CertaPro Painters® of Libertyville

Agreed to their proposal. Their scheduler, Gina, said they'd be out the week of 11/2. She texted the weekend before that they'd be by to scrape on Monday and paint Tuesday. Never showed. I sent an email inquiry. No response.

great customer responsiveness and communication. great crew and would wholeheartedly recommend them

The owner, Rob, came out and provided expert tips and advice as part of a same day estimate. Once we agreed on price and scope, The painters called us the day before to confirm the time. The Team arrived on time and were courteous, polite and professional in every sense of the word. The Team leader Luis was fantastic. They laid down drop cloths everywhere to protect the hardwood floors. They walked us through the expectations and the scope of the job.. They were quiet and respectful as I worked from home; They did not guess at anything and asked us questions. They finished on time and the quality was excellent. This is the 4th time we used CertaPro and they met or exceeded our expectations each time.

Waited 3 weeks for an estimate only to be cancelled 30 min before appointment not very pro-like

unknown

This experience could not have been better. The salesperson came out on a Saturday to measure and was able to quote the work the same day. After signing the contract, I received numerous calls and great communication from their office to schedule and confirm the work. Then the two painters did an amazing job painting our three rooms. The were friendly, clean, and worked with my schedule arriving early the second day. My wife and I couldn't be happier.

unknown

Very impressed with all aspects of service.
Would highly recommend,
Work done, professionalism, punctuality, promptness of communication, flexibility, time to completion estimates, consideration of living space during the work, all exceeded expectations
Also we have 2 dogs and the team was great with them too.

The entire experience was pleasant.  The owner, Rob, came out and provided expert tips and advice as part of a same day estimate.  Once we agreed, Rob offered a professional design consultant free of charge to suggest color options. The painters called us the day before to confirm the time. The painters (Tom & John) arrived on time and were courteous, polite and professional in every sense of the word.  They laid down drop cloths everywhere to protect the carpets.  They walked us through the expectations and the scope of the job.  Then they got to work.  They were quiet and respectful as I worked from home that day.  They did not guess at anything and asked us questions. They finished on time and the quality was excellent.  This is the 3rd time we used CertaPro and they meet or exceed our expectations each time.

Certa-Pro arrived to paint a vacant unit for us.  We didn't have the thermostat set high enough and the temperature dipped that night, causing a problem with the paint job.  They were kind enough to come back and fix the problem at no added cost, which was really above and beyond.  They did a great job on both of the units they painted for us, at what we considered to be a very reasonable cost.  We would definitely call them again for any patching and painting work we need done.  In fact, I just called to arrange for an estimate for our office.

They were very good. They did a good job. They were prompt. I had no complaints.

It did not go well.  The job was to be for one week and start the Tuesday after Labor Day.  Several personal issues on the part of the painter lead to them sub-ing the job out to other painters who made a terrible mess.  They were re-called on several occasions to correct/clean up the mess.The office manager, Gina came out, took pictures and agreed that the job was sloppy, paint on glass, wooden cabinets, the side of the house and the floors.  Gina really is the only saving grace for this company. 
The painters complained about having to come back, having to clean up, the office, the job estimator Joe Scalzo, himself, etc.  They also mis communicated the color of the hall, which is not painted the color we wanted, but after four weeks we were tired of the issues, problems and verbal harrassment, so we settled to get rid on them. 
I would not recommend this location.  The reason we went with this company in the first place is the great experience we had in Arizona.

Things started off when I scheduled to have our house painted this summer. Joe Scalzo was able to meet with me right away and present a quote to have the work done. Joe told me that all "trouble/bare wood" spots would be primed ..."the house would look like it had the measles." The work wasn't able to be scheduled until September due to weather and their schedules. This wasn't a problem because we wern't in any rush...I just wanted a good job done.
The contract outlined what would be done (prep, priming, painting the entire exterior of our house). I was told that it would take 3-4 days to complete and that a crew of 4-5 would be assigned to this job. When the crew arrived, they worked from 10am-3pm. Often there was only one person on the job. It ended up taking 2 weeks to complete.
During the actual painting, the house never had the "measles" which leads me to question if primer was used. I also inspected a "completed" side of the house that receives Southern exposure. It was not satisfactory. The bare wood of our cedar siding appeared to be showing through the paint. The crew chief said the only way to fix this was to apply a second coat...for an additional $600. I wanted to look good so I agreed. Once the house was done, I inspected the house again only to find each side of the house (including the side with 2 coats) to be unsatifactory. I called the office and scheduled a meeting with one of the CertaPro people at our house. Upon seeing the job, the CertaPro employee told me that that the job was not done to her satisfaction, and that if it were her house she would be unhappy too. Subsequently, Joe inspected the house (I am taking his word on this because I never saw him at our house), and said the work was complete and the job lived up to the contract. They did have a Sherwin Williams rep come to house as well to look at the work. He noticed and took pictures of "areas of concern."  He told me that he would write up a report and send it Joe.

