CertaPro Painters® of Central Connecticut LLC

We called Certa Pro Painters after great reviews by Jim Vicevich, radio host on 1080 Radio, WTIC. I convinced my wife to try them. 
The initial visit by the owner, Paul, was timely and he provided a quote for wallpaper removal and painting separately which sounded fine. Also Paul advised us that a color consultant will call before the work is done to assist and it was no charge.
We chose the complete job for the areas above.
We opted for the November - December schedule that included a discount.
November came and we received a call in the evening that the crew will arrive the next day at 8 am.  No advance warning to have us remove pictures, furniture etc. They said just remove all sensitive items and the crew will handle the rest.
The two men arrived the next day and started to remove the wallpaper. It was very dusty after.  After the removal we were advised that there were excessive cracks and we would need to pay more. We agreed to a modified contract.
Most responses were defensive with comments that it was not in the contract. We expected a better customer satisfaction response. Hiding behind the contract seemed more important to them than good customer service and exceeding expectations.
The men spoke minimal English and my wife and I had a difficult time communicating with them so a few calls were needed. Also we expected a daily review by a site manager as advertised. None showed but after a few weeks we were told that the painters were also the managers. My first impression was that they were laborers to remove the wallpaper, not painters with years of experience.
When the walls were done, I asked about the ceilings that were not done yet. I received a puzzled look and showed them the contract. They got nervous and called the office. The person in the office asked if the ceilings were to be made smooth. I said, no just patch any small cracks and paint. That was done.
Then they wanted to know what colors are to be used. We advised that we did not get the consultant visit yet to select. That was arranged and that was the best part of the process. She was excellent and we chose the three colors and trim color.
The painting started and it took some time. There were paint drippings on the floor and couch that were not cleaned. Some were.
The crew arrived varying times so it was difficult for us to arrange other personal schedules. 
 
When I asked about the trim in the rooms, they said it was not included. We called and were told that was true. It was never discussed and we expected the trim to be included since it was a complete painting job. Paul should have been clear on this important point in the initial consultation. It's like buying a car. You want an engine too?
 
My wife had to provide to Julie over the phone the amount and dimensions of window frames, doors, baseboard molding, crown molding, archways, how many stair railings we had and received a quote for another $879. We accepted.
The job continued and then we were told they were done. We inspected the work and found several areas:
      Trim paint was incomplete. 
            Missing on windows on the front door, 
            Missing on the right side of the staircase. 
            Missing on some stair railing. 
            Paint drips on baseboard for the heating system, our leather couch and carpeting
            Uneven sheen on the staircase walls were that they re-patched and painted over. They needed a second coat.
 
We understand why they recommend a professional house cleaning after.
They did take care of the concerns, but the left our newer upstairs bath sink and floor dirty from washing brushes.  Julie told us that that they are supposed to bring brushes back to the shop for cleaning. My wife cleaned it up and we did not want them back.
She did give give us $50 off the job.
We were not impressed, but the house does look nice finally.  The customer experience should have been better. We do have a 2 year workmanship warranty. I hope any issues that come up won't be excluded due to the "contract".

The price was very reasonable.

