Painting reviews in San Francisco, California

Excel Painting and Restoration, I cannot say enough good things about them. With superb attention to detail and care, their results are beyond reproach. Interior and exterior, are equally executed with old-school craftsmanship. Having live in my house for about sixty-years, I have seen my fair share of painters on this 135yo Victorian; not one team has come anywhere close to the results I have experienced. If you need them, call them...not the cheapest, but definitely better than the best. No doubt about it. Can't say enough.

Bill's crew did quality work in less time than we expected. They were prompt, courteous, and responsive. Two thumbs up!

Excel did an excellent job on our building! They are timely, professional, & trustworthy. Good communicators & very easy to get along with. I highly recommend these guys!

We have been customers of Excel painting for nearly 30 years. Interior and exterior work. Bill and team are reliable, clean, detail focussed and do excellent work. We recommend them without hesitation.

Bill and his crew have painted my house in Cole Valley twice and has also painted my rental property in Russian Hill.His work is exceptional. What sets them apart is the extent of prep work that lays the foundation for a lasting and stunning finish. Throughout the process, Bill and crew are very responsive, honest, and really seem to enjoy and take pride in their work. I highly recommend them.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Bill and his team twice for our business in San Francisco. They are the absolute best at what they do and are quick, efficient and a pleasure to communicate with. Their work is very high quality and you can see the difference. No corner cutting and they leave your space cleaner than when they arrived. Don’t hesitate to contact them for your next project commercial or residential.

Excel Painting and Restoration has restored my faith in quality workmanship. Over the years I have become cynical when it comes to skilled craftspeople. My experiences have included people failing to show up when they say they will, not finishing the job they started, and just plain poor workmanship.

I can't say enough wonderful things about Excel Painting and Restoration, starting with Bill, and the example he sets for his fantastic crew, Rafael, Kyle, and Ryan.

The group from Excel showed up when they said they would. They were respectful and kind, and left the work area neat and clean every day. Within the first few days of the painting project I realized that my house had NEVER been painted properly in the past. The amount of time designated for prep work was astonishing. Bill was so helpful when it came to the final color selection and placement of accent colors. He was also able to have new gutters and downspouts installed and re-configured to minimize rain contact with the house. As the house was being painted I realized that the old hardware on the door, outdoor lighting, house numbers, mailbox flap, and some window screens looked terrible with the freshly painted house. Bill readily replaced the old with the new. He kept a smile on his face, and his wonderful demeanor continued throughout the job, despite several problem areas popping up as the job was being completed.

This is not an inexpensive paint job, however when looking at the quality of the final outcome, there is no doubt in my mind that I received more than I paid for.

As long as Excel is in business, I have found my life-long painting contractor. Bill and his crew are a true pleasure to do business with.

Bill McKeever is top notch. Over the years, he and his team have painted and done reconstruction for me on three homes and two offices. Bill does a careful and thorough job from beginning to end. He is easy to work with, follows through and is very responsive and responsible. He's a great guy too! I highly recommend Excel Painting and Restoration for jobs big and small.

Bill and his team (Kyle and Rafael) at Excel Painting, Restoration and Colour Design did a fantastic job on the repairs to our three story building here in the City.

For about a year, our building was experiencing some serious water intrusion issues that needed to be addressed for this upcoming winter. After an initial investigation and assessment, it was determined our building’s front siding would need to be replaced and painted (and that possible dry rot repairs would be needed as well).

After struggling for a couple of months to find a contractor to do the job, it was Bill and his team that literally answered the call. Bill was very responsive and understanding to the issues we faced, and after meeting with him, I was very confident that he and his team could and would do an excellent job.

They were easy to work with, they worked diligently, they always kept us informed of important issues, and they were prompt. Bill also made and implemented some great suggestions about window mouldings and color schemes that made the building look even better than before.

My entire experience with Bill and his team was all positive. Their craftsmanship is top notch, and the completed siding to our building looks amazing. I highly recommend them. Thanks Bill, Kyle and Rafael!

We have used Excel painting many times. We have always been incredibly happy with their work and our experience working with them. Bill is honest, trustworthy, and excellent at what he does. His crew is great, and we always miss having them around after the job is done. I wholeheartedly recommend Excel.

How do you evaluate the quality of a contractor via a website? How do you trust the work, the people working on your home whom you have not met?
You listen to their customers, as we did.

Excel Painting and Restoration exceeds all expectations! They are completely trustworthy, competent and engaging craftsmen. You can be rest assured that your job will be done well with Excel Painting.

Bill McKeever has been painting and restoring homes in San Francisco since the mid ‘80s. His two sons, Kyle and Ryan and colleague, Rafael are the best at what they do. If you are looking for quality craftsmanship - look no further.

Our Edwardian in Noe Valley was in dire need of love. Bill was attentive from the start. He responded to our inquiry and scheduled our initial site visit that week. We’re “relationship people” so we greatly appreciated connecting with Bill. Between the customer reviews and our conversations with Bill, we felt that Excel would be the choice for us.

