Professional Wood Interiors

We hit below budget on the project. The cabinets were installed securely and the custom counter top was built within the time frame we agreed. In the bath we had hard wood floors and a new vanity installed, it looked much better than what I had before. The staff at Pro Wood did a great job in my opinion, very friendly and courteous in all our discussions. The house sold within a week after the remodel was complete.

Working with David Portell is like working with an 12 year old. The  cabinets showed up the wrong color, the pantry was too large for the area so he sanded down the side and more or less beat it into place. The house was full of sanding dust and a mess.  He showed up with nothing  to protect the hardwood floors, nothing to partition off that part of the house. Totally unprepared. Still I gave him t he benefit of the doubt. Everything looks good when it's brand spanking new, right?????  Wrong.  Within 2 weeks major defects started showing up.  The refacing started bucking,  the paint started chipping off. The pantry doors won't open all the way because it was too wide and now the knobs hit the wall.  Makes the pull out shelves close to unusable.  The finish is inferior, the paint is inferior. I tried to contact Dave so many times I stopped counting.  I tape recorded all my conversations with this sleeze because he's such a liar. He would ALWAYS call the morning of the appointment with a  broken down car, worker who didn't show up, tornado hit his house. I've heard them all. He installed the undercabinet lights too close to the front of the cabinets so I can't pull off the glass cover to change the bulbs.  The bulbs are constantly shorting out and cutting off the circuit breakers.
It's been one disaster after another.  The doors on the cabinets are warped.  Some of them close and some don't.  His excuse is there was too much humidity the day he installed them.  Really, in an air conditioned house.  Every reference he gave me that I contacted was guarded. They all told me to put every nail, staple, time limit in the contract because this guy has an excuse for everything.  Don't know why I went with him to tell you the truth.
We finally got an attorney who sent him a letter.  When he found out we were going to sue he filed bankruptcy. When I checked out his court records I was shocked. He has filed bankruptcy every single year to keep from paying the many judgments against him and his company.  Most recent filing 5/12/12 - case # 12 44226 (314) 244-4999. F rating with the BBB. Check ripoffreport.com. St. Louis county district court records indicate several judgments.....www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do. Please check under his name and his business.  Do your homework. I contacted many of these people who have judgments against him.  One young couple he took their money and never came back. Finished someone else's basement with their money.  They then had to pay to sue him and won a $25K judgment against him. By then they were broke and had to sell their home.  THIS GUY IS A MAJOR LOSER with a capital L. 
His webmaster David Schumacher puts in shrill reviews. IT'S YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY......DO YOUR HOMEWORK. There are too many good companies out there. This guy may be a little cheaper but YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. This guy works out of his garage.  He has no company.......he just started another location under the name Michael Portell.....same cheesy logo.....we do it right the first time.  Yeah, tell that to all the people who have judgments against you.

Everything concerning this job went badly.  Cabinets were late, the fit was incorrect, and during the install they punctured a gas line and would not pay for the repair.  I had to constantly badger Dave Portel to get him to make modifications on the cabinets so the refrigerator would fit.  The opening for the microwave was measured wrong and we had to get a different microwave to fit the space and even now, the fit is too tight.  A year later the stain is starting to fade.  I attempted to contact Dave Portel and he made many appointments to come look at the cabinets, none of which he kept.