The Painter

I had The Painter Inc come to my home back in 2013 to putty and stain my front stairs. He had his painters use an inappropriate putty (Durham’s Rock Hard Water Putty, which states in their FAQs page that this product is not to be used on a weight bearing surface, nor is it to be used on a surface that «pants» –this is industry slang for a surface that can absorb moisture from the surrounding air-​, and that this product is not to be used under stain). His application did all of these things. He should have used wood putty, but was either too cheap, too lazy, or just didn’t know any better.
He came early in the fall and I signed a contract for him to do the work. He had his painters come and start the job, but then they promptly left three days later to do another job. I called him and told him that I didn’t mind if he came back in the spring, but that I did not want to do this work in freezing weather. He waited until the weather was freezing anyway. I sent his painters away and said please come back when the weather has improved. The next time he offered to come back it was going to freeze that night. It was an exercise in frustration and futility to deal with this person who obviously did not care that he was not adhering to the product instructions.
When he came back in the spring, his putty had already started to pop. I complained about the popping putty and he blamed the stain that I instructed him to use (I had already purchased Home Depot’s Behr stain which I have always had good results with). He said my warranty was voided for using this product. He finished the painting work and it started to peel days later. Again he blamed the stain. He demanded that I pay him almost the complete fee (which I refused) although he left my job mid work (he was also going to paint Columns in front of my home which they never finished)
I refused to pay him more than the two payments I had given him until he came and removed this putty and redid my stairs with an appropriate putty for the job and he yelled at me that this job cost him more than he was going to make and said that he would not be coming back to fix the problem and would release me from my contract and I would owe him no more money. I was furious that he acted like his ruining my stairs was not his fault and that he was not responsible for using an inappropriate product. I drilled out the holes on four of the stairs last spring and used wood putty and re stained the stairs. They have not popped or peeled and look fabulous.
I later learned that this «painter» had never even painted before he started his business. He knows nothing about painting and is winging it. He hires laborers instead of real skilled workmen and charges as if these painters were people with a craft. I would not use him and his so called satisfaction guarantee is a joke.