EmpireWorks Reconstruction and Painting

EmpireWorks is currently reconstructing and painting our Condo community of Linda Vista Village in Lompoc, CA. While the crew is very polite, they also have issues which will disrupt your community. They often smoke while on-​site, in the presence of homeowners, and while working on your homes. In addition, they routinely break windows and punch through walls of homes.
The crew is expedient in removing siding, but much slower at reconstruction, which results in a vast number of buildings left exposed (often during periods of rain) unnecessarily. Instead of working one or two buildings at a time, they prefer to tear down the siding of many buildings, then slowly replace that siding while still working too far ahead. As a result, several units remain nearly, but not entirely completed for months (window frames left half-​done, siding partially replaced, door frames with wood partially exposed, and wires totally exposed running along the sides and entryways of houses.
Once the crew finishes reconstructing a building (typically four homes), any vegetation has been trampled so badly that it must be replaced, and the siding is left unpainted for several months. Scaffolding is left up in the entryway and rear of homes for up to six weeks after work has been completed. Some may not mind these eyesores, and the inside of your home by this time is once again peaceful because the hammering and drilling has moved far enough away from your house, but for anyone hoping to sell or rent their homes, the result is a very unattractive look for the community for months longer than necessary.

This company was painting a building at 9^th avenue and Judah in San Francisco in September 2015. I was a pedestrian walking along the sidewalk next to the building. I was hit in the head by a piece of masonry, knocked loose by their painters, who were prepping the building for painting. I was not seriously hurt, but it was a frightening experience. I called the police, who came to the site, and warned EmpireWorks to be more careful about draping the building before undertaking renovations. However, as far as I could see, nothing was done. This company takes shortcuts with public safety.

Interesting and telling that Community Managers/​Project Managers rated Empire Works 5 stars (and they only managed the projects and did not get their homes painted) and the actual homeowners who got their homes painted rated them 1 star. Empire has finished our units, packed up and left. They left broken sprinklers and gobs of stucco debris in the planter and flower beds. They did not do the final finishing work on some units. The association has had to hire other contractors to finish and clean up Empire’s shoddy work.

EmpireWorks just painted a Community I manage, Montilla located in Irvine. I can’t tell you as a Community Manager how important it is to have communication and someone who knows what they are doing. We worked with Austin Riley at the company and there wasn’t a day that he wasn’t on-​site making sure the Board was happy, or homeowners knew how to use the website they create for your community to see when their building is coming up. When you have a million other things to do this is a great perk because you can trust the company enough to take care of this baby for you from A-​Z. Also Austin made himself available to us anytime, he would even talk to homeowners during the weekend. which you don’t find everywhere.
At the end of the project my Board was 100% satisfied with their work and really liked the company and the way they carried themselves. Although Empire was slight higher in price… the Board saw the quality and attention to detail that Austin gave and that made it 100% worth it to them.
Empire posted numerous flyers on garage doors (with painters tape… you might think its funny I’m putting that but you have no idea lol)… Empire is also cleaning up wrought iron fences in other communities I take care of as well. .I would 100% recommend them.
Feel free to contact me for any references or answers to your questions for them.

EmpireWorks recently painted my condo community in Newport Beach Ca. This company is very dishonest!!! They were rude and very unprofessional once it was time to pay. Their quote and the final price was way off!!!
Their ratings with 5 stars are prob. fake or they made their employees write them. There is no way they earned 5 stars!!!
The work they do is sloppy and «rushed» I will spend an incredible amount of time and effort telling people what a dishonest company they are.

I enjoy working with Empire Works because they have quality work and great response time. Kayla Gilman is great to work with, professional, and stays in communication with me constantly. I highly recommend EmpireWorks!

The complex I live in utilized this company. I must say I was very pleased with their willingness to accommodate and address the individual concerns I had for my unit. All Project deadlines were completed earlier than expected. Empireworks kept residents informed of each stage of the painting project. The crews on site were ALL very curious and polite. No loud yelling, cussing or music. Daily start and finish times, as well as breaks and lunches were adhered to consistently every day. Daily work areas were left clean, and during the day caution tape and/​or cones were placed for safety. As far as my unit goes, they definitely earned this 5 STAR !

We recently used EmpireWorks to do a major upgrade to our entire neighborhood including major repair/​replacement works and painting.
The Project Manager — Austin — was outstanding to work with — highly responsive and very much on top of the work being done.
The finished project was exactly on time and extremely well done
I would highly recommend these guys for anyone interested in this kind of work
Great job Empire!

I am a property manager who is often searching for a decent vendor and with Empire, I have found that vendor. They are professional, accommodating and their prices are great. I have had the pleasure of working with Kayla Gilman. She’s sweet and manages to get me the bids I need in no time. No job is too big or too small and I have yet to be disappointed with the quality of work. Thanks Empire!!!

I am a property manager for HOA’s in Orange County. I have worked with Empire on several big projects now and each time they have been amazing. Their customer service and follow up is outstanding. I would definitely recommend them. Their professionalism and customer care is very impressive.

Empire is great as customer service for the homeowner and being responsive to needs immediately. They are clean and tidy painters with great crews who care about the finished product.

empireworks is currently in the middle of a painting project in my community. the quality of work has been fantastic so far. more importantly — the customer service has been superior. the onsite superintendent couldn’t have been more helpful when I had questions regarding the power washing of my unit. in addition, their notices were posted two days prior to starting and the painters even helped me move my patio furniture.

