CertaPro Painters of Palatine, IL

First the good news. The estimate process was very easy to schedule online and the estimator man, Phil, showed up exactly on time and was very professional and thorough. He left me with a folder of information that explained some things and we traded 8-9 emails back and forth and he answered all my questions and I signed the Docusign contract. CertaPro evidently uses Sherwin-Williams paint which I have used myself for over 30 years on projects, so I was comfortable with that. We agreed that the work would be completed before a certain date and time, and Phil said he thought it was a two-day job, that MAYBE the crew would have to come back for a short time on the third day to wrap things up. That fit my schedule, so I agreed and signed. The production manager Megan called me right away and we got the job scheduled. Still good news, a couple days later the crew showed up, right on time, and quickly got to work. Edwin, Heidel and Lestme helped me move a few pieces of furniture that were too big for me to move on my own. There were quite a few areas of the house where work was going on so I retreated to a safe place and let the crew do their thing. Pretty quickly they had things taped off and plastic hung and tarps spread and got to work first sanding the walls and ceiling and then applying the paint. They were all very nice, I mostly communicated through Edwin, and they removed nails and picture hangers and patched a couple places here and there that needed attention. Before you could say, “Bob’s your uncle” they had completed the painting and by 5 p.m. they were finished with the job, cleaned up, out the door and drove away. So, the problem is really with the details. Once the painting was completed it took the crew and me some time to find one of the valence brackets that had been misplaced, it might have been by me or by them but in any case, it took a while to finally locate it on top of a tall bookshelf. The picture hangers and nails and screws that were removed from the walls were not all put back in the same places, and that kind of makes a difference in how the picture hangs at the right height so that was kind of a problem that I had to later correct in some places. At the end of the day, Edwin came to me with a couple nearly empty paint cans and asked if I wanted to keep them in order to touch up things in the future, and of course I said yes, but one of them was tinted paint and there was not a lot of explanation to me about which colors and especially which finishes were put on which walls. So, I still am not sure where exactly that paint was used. It would have been nice it it had been marked or labeled. The sanding process also leaves a nice smooth surface in order to have the new coat of paint look good, but there was sanding dust all over the kitchen floor and counters and that took me a little while to clean everything off, sweep and vacuum. Same in the piano room. I wish Edwin had notified me as work areas were progressing so I could confirm first coats were on and then topcoats were being applied. The estimate that we agreed to called for two coats and I never really saw that progression anywhere in the house. “Trust but verify”, you know? If the crew had come back for the second day, I would not have even questioned this but as they got it all done in one day and I am an older guy that has painted a lot myself in the past, I was a little shocked they got two coats on in one day, even with their fans and heaters and we turned up the furnace a little to dry out the air to get the paint to dry faster. Finally, and again this references that the crew finished so quickly, I was disappointed in the quoted price given that this ended up just being a one-day job. I am really happy it went quickly, but the amount I paid would not have been reasonable in my opinion for one day worth of work for three painters. In the future I would not hesitate to use CertaPro again or recommend to family or friends as long as we keep an eye on the details.

CertaPro was easy to work with to get a quote followed by organizing and scheduling the work. The crew did a great job but there was an issue with some paint spray excess covering a different area. Once we pointed this oversight out, the crew came back and cleaned everything up to our satisfaction. The whole experience was professional and friendly. I would highly recommend CentraPro for your painting needs!

I'm going to give this team a well-deserved five star rating. We've used them twice on the exterior of our home and they did a phenomenal job. Not only that, the team is hyper communicative, very personable, and their prices are actually pretty darned reasonable. We really appreciated them reaching out in advance to confirm scope, and enjoyed the interaction that we had with the painters who came to work on the house. Good people doing good work. Five stars.