Esbin Quality Painter

Esbin and Aldo have done quite a bit of painting on our home — both inside and out. They are trustworthy and hardworking. I am a designer and have seen many painters work — from the precise, excellent and pricey to bargain basement types. Esbin Quality paint would fall into the very very good category. I believe that if you have old woodwork with many layers of paint and want it totally sanded down to the original — you will have to be clear with these painters as you would have to be any other that that is your desire and the job will get bid accordingly.

I hired Esbin Aguilar and his crew to paint my 100 year old home. His bid was far lower than any other and seemed like a good deal. Yikes! NEVER hire an unlicensed contractor. Apparently he got a higher paying job and put me on the back burner. He won’t answer my calls and he and his wife don’t acknowledge my e-​mails. There seems to be no recourse for me but to write off the entire amount I paid him (first third) and have it done by a dedicated professional. I’ll say it again, NEVER hire an unlicensed contractor.

Wow – my experience with Esbin and his crew was very different from the other reviewers’, but maybe that’s because my house required more prep work for a quality finish than theirs did.
I hired Esbin to paint my house in 2007. His bid seemed competitive at the time, but if I were to do it over again, I would certainly choose another outfit. Why? Other than power-​spraying, they did NO prep work, which parts of the house sorely needed. The fascia on the front and side had splinters and peeling, chipping paint; rather than scrape and sand, they just painted over the whole mess. On a rain drainage pipe next to the front door, there where big chunks of old paint peeling off; again, they painted over it. In another area, there were several old screws sticking part way out of the wood siding. They did not remove the screws and then fill in the holes – they painted over ‘em. Again, this is near the front door – highly visible and anything but attractive. Take a look at the photos I posted under his business listing if you want to see how all this turned out.
Also, they were less than clear about their schedule. Sometimes a couple of days would go by with nobody on site, and nobody informed me of what was going on. On one such day, I was startled when I went into my back yard and two of the guys had entered without letting me know they were there; they had just arrived and were enjoying lunch. Later, they helped themselves to my gardening buckets without asking and ruined them with paint.
I am not sure who «quality painter» refers to, because Esbin and his crew did not do a quality job on my house. Ultimately I will have to hire someone else to correct their shoddy work.

Esbin has done a couple of jobs for us now, including painting the interior of our very first home! We wanted a great job, and couldn’t afford a high end painter. We didn’t need one. Esbin and his brother do excellent, beautiful work, and he couldn’t be nicer to work with. As other have mentioned, his prices are very reasonable, and in this case, the saying that «you get what you pay for» isn’t true. With Esbin you get more than you pay for. Here’s a good example. As he was finishing up doing our kitchen, laundry room and hallways, I asked him about how I might repair some cracks that had opened up near the windows. He showed me what to do, but then just said he’d do it himself. I said, «fine, please add this to the total bill.» He said that he would be happy to do it at no charge and that he would just welcome a good recommendation if anyone asked about his work. That is what I call integrity. We are going to get an estimate from him to paint the exterior of our home this coming year and I can’t really think of working with anyone else. His brother is really good at what he does, as well, and a kind soul. I can’t recommend them highly enough. It’s hard to make ends meet for most of us these days. If you give these folks work, you’ll likely be very happy with it and you’ll be supporting an excellent small businessman who does high quality work.
You can reach him at (925) 382‑3440 or (510) 472‑6788.

Esbin Aguilar did a wonderful job painting my mom’s house and she is pleased with the new look. The quality of their work is very good and the cost reasonable. Esbin and his crew are extremely hard working and professional. My mom sometimes wondered if they even took breaks because they seem to work nonstop. Esbin, his brother Aldo and cousin are trustworthy, warm people that quickly put me at ease knowing my mom & her house were in good hands. We now feel we have a painter of our own. We highly recommend their work.

We had a completely different experience with Esbin than J.B. did. He spent three days prepping our house, especially the windows, which were peeling terribly. I wasn’t completely satisfied with one area, and he redid it without complaint. Our house is now beautiful! Esbin is incredibly nice and easy to work with; he didn’t get ruffled by our very difficult neighbor. I can’t say enough about how happy we are with his work.

Esbin Quality Painter — e-​mail contact:
Esbin and his brother did a good job at by far the best price of the 9 or 10 bids we got. They work all over the bay area (my house is in Alameda), and are very good natured guys with good senses of humor. They each have over 1o years of experience.
In fact, their price was ¹⁄₃ to ¼ the price of most other bids we got, and ¹⁄₁₀ the price of some high end bids. The quality was just fine, and toward the end, if you notice anything needing a little extra attention, Esbin is happy to address it. They did a particularly careful job on the straight edges between two colors on the front and entryway of the house.
However, if there are major changes to what was planned, Esbin may ask for more money, which is reasonable — not that much more, and the price will still be way lower than what you’d get from most others.
Hence, as with all painters, it is important to say exactly what is expected upfront before he makes the bid — communicate with Esbin’s brother or wife verbally or via e-​mail for easiest clariy in English (Esbin speaks Spanish and his English is so-​so). i.e. if you want bondo instead of caulk in nail holes, say so. If you want high end prep work (e.g. so you don’t see lines at the edge of scraped paint, or whatnot), be clear on that — he’ll probably ask you anyway so expectations are clear.
Ultimately, you can get 3 or 4 paint jobs from Esbin at the price you’d pay for 1 paint job from most others who have fancy setups, vehicles and lifestyles. Even if the paint job ends up lasting 9 years instead of 10 because they don’t spend quite as much effort on prep, it is still well worth it. Great value.
–Ethan