While Empire was power washing and painting our condo complex in Newport Beach, I discovered they were using my water from my private faucet to power wash buildings over a period of 2 days. Worse, their workers used a pair of vise grips to turn on my water faucet because I had removed the handle to prevent my water from being taken. When I called Empire to complain, their rep Calvin tried to assure me that very little water was used. Really? Two days of power washing uses «very little water?» As for helping themselves to my water without my knowledge or consent, he gave a sob story about my building being «a special case» and them needing MY water to do the job. Really? Just help yourself to a private water source? And the kicker: Calvin turned flippant and said he didn’t understand why I was making a big deal out of it – after all, «no one else was.» That’s easy: no one else CAUGHT them. I spoke to my neighbors and they had no idea Empire was taking water in the manner I discovered. Eventually Calvin offered to reimburse me for the water they used if I would present my last and next water bills. This is a shady company that will work in your complex as they see fit and then make you deal with a representative who will deftly exonerate them from any responsibility for it. Beware how they conduct themselves in your community.
UPDATE 10÷22÷14: I came home today the week AFTER they notified us they would be painting. I found two workers painting my condo patio. They scared my dog and rearranged the BBQ, tables, chairs and plumeria plant. They got paint in the dog’s food and water dishes. I spoke to the foreman on the spot. He admitted he forgot to post a notice they would be painting our patio that day. Once again, beware how this outfit conducts itself in your community. They have no problem doing whatever suits them at your expense while doing their work. UPDATE 11/​13/​2014: I filed a complaint with the BBB. Empire offered a check for $ 20 to cover the water they took. Empire still insists «What’s the big deal?» and continues to defend or excuse the way they took my private water to power wash our condo building for 2 days. That is the real issue and it is one they will not acknowledge. This will be reflected in Empire’s Reliability Report under BBB Case ID 10 263 492 for 36 months. UPDATE 11÷19÷14: My water bill just arrived. It was TRIPLE my normal amount. So much for Empire’s claim that «very little water» is used during power washing. I called them and requested they reimburse me further for the water they stole from my faucet. Awaiting a response. UPDATE 11÷23÷14: Empire sent another check for $ 44 to cover the total of $ 64 in excess water usage on my bill. Because they got caught, they paid up. If I had not accidentally discovered them taking my water they would have gotten away with it. The warning remains the same: watch out for Empire when they are working on your property.

I have worked with Empire Works multiple times and have never been disappointed. They have always been extremely professional and on top of every little detail. Currently they are doing a wood repair, painting, utility door replacement and deck sealing project for me at an HOA in Aliso Viejo. I have not received one single complaint. Instead I have actually received comments about how great they have been doing and how friendly and professional their guys have been. Our account manager, Austin Riley, has made the process so simple and stress free as well. He has been very responsive and has made sure to give me weekly updates on the job. He has made my job so much easier. I will definitely be working with Empire Works again for any future projects!

Aaron, Jim, and Jamie, were easy to work with and very professional. Empire Works painted the entire condominium complex where we live in Huntington and did an excellent job. They were thorough, conscientious and communicative. From the beginning of the project and all the way to the end, they were very attentive to our needs and concerns. They cleaned up after themselves everyday before leaving the complex, which made residents very happy. The paint and detail turned out very beautiful and I highly recommend them for any project.

Colleagues and I have used Empire Painting on various jobs over the last several years. They just completed a painting project in Fountain Valley at a community with 164 units, and I did not have any complaints by the owners.

Empire recently painted our Laguna Hills Condo units. They do incomplete and mediocre work. They offer a second-​class job and when you point out the deficiencies you are called «picky». How is it my fault that they didn’t take pride in their work and do the job correctly the first time? Oh, they will come out again to fix their mistakes. They have been out 4 times and the work in the backyard is still not done right. Each time they come out I have to waste another vacation day. The 5 day job to replace the weep screeds and paint just the back of my house took 13 days;. and 3 of those days were wasted because they just never showed up. They painted over rotted wood, which I pointed out to them was rotten and needed to be replaced. They trampled my plants. They got stucco and paint all over my patio, plants and pavers. I have one wall that is 3 different colors. The original color because they were too lazy to paint behind the bush. The new color they painted trying to cover up the fact that they did not repair the weep screeds. And when they replaced the weep screeds they painted just the repaired section instead of painting edge to edge so that area is a different color too. The paint is already peeling off the wood fence that they painted. The condo association defends them and says that I am the only one to complain (which I know is not true) and just look at the other Unilocal reviews; there is a trend here folks. So choose your paint company wisely. Looking for second-​rate, sub-​par work? Then hire Empire Painting & Construction and that’s what you’ll get. And zero customer service; you will not hear from management (they just keep sending back the same workers to try and fix what they did wrong originally) and I have never so much as gotten an «we are sorry for your inconvenience.» And to clarify an Empire response: I checked the BBB website it states, «this business is not BBB accredited. BBB does not have sufficient information to issue a rating on this business.» So they don’t have a low rating; they have no rating.

Empire just finished painting our condo community and like the other reviews Empire were by far the sloppiest painters I have experienced. I now have paint on my new windows, concrete and blacktop, patio furniture, bar-​b-​que, plants and various other items around my house. These items were even moved to the center of the patio as instructed. Empire never covered anything so there are drips everywhere. Empire took forever to finish and the trim work is inferior.

These guys recently painted my condo community. They trampled our plants. They did a poor job painting. They took way longer than estimated. They would ask us to clear balconies and porches so they could paint, but then not come back for a week leaving me with a BBQ in my kitchen for no reason. When the job was complete they asked for feedback on touch-​ups. It took me three calls into customer service before the job foreman finally called me back. Even then he only did half of what I wanted and was otherwise useless. I would recommend you go somewhere else for your next paint job.

Terrible service! I was looking for exterior paints for my house. I went with them because the price was cheap. Big mistake! The paint only looks good for 2 years, then started cracking and peeling. I called them and they said they’ll send someone over but they never did! I finally gave up after so many phone calls. Later I see they changed their business name but with the same address! (probably doing that because of their low BBB rating). Avoid them at all cost