CertaPro Painters of Burnsville

Certa Pro Painters of Burnsville destroyed our deck and we do not know if the damage can ever be undone. Project started early July the crew came out power washed and sanded the deck. Then the deck was stained-we noticed afterwards there were shiny marks everywhere-it still looked wet even though it was dry, there were areas all over that were undone, the staining was incomplete and did not reach the edge of the deck floor, and no clean up was done. Stain was scattered everywhere outside of the deck (including the gutter, the siding, and the areas surrounding the deck). We called Dennis Merillat ( the owner) and asked him to review this unsatisfactory work. He came to review it -had a nonchalant and uncaring attitude, he never apologized for the terrible work –“commented it looked fine to him”, when it was obviously horrible. He reluctantly agreed to have them return and re-do the deck and clean up afterwards. When they returned we came home and saw that the deck was worse than before. There was obviously no supervision on the re-do-it was awful. There were more areas undone, and sawdust everywhere from the sanding re-do. They obviously stained over the sawdust as we could see stain embedded into the sawdust, and once again no cleanup. More stain was scattered on the house siding than before. We called Dennis again and he came the following evening . When he arrived, my husband showed him the areas that were unacceptable and he responded with a smirk and a laugh. My husband showed him the discoloration, the shininess, the sawdust, the stain that did not reach the edge of the deck , and again no clean up. He said “I don’t know what more you want me to do, there is nothing more I can do”. My husband asked him once again “isn’t there anything you can do to make this better and he replied “NO”. A week later when we tried to put our patio furniture back on the deck-and it scratched the deck. We were told by professionals that the wrong stain had been used, and there is nothing you can do to get the stain out of the siding without damaging the siding-unless you re-paint the entire house. The destruction of our deck has lowered the price of our home, we cannot spend time on our deck, will cost us a lot of money to repair (if it can be undone) and to re-paint over the spilled stain. Do not hire this company!!

They was one little nail hole that was missed on the wall.  He fixed it and repainted the whole wall. These guys were just super, super nice. Normally they don't do that. I've had other people paint and they just won't do it. They just do a little patch thing. But he patched it, smoothed it out and repainted the whole thing so there wasn't a little mark there. I was really surprised.

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The project was about four weeks including a break for Thanksgiving.  Doing the ceilings was very messy and time consuming.  We had debated using one vendor for the ceilings and another for painting.  In the end, using Certapro for both was the best way to go.  They were able to plan and time the process.  They communicated well and listened to our schedules.  They gave us time to clear rooms out so they could start another section of the house.  They were good at telling us what they were doing so we could make our plans accordingly.  They were right on schedule with the amount of time the different rooms would take.

Angel and Ivan were prompt and considerate.  They kept me informed during the day and let me know when they ran into problems.  There were no major problems with the job and their work was excellent.  I'm happy we did the entire project at once as it was best just to get it all done.

I was happy when the job was finished but enjoyed the contractors.

the certapro crew we had was very thorough and professional. they painted everything we wanted them to paint, and didn't paint anything we didn't want. the interior paint match was perfect, both the enamel and latex. they were timely, and left the their work areas spotless. they also were very good at working around our schedule! Dennis was a delight to work with.

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The crew was so dismal I am afraid to look for detail errors.

