. When unforeseen issues arose, he hung in there and worked them out with us, putting in additional time as needed. We paid extra for some of these things because we wanted to take care of the house.
The new paint job looks great and with work of this quality, it should last a long time. Thank you McKinley Painting!

This is an update to a previous review I did for McKinley Painting. After doing a great job painting our house, we didn’t like the color we’d selected for the front door. McKinley came back and without charge painted the door with the new color. We had made the original color selection and McKinley could have charged us for the extra work. We appreciated that he spent several hours applying three or four coats to the door without even charging us for his time.

On 9÷14÷11 KC of Berkeley in a two-​star review wondered if McKinley pays off negative posters. He certainly attempted to do so with me on 10÷18÷13 with an email stating:
«I’d be willing to give you $ 200 more towards this situation if you remove this review and agree not to post any future reviews about our company.»
I chose not to respond to this offer. It is interesting to note that while he claims 2013 has been another great year for McKinley Painting so far I’m the only posted review this year. Makes me wonder if others were paid off. It definitely appears he keeps his 4.5 star rating by silencing his unhappy customers with bribes. While McKinley claims to be working with your best interest at heart, his real interest is misleading people about his company.

McKinley is a true professional with a sharp eye, wonderful customer service, and excellent business integrity.
Brought him in for a real disaster exterior. With all of the parties’ issues involved (neighbor access, HOA members having different opinions, scheduling delays to accommodate other people’s schedules), he navigated the obstacles well. He juggled crew members to bring the project in on schedule, in spite of extra work and time added by other parties, beyond his control.
His crew was neat and did a thorough cleanup at the end of each workday. Most of them were of medium-​high skill and experience. The homeowners (and the selling realtor) were very pleased with the end result. I will keep him at the very top of my referral list, and would use him on my own house.
His business has grown from his stellar reputation, and I believe this can always affect quality, being over-​busy. There were some details that I felt didn’t match up to his price, and he is not able to be on many job sites for more than 30 minutes to an hour on most days, so ongoing training of his crew is a bit lacking. There were some areas of bare wood that were weathered enough after sanding to require epoxy sealing, and some of these just got primed as-​is. These are minor complaints, and I have confidence that as he grows into a bigger business, he will concentrate on having top-​notch trained people running his crews.
If you’ve ever dealt with contractors or tradespeople, you understand that communication is usually the biggest problem in the trades. McKinley is the best I’ve encountered at keeping in close, articulate communication with all parties concerned, and that is worth its weight in gold.
Highly recommended!

I am very happy with these guys! My interiors had not been painted in 20 yrs and now everything looks really new in a hundred year old house. My bedroom ceiling was very water damaged and now it it impossible to see where they inserted the sheetrock and mudded. Highly recommended.

We picked McKinley Painting not because they were the cheapest but because the price was fair for the large job that it was. In our initial consultation, McKinley demonstrated that he understood the scope and very clearly warned me about areas that might be trouble spots, places that might require work outside of the quoted scope, etc.
I think may favorite part about working with McKinley Painting was his fabulous crew. They were respectful, nice and people you enjoy having around (and we had them for three weeks!) McKinley agreed to come back to fix some small spots that weren’t exactly at we’d like them to make sure we were satisfied.
And, perhaps most importantly, our house is totally transformed and looks FABULOUS and we get constant comments about it.

Just had a bit of followup. A portion of the paint that McKinsely’s team applied was peeling, because it was applied on top of old paint/​primer that was hard to scrape/​grind off (he had told me this could be a problem and I agreed previously not to scrape/​burn the entire house prior to painting).
Even though he didn’t have to per his contract, McKinley came back himself and touched up the peeling areas this week. Great service, above and beyond the (legal) call of duty!

McKinley Painting painted our house’s exterior 2 years ago. We were very pleased with McKinley’s crew and their professionalism. McKinley and crew were very easy to work with and we appreciated McKinley’s honesty and opinions. For example, we had red-​painted concrete walkways and asked him to paint it a medium gray color. He told us he and his team would do their best to clean up and prep the walkways – and they did – but he also warned us that due to the condition of the concrete, we should expect the paint on the degraded areas to wear away more quickly. It was good to know and we accepted that risk.
Because we had a positive experience with McKinley, we called on him again this year to do our interior. We didn’t bother getting other bids, although I’m sure there would have been cheaper contractors. McKinely was a good match for us and being able to work well with – and trust – your contractor is priceless.
They’ve done great work on our California Bungalow – both outside and in – with a good eye for detail. The trim inside – especially the windows, built-​in cabinets, and fireplace – look much better now than they did when we bought the house years ago.

Called and made an appointment for an estimate. I got the time off work, and waited. Nobody ever showed up, nobody ever called. Very unprofessional.

UPDATE:
This upgrade is based entirely on McKinley’s response, not his actual work, since we never hired him. If we work with him in the future, I’ll update this again.
McKinley reached out to me and apologized for not showing up for the appointment. He even offered to give me a discount or to find some way to make it right. I felt that even though we eventually hired a different contractor, it showed some class and integrity that he was not at all defensive, took responsibility for not showing up and wanted to make it right. I think that deserves a few more stars. Thanks McKinley.

So what makes McKinley Painting so great?
1 — They have years and years of experience under their collective belts to really know what they’re doing. Prep is crucial to painting, and these guys pour time and energy into that.
2 — It is very important for them that they do a good job and that they walk away from a job with satisfied customers. I know that sounds like a sales line, but it’s really true. They make themselves available (even off the clock) for any follow-​up questions you might have. They even offer a guarantee on their work.
3 — Speaking of doing the right thing, they do things by the book. These guys are legit.
4 — They’re honest and will give you the straight dope. Their prices are fair. You might find a cheaper quote somewhere, but be careful: when it comes to painting, you really get what you pay for.
5 — They’re consummate professionals. If they tell you they’ll be there at 8:00 AM, you better make sure you’re awake and ready because they will show up at 8:00 AM.
6 — And this is bonus: they’re just downright cool and nice people. I honestly feel like I can hang out with McKinley, James and Jason at a bbq and have a great time.
Here’s the thing: the economy sucks. Money is tight so when you spend it you want to make sure that you’re getting what you pay for. Considering the professionalism, the dedication to customer satisfaction, and ultimately, the superb quality of the final paint job on the exterior of our house, i can honestly say that we got a great deal going with McKinley Painting.

Integrity. Professional. Hard-​working. Talented.
These are just a few of the many ways to describe McKinley Painting. Not only does McKinley offer great color consultation, he takes the time to ensure your satisfaction has been met.
It’s always wonderful to work with McKinley and his crew.

With a new office and work on two houses in the last few years I have had the occasion to utilize the services of many different painting contractors.
I am happy to say I have found «my» painting contractor. Of course, this is no way should be taken to imply ownership — only a sincere respect for a company that took exceptionally good care of myself, my family and our home.
McKinley (the owner) is great, but so are his guys. They show up ready to work, they do great work (both prep and painting), they clean up before they leave and are conscientious throughout the entire project.
McKinley’s crew are experts in prep-​work (where most other painters drop the ball) and the fact that their goal is 100% satisfaction — backed by their willingness to return until customer happiness is secured — makes them an excellent choice for anyone’s painting project.