Landmark House Defaced by Benjamin Moore Paint  

Benjamin Moore’s response: Hire a lawyer! 

A landmark house under restoration in the Ridgeville Historic District in Evanston, Illinois has been badly damaged by Benjamin Moore paint.  The historic home, built on land used by Evanston’s first settlers as a graveyard, and which also served as Evanston’s first schoolhouse in the late 1800s, is one of the City’s most prominent and visible buildings.  Designed by the noted 19^th Century architect Carbys Zimmerman, the 7,000 square foot shingle style home has been under restoration by the current owners for the last 15 years, who intend to return it to its original 19^th Century grandeur.

As part of the restoration process, the home was recently re-shingled.  A highly regarded vintage home specialist, Professional Painters of Lisle, IL, was brought in to finish the exterior; the paint was Benjamin Moore.  Tony Severino, owner of Professional Painters, in paraphrase, said, “After decades painting homes, I have come to trust Benjamin Moore paints so much that I insisted on using Benjamin Moore on my own mother’s house.  Moore’s reputation is impeccable and I wouldn’t think of using anything else on such an important project as the old Ridgeville Schoolhouse.  Imagine my embarrassment when, after six months, the paint began to peel from the shingles, and soon thereafter, the rich chocolate brown began to fade.  Now, just a couple of years later, the house and its fence is peeling everywhere and the color has almost turned pink!  I am shocked.”

Representatives from Benjamin Moore examined the paint and proclaimed it to be absolutely free from defect, explaining that the problem must be related to some problem in the 120 year old house itself, though the house has always had a painted exterior without incident.  The suspect paint has since been sent to two independent laboratories for analysis, and, as expected, both laboratories’ reports conclude that the paint, itself, was defective and the cause of the problem. 

Despite the conclusions of two independent labs, Benjamin Moore continues to deny responsibility for the damage to the old Ridgeville Schoolhouse, and has offered a series of bizarre explanations for the paint failure, all contrary to the lab results.  The house, now a public eyesore (see photos), is adorned with banners proclaiming “This is Benjamin Moore Quality”.  When asked to comment, the owners said, “We were happy to use Benjamin Moore paint because Moore is said to be the best on the market, and this is obviously a very special house.  It’s a shame that Benjamin Moore’s public image is so different from its reality.  Who would have ever thought that a company owned by Warren Buffet would behave this way.”

Astonishingly, though the paint has apparently been withdrawn from the market by Benjamin Moore, the company insists that the reason for the peeling and fading is not paint defect.  To Benjamin Moore, it seems that it might be more plausible that the cause has something to do with the backyard graveyard than with the paint!

Open letter to Warren Buffett, owner of Benjamin Moore Paint Company

Dear Mr. Buffett:

You are credited with saying that “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and only 5 minutes to ruin one”.  From our perspective, this is a quote that your Benjamin Moore Company would be well advised to keep in mind. 

A man in your position can surely not be troubled by one family’s problems, but your reputation for quality, value and integrity is clearly not reflected by the operational reality of Benjamin Moore. As an entrepreneur and a student of your work, I think that you won’t mind me complaining, because I am a customer who did not receive value from Benjamin Moore. 

Our beautiful house has been devastated by Benjamin Moore paint.  The paint on our house is obviously defective as quite a few professionals have verified, and it has been deemed defective by two independent laboratories as well, but Benjamin Moore evidently has developed a business plan that does not include admitting mistakes, much less taking responsibility for them.  To deny that the paint is defective strains credibility to say the least, but that is the position of Moore’s representatives and lawyers.

We have therefore, been forced to litigate against Benjamin Moore, a process that we know Moore can easily afford, but which few families can sustain.  Benjamin Moore’s strategy is plain to see – deny responsibility, then, in the rare occasion when a customer litigates, spend them into oblivion.  This is not the way a company owned by Warren Buffett is supposed to behave.

And though it may take more than 5 minutes to do so, we now intend to transform the shiny Benjamin Moore finish into something resembling the exterior of our house, faded and peeling.

