Grady's Painting Plastering/Construction

This was a very involved plaster repair and remediation job, in a very old house. Grady is the only person (or company) who was willing to take on the job and drive all the way from Pennsylvania to our home in Northern Virginia. There are very few people who do this kind of work anymore (we really searched) and he is an expert in his field. We needed to work around his schedule, because he is in demand in the tri-state area, so it took awhile to schedule the work to begin... but it was worth it.

GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. He told me he was putting the $485 he charged me for a moisture inspection towards the final cost of repairing my stucco which was also supposed to be at a discount. After trying to get me on his schedule for three months, he denied we ever had any conversation besides doing the $485 inspection, to my surprise. He denied he told me the inspection cost was going towards the final repair work for the stucco work; he denied ever agreeing to do the work; he denied the price he quoted me; and, finally, he denied he was going to give me a discount on the final price. I would have never done the inspection for that price had it not been for him saying he was going to put it towards the final repair bill. I lost months of time on this project waiting for him. I finally got another company to do the job and I had a very good experience with them. Good luck. Go with him only if you *GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING.* He talks good game but follow-through is an issue.

Very happy with job performance.

Experienced, knowledgeable, nice work, honest, finished the work on time.

Used Grady's for doing tile and grout repair for my living/dining/Kitchen floor, which is well over 1000sq feet. Very reasonable pricing, and extremely clean job. They sealed up all the grout..

I had a small but complicated, hard to access, and structurally essential repair job on a 60-year-old concrete deck attached to my 280-year-old Pennsylvania limestone farmhouse. I contacted several masons listed for my area on Home Advisor, and included Mr. Grady as a long shot -- I read about his expertise with historical structures and wished I had access to such an expert craftsman, but I didn't think he'd be interested in my teeny job and assumed I wouldn't be able to afford him anyway. He was the first one to return my call and to look at the job, and I thought his price was fair. I believe now it was way more than fair, considering the time he spent. He did extensive research, going over a structural engineer's report I had done previously on the deck and even examining the original architectural drawings and materials invoices from 1959. He showed up at least three times to complete the repair in stages, and has been back a half a dozen times since then to check the job -- and my location is not exactly in his neighborhood. He accepted only enough payment in advance to pay for lodging for himself and his assistant when they stayed nearby one night in order to be there early the next morning. He gave and continues to give free advice about preserving my stone house and patio. If you prod him a little, he might even share some of his personal philosophy, earned over a lifetime of work that is clearly more of an art form than a job to him. Overall, I'd say you can hire one of many competent contractors and get an adequate job, or you can hire Mr. Grady and get superior work by someone who cares about your property as much as you do.

They were very quick in responding to request and when doing the quick. They also cleaned up and left everything in great shape.

They only charge $1,000 for the entire roof of my garage, and it was a good deal. This included removal of all the old shingles, and hauling all of the used material off the property to the dump. -Debra Castrinos

Excellent Work

Grady did not take a dime until he was done. His estimates were accurate. He performed the job quickly and when he said he would. Grady is a rare specialist in old houses - there were few people i could turn to when i needed to repoint the basement foundation of my Brooklyn brownstone from 1880. Grady knew the historic mortar mix that was appropriate to use (Virginia limeworks lime and sand) and he cares as much about my house as I do - promises to return once in the summer and again in the fall to make sure the mortar is curing properly. Great job Grady! You are a straight guy, easy to work with, and very very knowledgeable.