Apparently, the Sherwin Williams rep reported something different than what he told me, or CertaPro didn't find his report worh looking into, because the next thing I received was call to ask for full payment for the job.
Obvioulsy, I am not happy with the job that was done. I will say that Gina, the office assistant,  was ONLY one that seemed to take time and follw up with me throughout this situation. She was very professionl and considerate from start to finish. I wish I could say the same for rest of CertaPro.

They came out March last year and they provided a good service. There are no messes and they cleaned up very well.

**UPDATE: Eventually, I was able to reach someone else and this is when things started to get completed.  I had another crew working on my house and everything was completed.  While the job was eventually completed after one and half years, many months of frustration, I am happy with the job the new crew completed.  I would never recommend having Joe Scalzo work on any project.  Looks like he is no longer associated with this location. 

Before:

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This job was started in April 2012 and finally completed in August 2013 to my satisfaction.  Joe Scalzo from CertaPro of Gurnee lacks professionalism.  He is a used car salesman who knows what to say but his actions don?t mirror what he says.  He continually push off the warranty work, told lies to the corporate complaint department (stating he was trying to work with me and everything was miscommunication), and based on his actions, I don?t think he ever had any intention of doing the warranty work.  Many times, I never received a response from him when I would inquire about the job.  This past summer, he sent me a letter, wanting me to sign an agreement that I would not write a bad review against him and he would not sue me.  He was paid in full and did not honor his contract. 
 
Here is a timeline of the work that was done on my house. 
Job was started in April 2012.  .
Prior to 6/1/12 - on the phone, Joe told me he was at my house and everything was completed and looked good.  After several conversations, he came to my house while I was home and agreed with me, the workmanship was horrible.  (Interesting how his point of view changed when we walked together and reviewed the workmanship).  Paint was splattered on the house, screens were cut, windows were painted shut, and rotten wood had bondo slathered on and not smoothed out. 
 
6/1/12 - his crew started the repairs due to the poor workmanship (attached pictures marked 2012)
6/7/12 - Many of the repairs were completed, but not all. 
6/11/12 - We had a conversation he and insisted I release the payment and the repairs would completed.   The repairs that were never completed.  (Picture attached.)  Against my judgment, I released the payment. 
 
I called and emailed throughout the summer / fall of 2012 to ask when the repairs would be completed.  I asked several times for someone to meet me at the house so I would be able to talk and discuss with them the issues I felt were not taken care.  I never received a response.  Eventually, I spoke with Chris Flemming, letting him know when I would be available.
 
10/20/12 - Chris Flemming came to my house during a time I wasn't available (seems to be a common theme of this location).  We spoke on the phone for over one hour and he looked at my house, telling me there were no issues.  (Issues in attached picture still exists.)  Chris felt this was normal and nothing was wrong.  At this point, I figure I had to wait until spring since we were still under 'warranty'. 
April 2013 - I contacted Joe Scalzo because the exterior was peeling and rotten wood is exposed.  After several conversations with Joe, he went to my house and looked (again, I wasn't home).  He called me and let me know his company did not do my house justice and the job that was done was not done well.  He said the house would be correct by the end of June because they were busy.
 
I contacted him again in July, after not hearing anything and I was told by his office manager, "Oh no, warranties are not being until Middle of August.  What do you care when they will be completed?  You are getting it done for free.?   Then I was sent an email stating the painting will be corrected before October 1, 2013.   My level of frustration started to increase.  Waiting for over a year and half for issues to be corrected is unacceptable. 
I contacted the complaints department several times this past summer.  I was continually told someone would contact me back.  At this point, I never received a call back.  Eventually, I spoke with Mark Myles, the complaints department supervisor.  He told me that Joe was working with me (based on what Joe was telling him.)  While I explained this was not true, I insisted on speaking with a supervisor and was told ?no? by Mark.

We were very satisfied with them. They were prompt and conscientious. They did a great job. The quality of the work was really nice. They were very gracious.