Taking potshots at a company as well respected as Benjamin Moore does not please me at all, but if you look at the photos below, you will see why it is necessary.

Sincerely,

Seth Allen
1100 Ridge Avenue
Evanston, IL 60202

Many people have been asking me technical questions about the paint failure, e.g. what caused it, why is it both peeling and fading, etc., in short, questions that I am not qualified to answer with authority. Therefore, I am posting both independent lab reports on this website for curious readers. They are both contained in the “Rimkus report”. Happy reading!

Download the Report:   Click here for Part 1   |   Click here for Part 2

Breaking News!

Benjamin Moore has now sued us for “defamation and commercial disparagement” of their company, based on the content of this website and on the banner on the exterior of our house. Evidently Benjamin Moore does not think that we have the right to tell the truth about what has happened to our house, or about their defective paint. However, the law is quite clear - the standard of defamation is “…proof that the publication was false, and that the defendant (me) either knew it to be false, or, believing it to be true, lacked reasonable grounds for that belief.”

Just in case anyone has a doubt about this, I will state my position here. We have no reason to doubt the conclusions of the two independent laboratory reports, both of which state that the failure of the paint is due to defective paint. This position is also supported by many painting professionals who have seen the house and have made the same conclusion. In the interest of complete disclosure, to this point, I have received a possibly contrary opinion from only one person, who told me that painting a house is almost always a losing proposition, especially in a climate like Chicago’s. His position seems to be that even good paint peels in these conditions – though he could not provide any explanation for why the paint failed on so many differently prepared surfaces, nor why it faded.

The reports, along with the opinions of so many professionals, easily outweigh the opinion of Benjamin Moore, especially because Moore clearly has its own interest in mind, while essentially every other voice on this matter has nothing to gain, or lose, from their opinion.

Police Report Filed!

Our banner, reading "This Landmark Home Defaced by Benjamin Moore Paint" has mysteriously disappeared from the front of our house. It was not torn off by vandals, but carefully removed using very sharp professional instruments. Who would do such a thing?

Second Police Report Filed!

Wow, it seems that our efforts have been noticed and that someone does not appreciate our sign! The new sign we have installed, replacing the banner that was stolen, is a permanent metal sign reading “This landmark home defaced by Benjamin Moore paint”. This new sign was vandalized by someone within 48 hours of its installation!

We have been very careful not to speculate about the identity of the perpetrator of either the theft of the first sign or the vandalism of the second sign, and in fact we are having a hard time imagining why anyone would be so upset about signs that explain why our house looks so bad. Why would anyone be willing to risk criminal prosecution simply in order to remove the message “this home defaced by Benjamin Moore paint” from the front of our house? Who would do such a thing?

Benjamin Moore’s lawyers seem to be sensitive about this issue for some reason. They just sent me another questionnaire asking me to provide, among other things, “any statements made by any person regarding this incident”! Wow! That is some request. We haven’t said much about this ourselves, but we have no idea what all of the other people on Planet Earth have been saying (Tom and Katie haven’t returned my call yet).

We are sad that we really can’t provide Moore’s lawyers with a satisfying answer to their question, so we are asking for your help.

PLEASE HELP US HELP BENJAMIN MOORE’S LAWYERS!

We would like your thoughts about who stole our banner. Please select one of the following perps:

1. An underground Anti First Amendment activist organization rapidly spreading its message – “no message!”
2. The international artist Christo, who intends to use it to wrap the monument in Fountain Square
3. It wasn’t removed at all. It was never there in the first place. You are sooooo lame!
4. A six year old boy who wanted to use it as a slip and slide
5. None of the above

Send your suggestion in to www.bmpaint.net The best response will win a bottle of sparkling wine (must be over 21 to enter). We will forward your answers to Benjamin Moore’s lawyers.

We would like to hear from you regarding your experiences with Benjamin Moore. Please tell us whether you are a contractor, a trade professional, or a customer, and give us as much detail as you think we need to know. We will contact you as our investigation progresses. You can reach us at seth@bmpaint.net.