Estimate:
Henry the sales associate and Dennis the owner arrived at my home and did the estimate.  I walked through what needed to be done with them.  Henry did the estimate and told me that the painters took pride of what they did and upon completion of the work, the painter would walk through the work with me and I could point out what needed to be fixed at that point.  Before they left, Henry told me that I could contact him even 8, 9pm, so I thought he must be very responsible and responsive, and I gave CertaPro the business even though they're not the cheapest bid.
Actual work:
I was told that my house would be pressure washed a week prior to the painting and I was scheduled to have it done on Friday.  It didn't happen and no one informed me about that, so I called and left message asking if the pressure wash was done.
I was home most of the time on Saturday and didn't see anyone, and when I returned home, I didn't see any water anywhere and the small hornet hives were still there.  Again, there was no call.
I called the following week and was told that they washed my house on Saturday.  I asked what time they were here and there was no reply.
Two Wednesdays later, the painter Tony showed up at my house around 7:30am.  No call prior and he just caught me when I was leaving the house.  He asked me to walk through what needed to be done and said that the work order he got didn't mention anything.  He also asked me for paint sample but we didn't have any, so my husband scraped a piece of the garage door frame for him to get the matched paint.  I was confused why I had to go through the work twice and why Henry did not ask for paint sample or anything when he did the estimate.  What happened if I was not home when Tony showed up?  How would he know what to do? 
Thursday when I returned home, the house seemed to be painted.  But I didn't get any call about if the works were completed.
Kate from CertaPro called me on Friday noon and told me that Tony had said his work was done and she asked for the payment.  I told her "no, the work was not done".  The issues were:
1.) white caulk without paint over;2.) paint on the siding and bricks (which are not supposed to be painted);3.) paint drops on the driveway and the deep sage deck which he had stepped on and stamped the paint over the stairs steps (the paint was beige); 4.) paint on the garage door; 5.) paint drops on the window glass;6.) paint drops on the window frame;7.) paint covers part of the house number;8.) white caulks on the sidewalk;9.) painter's tapes are left under the gutters;10.) 2 empty paint cans sitting on my front step. 
Kate said she would ask Dennis and she called me back saying Tony would come fix the issues that day.  And again, he did not show up and there's no call.  I called Kate in the evening and she told me that Tony completely forgot about it and would come back the next day.  How could he forget on the same day, within less than 5 hours?!?!? 
The first "fixes":
The attempted removal of paint drops from the driveway and the deck, but it damaged the look my driveway and the deck.  It looked so horrible and I wish I could attach the pictures here and you can be the judge.  Other problems were remained untouched.
Kate called again and said Tony had told her the fixes were done and she asked for payment.  I emailed her a list of items with pictures that were not acceptable.  I also asked them send someone other than Tony to fix the issues, but she said Dennis would come with, so it's a good opportunity for Tony to learn.
Dennis came by by himself on Wednesday without Tony and agreed that the work was not good.
The second "fixes":
There was a surprise!  A ladder was left on my front yard.  No one informed me anything but because of the ladder, I looked around the house and found some issues were fixed.
The stains on the driveway were taken care of.  The paint cans and painter's tapes were removed.  Paint drops on the window pane was cleaned.
Kate called and I told her the cleanup was still not done.  
The third "fixes":
A week after the mysterious ladder appeared on our front yard.  Tony showed up unannounced around 6:20pm Friday evening.  I asked if the ladder was his and he told me yes, he had borrowed it from Dennis.  He also claimed that some of the problems were present prior to his work.  I was so upset with him that I could not ever see his face anymore and I had to ask my husband to talk to him instead.  I don't understand why they kept sending him over when I had asked them not to!
He showed up on Saturday morning without call and I wanted to leave the house so I didn't need to see him.  I had to ask him to move the stuff in front of my garage.  I returned about 5 hours later.  Guess what?  I couldn't open my garage door!  He painted the door and the strips around it together and the door was sealed shut! 
I called Kate and complained about it.  My husband came home about an hour after I did and broke the seal, so the door could be opened.
The next day, when I was not as angry and without sunglasses, I noticed there's something wrong with my garage door.  It's a different color!!!  It was cream before and now it's flat white!  I was so angry and worried that they would send Tony to "fix" anything again, so I didn't call this time.
And there's some white paint on the storm sewer cover about 10 feet from my house.  It looked like someone tried to pour the paint into the sewer.  I didn't witness anything but I can tell you that none of my neighbors had exterior painting done recently.  The last one was done more than 2 years ago.
And one more thing, I asked twice about if a coupon could be used and both times I was told Henry would be informed and he would respond to my inquiry, but I didn't hear back from him.  It seems like there's a communication issue within the company also.
Overall, I am completely dissatisfied with their work.  I do not want them to be close to my house anymore and I would strongly discourage anyone who wants to hire them.  I regretted every minute that I hired them.  I wish I had gone with another professional painting company which bid was about $400 lower.
I can tell you that I'm not a complainer because if you look at my reviews of other companies, I gave them A's because they did the work right or they fixed the addressed issues properly.
My advice:  stay away from CertaPro.

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The job started out well for the first day. Than the job became a night mare. Poor communication with time and days that they were going to work. Over spray on new appliance and new granite counter tops and wood floors.This was just the beginning. The quality of work was even worse. I would not have them do any finish tape and mudding of sheetrock as most home owners could do better job. They did the sanding by hand which produced dust through out the interior of the house instead of using a vacuum sander which would of kept the dust down. Because they decided to hand sand the dust made it way into the oil paint.
The Kitchen Cabinets turned out terrible. The paint was not evenly applied because you can still see primer in several areas. They did paint the doors off site. So I'm not sure how grit or overspray made it into the finish course in several areas. When they assembled the kitchen ,They stripped several holes and only used one screw on each side of the hinge to hold the doors when there is 4 holes and the needed to use 4 screws. None of the doors or drawers were adjusted. This was suppose to be the best part of the job. I will need to re-paint all these cabinets doors myself. What a WASTE OF MONEY.
The wall I had them finish the sheetrock was nothing but a nightmare and done by amateurs. Poorly mudded and sanded with uneven areas they just painted over. They ended up having a big run when paint rolling that the painter decided to mud over the paint run and re-paint the wall again. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. The owner of the company also tells me that roller marks from painting will cure and blend together and look just fine in 4 to 6 weeks. If you have ever painted before it is from working the paint to much and not using a enough paint and not keeping a wet edge.
I can keep going on how bad everything else turned out, But i won't.
I would not recommend this Company.

