Sixty Google reviews in the past six months, every one of them five stars — Cook's Simple Painting has had a busy summer. The Wilmington company says Christopher Cook started it about 25 years ago with $50 in his pocket, and Chris is still the one who answers, quotes and shows up: reviewers describe same-day estimates, a crew that fit in a small job quickly, and a start date that came sooner than promised.
Painting is the name, but power washing is nearly half the story. This summer alone customers wrote about a house washed at 6:15 a.m., a porch roof scrubbed of moss and pollen in brutal heat, an egged house cleaned up, a pool deck done within a couple of days of the quote, brick patios and fieldstone walls washed, a roof treated for moss and mold, and a neglected concrete walkway recoated. Several have used Cook's for years for washing and gutter cleaning alone.
The painting work gets the same detail. Interior jobs this year include a bathroom ceiling with bad peeling diagnosed, skim-coated and repainted; a bathroom fixed after the wrong paint had been used; a room of dark wood paneling painted over and a wall of multi-layer wallpaper stripped and patched; hallways, doors and moldings. Outside, one family has had Cook's paint their house three times, another had a deck and horse barn painted around the horses' schedule, and a 1920s basement got fieldstone repair, cleaning and restoration. The crew is large enough to finish exterior jobs quickly, and the recurring lines are on time, cleaned up each day, spackled the nail holes, even fixed the downspout. Smaller carpentry comes with it — shutters installed, damaged decking, balusters and railings replaced before repainting. BBB grades the company A+, and its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration (166395) is active.
One thing to ask about before an exterior job: OSHA's website lists the company under a citation of the fall-protection standard (1926.501(b)(13)); the listing gives no date, penalty or outcome, so ask Chris how the crew is protected on ladders and roofs.
For interior or exterior painting, a power wash or a gutter cleaning around Wilmington and Reading, Cook's is the crew neighbors keep recommending to each other. Get the quote in writing, ask what prep is included, and raise the fall-protection question directly.
