Rhapsody Painting & Environmental Services

I had a relatively small project at my house — removing and replacing some dry-​rotted window trim, and painting my garage door. Joseph came by, had a look, and offered a very reasonable bid for the job. He and his helper showed up on time, and completed the work quickly and professionally. Even though the job was small, my house looks SO much better, and I’m very happy that I hired Joseph! He was very easy to work with, and clearly understood the tasks at hand. I’m looking forward to hiring him and his company again!

Joseph and his team at Rhapsody just finished up a large exterior redo of our Victorian home in Noe Valley and I could not be more ecstatic with the results! First off, the Rhapsody crew is top notch; knowledgeable in just about everything (or knows someone right around the corner who is), kind, polite and an overall pleasure to work with. My house exterior was old, dingy and just not representative of the interior or who we were as homeowners. Not only did Rhapsody repaint the entire thing to perfection, but each plank was lovingly sanded down and prepped where needed giving us the appearance of a new home. Joseph was also extremely amenable to the constant changes myself and my designer threw at him (and I swear did so with a smile.) He found us a cheaper window maker in the city and worked with him to install our windows and new door. He removed the stone around our front planters and re-​stuccoed the entire thing (not originally in the plans either!) We even had his crew build a fence-​style enclosure to store our garbage cans and it is beyond beautiful (an odd thing to say about garbage storage, but totally true.) And then when we decided mid project to replace our garage door, he had his crew clean out the original track so we could reuse it and save some money. Oh, and did I mention they truly understand old Victorian homes and all the potential hazards, ie asbestos, they come along with?
End point: If you are looking to repaint/​upgrade your home, these are your guys. And pricing wise, although not the cheapest they are extremely reasonable and fair for what you get.

The work of Rhapsody Painting is actually not too bad (although not as good as they try to convince you it is). But once you’ve used them, you MUST go with any bid they give you after that. If you don’t they’ll just flat-​out refuse to ever work for you again.

I am truly happy to be writing this review for Rhapsody Painting & Environmental Services, specifically for Joseph Ruiz and his amazing crew. Joseph was able to complete a project for me wildly beyond my expectations with all kinds of life events happening during — including the birth of a child while we were staying in temporary housing. Joseph’s concern for the health and happiness of my family was evident in every action and decision he and his team made and I am very thankful for their time, especially on weekends and even Thanksgiving day.
We closed on a Victorian (1907) condo late September, and had a lead inspection performed during escrow. There were a few areas in bad shape — the «furnace room» which was a closet connected to two bedrooms, the original front 6 bay windows, and various baseboards. Prior to selling, the previous owners had put a fresh coat of paint on but covered everything — including door hinges, which also had old lead paint, so every time a door opened lead dust would grind and spray on the floor. Same with a pair of vintage pocket doors — they were broken and the friction would cause them to rub lead dust on to the floor.
When I contacted Joseph, it was originally for a bid on a paint job for the rear and sides of the building as it has been at least a decade or two and I was worried about lead paint flaking in the backyard. When Joseph handed me his business card, I also saw that he was a General Contractor, so I asked about the services he could provide walking the interior.
Joseph suggested many things that were economical and made sense, as well as offered me many options with his expert opinion based on his years teaching Lead courses in the city and his lifetime of painting expertise. He also had excellent subcontractor contacts in his network and was able to recruit an amazing HVAC team (Air Perfection) and a flooring company — more on that later.
Joseph has a very honest, trustworthy, and open demeanor — and when talking to him you see that his number one concern is your safety and happiness in the quality of the work. I had no hesitation asking him to be my general contractor and he turned around a very reasonable bid for services incredibly quickly amidst a very busy time for him (as his firm was contacted to help with Yosemite fire cleanup that same week.)
Here’s the kicker — during our general inspection, we also found out there was a lot of unpermitted remodeling done to the unit over the years, including a hodgepodge electrical splicing to old knob and tube wiring that created some safety hazards. We also found a load bearing wall removed as well as some questionable plumbing. Joseph was very comforting throughout the process and accomodated all the extra work that had to be done. We ended up having to tear open holes in every single wall, requiring Joseph’s team to do wall patching and essentially do a completely new paint job on the entire unit — walls, ceilings, wainscot, everything. This is on top of working around attic cleaners, the electrician, plumbers, the HVAC crew (who had to run entirely new ductwork and make new wall penetrations) and the flooring crew, who had to install brand new white oak floor in an entire room and cover various holes in the floor the other contractors had to make.
Joseph estimated a 6 week bid for the original scope of work, and even with all this additional work, we were able to make a new deadline only a few weeks later. I am absolutely amazed at the professionalism of his team who are all his employees with some having been with him for over a decade. Joseph would call me every day, update me on status, ask me questions on options, and even go out of his way to perform minor details as if the condo was his own. Repairing cracks, painting our entrance door, helping the cleaning crew we had for our move-​in cleaning with how to clean certain areas, etc. Joseph even repaired the cords in our original window sashes, restained the jambs, put a new protective coat on the mantle of an original maple fireplace, and tons more. Joseph also researched a flooring subcontractor who specialized in the type of coating I wanted — Rubio Monocoat, which is a single layer stain and protecting finish that is all natural and Zero VOC and found an expert and the floors turned out absolutely amazing. Joseph’s crew also used zero /​low VOC paint stripper and paint as I have two young children.
Joseph also interfaced with the city — scheduling building inspections, obtaining permits, and ensuring everything was orchestrated and in order for us to make our move-​in date.
I highly recommend Rhapsody’s services and would love to be a reference for any future work. Joseph and his crew are top quality, clean, and truly concerned with environmental safety and the health of your family. I can’t wait to have him work with me on future projects!