We were asked if we are dust tolerant and considering the job is a very god question to ask.  The answer was yes and the expectation of doing all the was possible to keep the dust contained from the rest of the house was done to a point.  The shields were all put up but, not other dust control was employed.  At the time of signing the contract I said I wanted the floor protected as it is tile and while it is safe for walking on it is not tolerant of sliding objected across it.  We were assured that tarps will be placed down.  We were also told that there will be a three man crew doing the job.  One man showed up and he did put down tarp on a section of floor to put the furniture on.  I helped him.  Not wanting to be in the way I left him alone.  I know he was working because when it came time for his lunch break he was covered nearly completely in white dust from the sanding.  He wore no dust control for his own safety. I spent my time in the garage working on a project.  I visited the room and there was a lot of mess to clean up as should be expected but, the floor was only covered the same thin plastic sheeting used to make the dust barriers. After the cleanup I had, and still have, more scratches in the tile than what had accumulated in the 4 to 5 years prior. 
The procedure is to smooth the ceiling, paint and if any imperfections appear re-plaster the area and paint again. After a week of this I had the franchise representative come take a look at the job.  He did not even get up the stairs before pointing out all the rough spots; as it was that obvious.    I did not expect the job to look like a new ceiling was just put in, however seeing lines is not wanted either. To CertaPro's credit arrangements had been made to have a two man crew come in and "fix it". The comment made to me was that the person doing the work at my house had over 13 years experience and was one of their best.  That experienced man left me his business card so I could save money in the future.  The two man team did an acceptable job.
After everything was clean up my job began.  The number of places that had plaster drops and paint drips and in one spot paint where someone lost control of the roller.  I repainted the walls in all of the great room and down the hallway and cleaned up the plaster splashes as I went. 
CertaPro did replace my folding two step ladder because of all the paint that was on it.  The CeraPro people were very good and professional.  The painters may vary with location or experience as would be the case in any company.  I got the impression that the painters are not employees but, contractors. 

They were prompt. Scraped and sanded bathroom walls and compounded then painted. Also removed wallpaper, sanded and painted long upper hallway.
Paint job was very good, cleanup was an undone disaster. They left sanding dust throughout the house, joint compound globs on the vanity of a bathroom they did not paint, a gouge in the fresh paint of a baseboard created when re-laying the hall runner and leaving paint on the runner, used the stainless steel kitchen sink for ?? and left a slimy film on it.
I had to pay my cleaning service double the usual fee to clean it all up.

They were efficient, they came on time, they were reliable, and extremely neat with painting. They came back and did a second coat in a timely fashion. We did have 2 boards that, for some reason, did not get painted but we've called them and they're coming back to do that. They did a great job, the quality was excellent.

The lead painter, Armando, and the carpenter, Juan, were both very nice and responsive to my needs. They cleaned up well and did a very nice job.

They were excellent. We would highly recommend them. They were very efficient, completed the job quickly, and did a great job of fixing the prior imperfections in the walls. They were very professional as well. Paul was excellent with calling us back, giving the quote, and scheduling the work.

CertaPro gave us the best price of the several estimates we received.  Weather caused some delays in starting the job... not their fault.  When the job started they got right down to it and powerwashed and scraped the loose paint off of the house.  Came back the next day and started painting and the job was completely done in 3 1/2 days!  Both my wife and I are totally satisfied.

They ended up damaging my walls.  I just wasn't happy with them at all.  I couldn't communicate with the crew, the person who sold me the job and the person who was possibly the manager came out and I just didn't have the confidence that they could repair the wall.  They subcontract their crew which I wasn't aware of.  When they came out here they didn't speak English, one man on the job served as the translator and it was very difficult to communicate with them.  They said they should be done with the job by tomorrow and I tried to explain that there was still a lot of work to do and they couldn't possibly have gotten the work done.  I didn't have the confidence that they were going to remove the glue off the wall, patch the walls where they had taken the paper down to the wall boards.  As a result I told them I would be getting someone else.  I had only put down a deposit and I'm hoping to get that back from them.   Their price was fair and that was one of the reasons I chose to go with them. I also read all their reviews, they had a presentation book with all their reviews and I was impressed with that.

The owner was very professional in his price estimate. He pointed out the challenges of painting an older house. When the painting team showed up, they looked good at first, and they were punctual. But at one point, the team leader told me that CertaPro was overcharging me, and that he could do the job next time for half as much. He gave me his card, and asked me to hire them directly next time. No thanks! Their work was satisfactory, but nothing more. Not worth what I paid.

I LIKED THAT THEY WERE VERY NEAT AND VERY CLEAN. THEY WERE VERY PUNCTUAL PEOPLE WHO WERE VERY DETAIL ORIENTED. THEY REALLY CARED A LOT ABOUT THEIR WORK.