CertaPro Painters® of Syosset

Hired this company to sand and re-stain my deck. The owner, Jack, touted the fact they were experienced, professional painters and I would be satisfied with their work. The first problem was with the communication regarding the start date. The date we were promised came and went, and when we contacted Jack by email, he seemed annoyed that we were questioning him because "obviously the weather had delayed the start". While I realize they can't work in the rain, that should not have prevented communication about a possible new start date. This communication problem went on throughout the project. The main issue is, my very large deck is designed with dozens of wooden bollards, placed closely together in a very specific pattern where they are placed perfectly even at the bottom and the nails are perfectly patterned across the top and bottom of each bollard. I paid extra for this detail when I had the deck built. The first day Jack's crew showed up- unannounced- they could not work because there was no power source for their sander. (If they had communicated with us, and we knew they were coming, we would have left a cord out). TO my horror when I arrived home, I saw they had begun removing the bollards! I immediately called Jack and asked why, and his response was they needed to be removed to expedite the sanding. I told him I was extremely uncomfortable with this, and he assured me his workers would put things back EXACTLY as they were. The day his workers showed, I asked each one of them (3) if they would be able to put the bollards back exactly as they were and everyone assured me- yes, it would be no problem. The workers were very careless in removing them, not keeping track of which ones came from which section of the deck, and letting them fall hard to the ground (they are thin pieces of wood). So of course, once the sanding and staining was done, they began to very sloppily reattach the bollards. I stopped them and showed them pictures of how they looked before they removed them, and reminded them they were to be restored EXACTLY as they were before. They were completely uneven across the bottom, the spacing between them was off, and some of them were even placed on backwards! They attempted to fix it, but because they did not remove them section by section, but instead just dumped them all in a big pile, they were unable to put them back EXACTLY as they were- as I had been promised. Also, because they kept taking them off and putting them back on, trying to get them even, the wood started to split from so much drilling! When Jack came to inspect the job and get paid, I told him how extremely upset I was about the bollards, in addition to the fact that the sanding was done very sloppy. The previous stain was darker, and was not sanded evenly, so in some spots you can see the darker stain under the one they just applied. Also, I had to come out of pocket for $81 for a generator (plus money for the gas) because their Home Depot rented sander was not compatible with my house electrical wattage. The contract never specified any specific wattage was required for their equipment to operate. Jack acknowledged the split and uneven bollards, although he would not comment about the sloppy sanding and dark spots in several areas as a result. He offered to replace the split bollards and fix the uneven ones. When I inquired as to who was going to do the repairs, he said it would be the same crew who messed it up in the first place! I was not confident they could fix it, and feared they would make it worse, so I declined and instead said I would contact the original contractor who built the deck to see how much he would charge for the repairs, so that amount could be deducted from the amount owed to Jack. My contractor said the re-fit the bollards, replace the split ones and missing nails and correct the spacing he would charge $500. Jack refused to deduct that amount and would only deduct $250.

Job went well and turned out nicely. The painters were nice and helpful when there were questions. They were efficient and kept area clean. Only complaint was painting around trim of windows was not as clean and they had to come back to razor around window edges, which they did promptly upon request.

unknown

unknown

Couple of guys came over to do the work and we were very happy with the work.

They were perfect, I had no problems at all. They just made it very easy and simple.

They have good service and good timing. I have nothing bad to say about them.

Jack was not responsive, did not complete services within the time frame and did not honor his word.

Jack was very professional. He worked with me to get the painted needed done within the my price range.  The  painters were quick and responsive. They addresses any of the concerns I had immediately.Would highly recommend CertaPro for all your printing needs. 

They gave me an estimate on 3/15.  I was told $97, which I thought might be too go to be true but I repeated it and he said he would send me a confirmation because he couldn't print it right then because he was out of paper.  I never got the confirmation.  On 5/3 Jack told me the painters would come next week.  They didn't show up until 5/22, three weeks later, at 3 p.m.  When I asked why they showed up so late, they said Jack lied to them and they were told it was a two story home and they had to load up the ladders.  Anyway, they did a good job.  It looks good.  However, when I went to pay the $97 for the service, Jack told me "Oh, no, no, no.  It's $997."  I told him he lied to me and he didn't blink an eye!  I paid for the service because it was already done.  But he lied to me.  He's dishonest.

Performed job well according to my time restraints.

I cannot remember exactly when we had the house painted. Jack used sub contractors and was not on site during the painting. The painters were on time but did a mediocre job (needed some direction) and at the end were a bit sloppy and rushed to get to the next job. Although whenever I complained, jack was responsive and tried to help out. The house looked fine at the end and I have no real complaints; I guess you get what you pay for.

Prompt in providing estimate and services.  Reacted quickly when minor problem occured.  Where concerned that the work was performed to our satisfaction.

They did an excellent job. They showed up on time, neat and professional and finished the project in a timely manner. And overall it was a great experience. I would definitely use them again and refer them to all of my friends and family.