They did a very good job. They came in and they did what they said they were going to do. We had one guy that did the painting and the wallpapering. One person set up the plans for you and then we talked to somebody else and he asked which was the guy I want to do it because of the wallpapering and this was the guy we picked for that and that worked out very well. He was very good.

I have to agree with one of the other reviews, with this business, one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. 
An estimator came to our home and gave us a great price, the best by about one thousand dollars, in comparison to the two other estimates we got.  A few days later, we signed the contract and emailed it back to the estimator.  After about a week of not hearing anything, I called the phone number at the top of the contract and left a message asking when we would get started.  A few days later, I heard back from a different person.  They didn't have the contract or know what I was talking about.  i called the estimator and he 'found' it and sent it to whoever it had to go to next.  This whole process took about two and a half weeks.  Every time I called, I talked to a different person who had no idea what I was talking about or the contract at all. 
When I was finally contacted to make an appointment, the person making it had not read the contract and kept asking the same questions clearly answered in the contract. 
Another two weeks after that, the power washing and painted started.  The one painter (for a two story home) was very professional and nice.  He worked hard and did a quality job on the painting.  The process took about a week. 
Although I am happy with the results of the cleaning and painting, the chase to get anything started was too much.  If you have the time to waste, the price is good and the work was good.

When I initially contacted CertaPro they got back to me quickly.  I was able to schedule a time for the salesman to come and estimate the job with no problem.  He was on time and professional.  As he was the first of three estimators, it took a bit of time before I made a decision, and he checked in with me a few times.  Once I contracted with the company is when problems began.  During the process of the job I spoke with or was contacted by 5 different people from their office.  Let me say that they have serious internal communication problems.  It really seems as though one hand did not know what the other was doing.  The salesman quoted a price to have the window trim replaced.  Before the job began another person came out to look at the overall scope of the job.  He wanted to increase the price for the trim, as he thought the quoted price was not for all the trim.  I contacted the sales person, who straightened that out.  Also before the job began I was e-mailed requesting color choices.  I had some paint at my home and took photos of the exact color mixes as listed on the paint cans and faxed them to the office, with specifics as to which color went where.  Shortly before the job was to begin, I got a call from her asking for the paint colors.  When I told her that I had faxed the photos to her already, she replied that she remembered that and would find them.  The crew to powerwash the areas to be painted showed up with no previous notification to us.  As I was busy working long hours, I contacted the office to advise them not to e-mail me with scheduling, but to contact my wife and gave her the phone numbers.  They continued to try e-mailing me and had difficulty keeping the contact information for my wife.  Every time I had my wife call, she would leave her phone numbers, and I would get another call from the office.  I got an e-mail right before the job was to start telling me who the foreman on the job would be.  Two painters arrived as scheduled but had no ladders or paint.  They left and came back later, after someone else delivered ladders and paint to the job site.  Neither painter was the foreman we were advised would be there, and we never saw that person.  The painters arrived with incorrect quantities of the paint.  We had two colors to do and they were simply repainting the same colors, not changing colors at all. They had too much of one color and not enough of the second color.  All downspouts were to be removed so the trim could be completely painted.  I have no idea if that was done, but some were removed and poorly reinstalled.  Clean up was not as good as I expected and the crew never advised when they arrived and when they were leaving.  When they finished the job they left their ladders on my lawn.  If I had not moved them myself my lawn would have suffered as the ladders stayed at my house for about a week.  The salesman did come back and we walked the entire job while he made up a punch list.  When the crew came back, they did not have the punch list and I had to walk them through the spots that needed work.  They did take care of everything on the list as I requested, but left the ladders again.  At some point someone came unannounced and picked up the ladders.  Days later my wife went under the deck where  I had stored the ladders and found a carton of old caulk and paint that had not been used on our house.  Apparently whomever picked up the ladders left some of his trash from another job for us to dispose of.There is a warranty on the paint work and we will see how it holds up.

We did make two color changes involving an accent color over a bath tub and the color of one room. They charged us $500 to make the changes which did seem excessive. Overall, we were pleased. I would recommend the firm, and I plan to use them again in the future.

Excellent experience. From the owner Jack to the painter Angel we were taken care of every step of the way.

unknown

On the other hand, I feel any job should be done perfectly.  I also had a couple boards that were bad and I wish they would have replaced them.

Their service is outstanding.  I’ve been using Joe and his crew for the last year and a half. I would highly recommend them. They’ve done both interior and exterior painting for me and did an outstanding job in both categories. Their attention to detail is second to none and their service is beyond reproach. I would give them an A++!