Bill listened to our knowledge of the building and what our wants were for it. He shared his experience working on homes such as ours suggesting we strip the paint down to the bare redwood siding. Restore the wood, deal with dry rot as needed, apply 2 coats of primer, and then paint….

Excel works with a wonderful scaffolding company that came as promised, were respectful of neighbors and provided ample netting to protect pedestrian traffic and our respective surroundings. Scraping commenced…. And at the end of each day, the Excel Team cleans up thoroughly.

Mid way thru, we expanded our project to include painting our stucco facade while addressing leaking windows. Bill provided us with an additional bid for the work and explained how they felt would be the best way to proceed. This additional work stretched our budget and time commitment but was well worth the investment. Additionally there were ‘discoveries’ areas of the house where it looked like there wasn’t a problem; however a previous owner’s workmen had cut some corners and left us with a bit of a mess. Rather than fill and paint over, the situations were repaired expertly, and then finished to Excel’s standards. Our home will be good for another 20 years!

Kyle’s elegant solutions to carpentry challenges, Ryan’s attention to detail and Rafael’s commitment to his craft truly gave our home the love it deserves. Not only are they delightful but it was a pleasure to have them working on our home, “getting into the zone” on a daily basis. We loved spoiling them with baked goods and hydrating fruits during our Indian Summer heatwave.

We were assured of the capabilities and quality of Excel’s work by the reviews of prior customers. We have been delighted with the results, and heartily recommend Excel for your painting and restoration needs.

Cynthia H
Meserve P
Oct 2024

Excel performed a long overdue repair to the front of our house, sanding many layers of damaged paint down to the original wood, replaing damaged wood trim pieces as required, sealing and repairing cracks, priming, and finishing with two coats. Their team is skilled, friendly, brought all details of their work to my attention, and cleaned up at the end of every day. We were very pleased with the end result. I highly recommend Excel Painting

It was a big decision to embark on a full exterior restoration of the façade of our 1906 Inner Richmond Edwardian, and we couldn't be happier with our decision to work with Excel.

From the beginning, we could tell they were going to do the job right. At the outset, it was clear that Bill put a lot of consideration into the initial quote; he was also transparent that there were factors that could only be identified once the project began (as with any major construction project). Once work began, their dedication to, and pride in, their work was immediately made clear by the way they prepped the worksite to ensure it would be shielded from the SF elements– they did so much more than one typically sees from other companies, which signaled to us that our home was in good hands.

It was amazing to watch the crew expertly strip away 100+ years of paint jobs layered on top of each other, and, when unforeseen issues came up, they took ownership of fixing them (notwithstanding that they weren’t responsible for the issue in the first place)– for example, when they discovered that almost all the shingles were disintegrating upon touch, they pivoted to cutting new ones on-site, by hand, and didn’t alter their original quote.

We couldn't have asked for a better partner to think through decisions big and small. Our project involved replacing every window on the entire front of the house (which they ordered and installed), expanding and replacing the garage door, adding new lighting, shoring up the front steps and restoring various decorative elements. We so appreciated their introductions to, and managing of, the appropriate tradespeople (electricians, etc.); they ensured that this work was all coordinated seamlessly.

They are incredibly knowledgeable about historic aspects of SF homes and do their research when approaching the restoration of a property. Kyle designed a sun for the top of the house — spending endless time iterating on the details to ensure it fit the character/period of the home, while having enough dimension to stand out — and built it from scratch; he is an amazing woodworker and it was a pleasure to watch him work. When we showed them a picture of a house with a color scheme we liked, they color-matched it perfectly, and were happy to mix and test out various shade options until we landed on the final combination.

And the team! Bill, Kyle, Ryan and Raf are simply the best. We loved having them around every day and enjoyed getting to know them and hearing about the process. I can say, unequivocally, that they there are truly wonderful people. They were incredibly kind to our 2-year old daughter (she was very sad the day they left), always accommodating of our scheduling needs (e.g., pausing the louder work during our daughter's nap if she was home from school) and kept us up to date on the progress. They take such pride in their work, even going above and beyond to ensure that they left interior spaces better than they found them (for example, they patched/painted interior cracks that were revealed over the course of the project, notwithstanding that this was well beyond the scope of their work).

We are so proud of the final product, and frequently get compliments from neighbors and other passersby, and will certainly turn to Excel in the future when we have additional (interior) painting or restoration needs. We recommend their services without reservation. Thank you, Excel!

Excel Painting did an excellent job restoring the front of our Edwardian home. The previous owners had stripped off every piece of trim and the front porch and replaced it with aluminum siding. Excel’s team removed the siding and painstakingly removed layers of old paint and caulking to reveal the original redwood siding. They sourced all of the trim and plaster moldings that we needed, prepped the siding, installed all the trim, new windows, new porch. It was such a relief to hand off the details to professionals that you trust to do a good job. Excel’s team of craftsmen are wonderful and our neighbors enjoyed tracking the progress as did we. Excel came to our home prepared and worked daily until the project was finished. The project was completed within the time and budget that Bill had given us. We are so happy with our house.