Mr. Ruiz just finished doing some lead remediation and painting in our turn of the century Victorian, and we were happy to find that the previous 5 star reviewers were spot on. He stripped and painted some interior doors and door frames for us. I specifically liked their attention to detail with the painting; they took the time to blend in the touch up paint on the walls with the existing paint. Mr. Ruiz communicated with us very clearly about the status of the job, what stage they were at and how long it would take. And they took the time needed to do the job right.
Mr. Ruiz is a third generation San Franciscan, and is clearly invested in his work and his city. We plan to have him back to do exterior remediation and painting on our house.

We discovered we had lead in our old Victorian and I’m so glad Joe and his team helped us remediate. First, Joe took time to understand each concern and took care to explain how each would be addressed. I felt relieved and confident before the work was even started just in the way he explained how careful the process would be and his understanding of the issues. Once the work was actually done, it was as I had hoped; his professional team addressed each concern with quality, detail-​oriented work.

Left numerous messages several days in between hoping to get a call back for a quote on some work that I was hoping they could help me with regarding lead paint. I NEVER got a call back from anyone. Very unprofessional. If they felt that the possible job was not worth their time, the least they could have done is call back to let me know they wouldn’t be able to help. It doesn’t take that long to call someone back. Just don’t waste your time with this company.

It takes a lot for me to give 5 stars. Joseph Ruiz & Rhapsody have more than earned it. They replaced our windows in an old Victorian, and stripped the lead paint from the sills to mitigate lead hazards before we moved in with our toddler.
Reasons why Joseph is great:
1) Referred by the city’s lead paint dep’t. The city helped us when our old landlord didn’t maintain his building, exposing our son to a lead hazard and then picked a crappy contractor without full certifications to do the lead control work. That was a bad experience, and Janet Palma at the SF Public Health Dep’t was a real bulldog in getting the contractor & landlord to fix the issue. Her recommendation of Joseph carries a lot of weight.
2) Joseph does the work right, and treats his crew right. He covered the whole apartment floors with plastic and followed all the protocols so there was no increased exposure to lead paint as a result of the work. His team gets regular lead tests. If you think it’s bad for us & our kids to have some exposure to lead paint, imagine if your dad brought home lead paint every night. It says a lot that Joseph’s team is trained and tested so that they do the work right, and no kids are lead poisoned as a result.
3) Joseph works fast. We were in a hurry to move in, and he was able to work with us, when other quotes told us that it would be 5 weeks or more to get the glass cut, he got us in when we needed to be in.
4) Quality lead work, the windows look great, are double paned, the lead is gone, and they sealed the floors to encapsulate any old lead paint there may have been. We weren’t expecting to get our floors done as part of the work, but it was done, no extra charge. Joseph put a lot of thought into picking out a replacement door for our old pane glass door — we ended up with a fancy one with shades between the glass for no extra cost.
5) Great customer service & follow up. One of the windows had a small crack after installation. Joseph & the manufacturer worked together to replace it — no charge. We figured out we could use FSA (health savings account) dollars to be reimbursed for the lead removal, though not the repainting. Joseph made time in a busy and difficult week to itemize the receipt showing the break out between costs for removal vs repainting and replacing the windows. All of this is after he had been paid in full and could have ignored our calls. (PS — check with your FSA about how to use pre-​tax dollars to pay for lead paint work if you have kids. It’s a great way to save money and get the work done needed to protect your kiddos).
The only small detail I would suggest that you ask about, is that the hardware on the windows themselves is a bit flimsy. Joseph doesn’t make the windows himself, he works with another manufacturer (also a good business). If I’d known that the pieces would have been so flimsy though, I would have asked to upgrade them to more solid elements. A really minor note to one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a business.

Joseph Ruiz did a great job for us… he was able to remediate our issues, gave us a good price, performed on schedule and was very efficient, and we had happy tenants throughout the process, as he was very communicative with them about schedule and work.
We highly recommend.

Four Stars does not do this company justice. After I was cited by the City of San Francisco for ‘paint chipping’ (just another City scam to make money off of property owners), I had to find an environmental painting co. who could do the job and get the City off of my back. Rhapsody did it ALL!
Rhapsody took care of the work needed to be done, including scaffolding and painting, made an excellent and fair bid to do the work, and, after I signed their proposal, they did exactly what they said they would do and they did it in just a few days. Their workmanship and consideration of my family living in the property while they did their work was 10 STAR!!!
Rhapsody is the best!

Rhapsody did a great job painting our place at a reasonable price… not the lowest, not the highest, but fair… and well worth it as the work progressed. Promises kept, help with colors. Happy with the outcome. What else can you ask for?

Pre-​review: Joseph Ruiz has been very responsive and gave me a reasonable quote (less than $ 30k) to remove all the hideous stucco from my 1900 victorian, restore the detailing, repair any wood damage, and re-​paint to its original splendor. It’s a fairly basic 4-​plex as far as victorians go, so we’ll see what transpires. Rhapsody’s other work around town looks solid.