AA Total Painting is Now Top Banana Painting!
Top Banana Painting is a new name for a company Tampa has trusted since 2016. The people, the process, and the warranty stayed exactly the same. What changed is what's on the sign.
ORIGIN STORY: Started in 2016, Still Family-Run
Felix and Ylvia Santana started this company in May 2016 as AA Total Services. What began as residential repaint work in and around Tampa grew over eight years into a company handling interior, exterior, cabinet, and commercial projects across the greater Tampa Bay area, with more than 1,500 homes painted along the way. Growth like that doesn't happen from advertising alone. It happens because homeowners who hired the company once called back for the next room, and told their neighbors to do the same.
In November 2024, their son Alix took over full operations to carry the business forward. Alix had already been painting alongside his father since the age of twelve, so the transition wasn't a stranger stepping in, it was a continuation of the same standards under new leadership. He kept the prep-first approach his parents built the company on, and added the written daily update as a formal part of every job, something he'd wanted to see done consistently for years before he was the one with the authority to make it standard.
The name Top Banana Painting isn't a joke. "Top banana" means the one in charge, the best in the lineup, which is the same thing this company set out to be back in 2016: one step above the rest. The new name is a claim the crew has to earn on every job, the same way the old one did.
MISSION & VISION: What We're Here to Do And Where We're Taking It
Mission
Homeowners across Tampa and the surrounding Tampa Bay area have usually been burned once already: a contractor who gave a start date and then went quiet, no crew, no call, no explanation. Top Banana Painting's mission is to be the one company you call for a paint job and never have to think about hiring a painter again for years, backed by a written, itemized proposal, a crew that shows up when it says it will, and a warranty in writing, not a verbal promise made during the estimate.
Vision
Plenty of painters say they communicate well. Top Banana Painting's vision is to make that the standard homeowners can count on, not a slogan, by putting it into a document you actually receive every single day the job is on your property. That difference, delivered the same way on every job, is what the company is building toward.
VALUES & CULTURE: What Actually Matters Here
Direct answers instead of hedging. If a project will take three days, you hear three days, not a vague window that leaves room to disappoint you later. Specific steps instead of vague promises, since naming exactly what gets pressure washed, scraped, and caulked before priming means more than a general assurance that the crew is thorough. A little bit of humor when it's appropriate, in a headline or a text message, and none at all when it's not, warranty language and proposals stay straight, always.
Those aren't slogans on a wall. They're the standard the crew gets held to on every job, from a single-room touch-up to a full commercial repaint, and they're the same standard whether the homeowner is watching or not.
OUR TEAM: The Crew Behind Every Project
Top Banana Painting runs with three sub-teams and six in-house painters, sized and scheduled based on what your project actually needs. A single room might get one painter for a day. A full exterior repaint gets a larger crew working in sequence, so the job moves at the pace it should instead of dragging out over weeks.
Every painter who reaches your home has been vetted before they're allowed anywhere near it, and project managers oversee quality and communication throughout the job, not just at the walkthrough. That oversight is what turns "we communicate well" from a slogan into something you actually experience, since it's someone's specific job to make sure the daily update goes out and the work matches what was proposed.
About the Owner: Alix Santana: Running the Business His Parents Started
Alix Santana runs Top Banana Painting day to day. He grew up on job sites, holding a ladder and learning the trade from his father before he was a teenager, which means the standards you see today came from years of actually doing the work, not from a manual handed down by a franchise office. That background shows up in the small decisions: how a crew gets sized for a job, what gets caulked before priming, how a schedule gets built so it actually holds. Felix and Ylvia Santana, his parents and the company's original founders, are still part of the story, even though Alix now runs the operation.
Proof, Not Just Promises
Top Banana Painting is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating and is an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm, a certification that matters most on older homes where lead-based paint is a real concern, not just a box to check. The company is also a member of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, and stays active in the Tampa community beyond the job site itself.
Through the company's DAA (Doing Acts of Altruism) initiative, a portion of proceeds goes toward supporting local animal shelters and community efforts across the Tampa area. It's a small piece of the business, but it's a real one, not a line added to a website for the sake of having one.
Quality Painting Services for Tampa Homes & Businesses
Top Banana Painting covers seven core services for homeowners and businesses across Riverview and the surrounding Tampa Bay area.
Exterior Painting
Stucco, siding, and trim get pressure washed, scraped, and primed before any coat goes on, built to hold up against Florida humidity and sun.
Interior Painting
Walls, trim, and ceilings get the same careful prep in every room, with floors and furniture protected before any color goes on the walls.
Cabinet Refinishing
Cabinets get pulled apart piece by piece, sprayed for an even factory-style coat, and reassembled clean, without the brush marks a DIY job leaves behind.
Deck & Fence Staining
Docks, decks, and fences built along the water's edge get cleaned, repaired where needed, and stained with a product made for constant moisture.
Commercial Exterior
Retail plazas, offices, and storefronts get the same thorough prep and product standard as residential jobs, with work scheduled around your operating hours.
Commercial Interior
Local offices and shops get their interiors painted on a schedule built around when you're actually open, never a one-size-fits-all timeline for every tenant.
Our Process: Here's What Happens When You Call Us
You'll talk through your project first, not with a script, but with someone asking real questions about what you actually want. From there, you get a written proposal that spells out what's included before anyone shows up with a brush. Once you approve it, your project gets a start date and a realistic timeline.
You Get a Real Proposal
Before anyone touches a wall, you get a written, itemized proposal that spells out exactly what's included, so there's no guessing what the number on the page actually covers.
We Schedule Around Your Life
Once you approve the proposal, you get a start date and a realistic timeline, including how many days the crew expects to be on-site.
You Get a Project Update Every Day
At the end of each day your job is on the schedule, you get a written update covering what got done and what's happening next. No guessing, no waiting for a callback that doesn't come.
We Protect & Respect Your Space
Floors get covered, painters wear shoe covers inside your home, and materials get organized into one spot so the job site stays clean while the work is happening.
You Get a Full Walkthrough Before We're Done
Before we call the job finished, someone walks the entire project with you. If anything's off, it gets fixed before we leave. That's the satisfaction guarantee in practice, not just a line on the website.