He worked hard to get the exterior painting done before our celebration. He worked hard to find a contractor to take care of damage that we did not anticipate.  His crew worked hard and late to get the job done.  They kept within the budget that they quoted me.  They crew was very friendly and Dennis checked in personally everyday on their progress and reported to me.  It was a great experience.  I would use Dennis and his crew again.

The project started out great, but there were some missteps during the project.  If I raised an issue with David, he quickly responded and resolved the project, if possible. 

When the crew was on site, the work they did was excellent.  The project went beyond the estimated completion date, even though the crew worked the weekend.  It took 9 days, not the 5 they estimated.  

There was an incident with one of the crew, but was dealt with promptly by David.  The rest of the crew was very good and responsive. 

I could have found someone less expensive, but the finished project was excellent.  The house looks amazing. 

A little slow in getting started and finishing up. However, overall the project went well.

The original estimate was given to us in the fall of 2013.  Due to a number of odd circumstances on our part (and the weather) Certa-Pro agreed to hold the price estimate and do the job in the spring of 2014.

Come spring, 2014 the weather continued to give me concern.  Certa-Pro was very patient and agreed to work with us as I searched for a window of time I was comfortable would allow the fresh paint to properly dry before inclement weather occurred.  Finally they were able to get started on May 22, 2014. 

On May 23, 2014 I noticed a couple of siding boards that I thought need a second coat.  The did so without reservation. 

They finished up on May 24, 2014.  They had done the entire job with brushes and rollers, instead of the easier and faster method of spraying.  This was our choice, but it led to a discussion of the definition of "two coats" of stain.  After a brief and cordial conversation with the owner Dennis, he agreed to cut the cost of the quoted cost for a second coat in half.  He was very, very easy to deal with.

Bottom Line:  The crew chief and his staff were very respectful, professional and we hardly knew they were here.  They cleaned up everything very nicely.  The job was finished in a very timely fashion and the final work-product looks great.  Both my wife and myself have inspected the work closely and found it to be exceptionally nice.

We would highly recommend Certa-Pro Painters to others in the Metro Area.

I would have given them am "A" for Responsiveness also had it not been for an inordinate delay in them getting back to me initially after I accepted their bid in the Fall of 2013, but the job had to be delayed due to the winter and awaiting the spring thaw and finally dry weather.  When they told me back in 2013 that they would need to wait until Spring, I had no problem with that but asked to be put near the top of the list.  After finally having a few weeks of dry weather on and off in May, I still had not heard back.  I had to call them and was told that the guy who bid out my job had left their company but that they would be able to get me in soon.  Had it not been for me having to initiate the call, I would have given them that last "A."  Nevertheless, once the date was set, their painters showed up on each of the two days as scheduled, right on time, as promised.  They were conscientious, courteous, and willing to really please as they proceeded to do a great job.  They made sure I was happy with everything, and they cleaned up completely leaving no mess.  I would definitely use CertaPro again and highly recommend them.

The actual work went really well. However there was a consistent problem with scheduling work times. We were often told when the workers would show up, but the next day no one arrived. When we would call to find out what was happening, there is always an issue somebody was running late, I job I lasted longer than I thought, they were concerned about the weather, or any other excuse. I let them know that those were all legitimate excuses but it would've been far better for them to call me to let me know rather than to have me stay at home all day long waiting for somebody to show up.

It looks great!

They painted the front entrance and other various parts of the home for interior painting. They did a great job. The one thing that I did ask them to come in and do was straighten out some corners and edges, and I had them back in to work on it. They didn’t actually take the prep time needed for that, but all in all it looks good. The workers were good, but again, they didn’t take the time needed, and they told me the shiny paint that I use is what’s making it look that way. You can see where screw holes were filled, and where they were actually sanded down properly and things like that. But, all in all they cleaned up and did a great job

The were here on time and worked hard. I think they did a good job, I think they could have put things back a little better.

Even though Dennis Merillat had a crew do the job, it was greatly appreciated that Dennis personally did the more sensitive or unique tasks himself. However, the crew did a great job. Price was good (we had other quotes). Timing was good.
CertaPro  made a point of meeting our schedule.

Pleased with the final result, but the timing was not what we had hoped - 8 vs 4 weeks lead time.

Contractors did the the job but they were incredibly professional and courteous. The did an amazing job. I feel that painting our trim is quite a challenge. They missed a few spots, but when these were pointed out they returned immediately and completed the job immediately. I did feel that I shouldn't have been the one to have to see this. I was asked to pay before someone from the company came out to review the work and then felt like I was the only one truly checking things carefully. Again, I can't complain about the work it was truly well done.

Actual painters were hardworking guys who were nice.  However, job was many days late in starting.  Never showed up during this time except for sporadic power washing, despite almost daily assurances, "They'll be there at 9:00 tomorrow morning."  Then, when they did arrive to actually paint.  Late.  On the last day, when work was supposed to be done, owner called and asked for payment.  Work was not done.  Painters had to come back to complete it.  When they finished, it only took the owner about 5 minutes to call asking for payment.  If only he had been so efficient with the use of his phone to make sure scheduling and job completion were as represented.