Athens Painting Co. is the perfect combination of quality and value! The owner Petros Firas is both a licensed general contractor and a licensed painting contractor. He changed his company name to Construction Remedy to avoid confusion with another company (Athens Painting & Commercial Coatings). I hired Construction Remedy (Athens Painting) to paint my house, refinish a redwood deck, and paint some iron railing. I couldn't be more pleased with the whole experience - fast response to initial inquiry, an extremely reasonable bid within 3 days, used top quality Benjamin Moore paints, excellent work done on schedule and within budget, great communication throughout. Petros currently has a small crew, does his own estimating and was on the job personally every day. He even does a lot of the work himself, which I think is a great benefit. Because he has a general contractor license, I had confidence in his ability to make some construction repairs in the course of painting my house - removing an old satellite dish and replacing the underlying roofing tiles, installing new window shutters (he was careful to consult with me to make sure the exact placement met my satisfaction). In the course of the painting, Petros also discovered some major dry rot on my porch, and I have signed a separate contract with him to rebuild my porch. I am confident he will do as great a job with that as he has done with the painting. I highly recommend Construction Remedy for both painting and construction projects! (You can find reviews for Construction Remedy in Google reviews.) read more

I hired Petros with Athens painting after seeing good reviews for him on another local site. He was very friendly and accomodating on the phone. I wanted my new small apartment in Berkeley painted soon, he only had a matter of days to do 2 good sized rooms. He was on time, fairly reasonable and very helpful with feedback about the paint job. I found Petros to be very open and easy to communicate with. He did the job, and to my horror- I HATED the color I choose. I was so dismayed. His work was good, but my choice was horrible. I called him in a panic, because I was moving in in 3 days. Petros came over the next day and re did the job with a color I loved. He did all the work himself, and he charged me 1/2 of what I had paid before. He really wanted to make me happy and satisfied. This really seemed to matter to him. I was surprised and very happy with his work and attention to my needs. I would highly recommend Athens Painting for big or small jobs. I found Petros really committed to listening to my needs and wants and making every effort to meet all of them. read more

Petros is your painter if you want top-quality work. We engaged Petros on a huge project that lasted from October through December, each day from early morning to late in the night. We had purchased a house that had skip-troweled textured walls and ceilings in need of complete resurfacing and painting. Every single surface needed overhaul. It was a daunting job, and not all contractors provided reliable bids. Petros gave a reasonable estimate, both in time and cost. First step was the resurfacing. He brought in a great team to replaster all the walls and ceilings to plane-flat smoothness. Not just a skim coat, the team added three to four layers, and wherever there was a bump or wave or wobble, Petros was "on it" and re-honed the surface until it was perfect. We have 10 foot skylight boxes, plenty of woodwork, windows - not easy. Throughout multiple steps of priming and patching, his attention to detail was impeccable. By the time the surfaces were primed, the house was already transformed. Next up was color. Petros worked with us to finalize the tints and the sheens, and then applied the same attention to detail in the painting. He's got a great technique for windows with liquid masking that makes the reveal lines sharp. Again, wherever required he put extra attention into tougher spots and even re-scraped areas where he was dissatisfied. We've been in the house a month now, and the paint is rock-solid. I see crisp corners, straight lines, flat surfaces. On inspection, I struggled to find spots that needed touch-up. Petros had already obsessively attended to them. From the beginning of the job he said our total delight was his goal, and he delivered. My family is completely pleased with the result. Petros offered last week to come by to touch-up if we needed anything after our move-in, but there just isn't anything to do. He did a very complete job. Aside from the contracted work, Petros also helped install new lighting fixtures, shared home-made baklava with us, and was a welcome friend during our move. Petros also has a builder's license and is skilled beyond painting. I've seen some of his other construction work, but hadn't personally contracted him for that yet. Based on our excellent relationship in our last big project, I look forward to our next project together. read more

Athens may be good at painting, but I wouldn't know. Their up-front customer services was bad enough that I chose never to enter into a contract with them. Petros came to my house and was pleasant and professional. He sent me a quote 2 days later, and all seemed to be OK. Then, when I told him that I wanted to give him my business, he raised his quote 50% on the spot! That's a lot of money! (he said that he had "thought about what needed to get done" more and that he needed more money to do a good job) I have no problem with spending more to get a good product, but the way he went about arriving at a 'final' figure seemed particularly sleazy. Second problem was how he approached the actual up-front payments. He wanted $1000 to secure the project since he couldn't start for 1.5 months. This seemed fine to me. However, he also wanted me to give him the full cost of the third-party scaffolding that he was going to sub-contract. I asked him why he thought it was necessary for me to give him ~$3000 when it was still 1.5 months until the scaffolding would be set up...did the scaffolding company request full payment upon booking? No, he said, he just wanted to have the money so that he could pay them when the time came and not have to 'bother me' about it. Well I don't know about you, but I'd rather have $3000 in my account earning interest and have to write a check in 1.5 months than have to pay that amount now. When I told Petros that I would give him the scaffolding money when the job started, he got very upset and asked me why I felt compelled to "treat people the way I do." I though his behavior was more than unprofessional, it was simply rude. If he indeed has pulled this prank on other homeowners, then there are a lot more financially un-savvy people out there than I previously thought. I ended up hiring McKinley Painting (http://www.yelp.com/biz/mckinley-painting-berkeley) to do the job - it's currently ongoing but I have been fully pleased with every aspect of their operation. read more

We bought our house in Rockridge a couple of years ago. The sellers had done a slap-paint job that was so poor, that by the first year, paint was practically falling off the doors and baseboards. I mean you couldn't sneeze near a door without seeing the paint fall off. I found Athens via The Berkeley Parent's Network. He got rave reviews there. We've had a hard time getting painters to even show up for an estimate. (One of them is the highest rated painter on Yelp.) I then went over here to Yelp to check out his reviews. Except for Michael P's review on 9/22/09 (dude, you seriously have too much time on your hand), all the other reviews were positive. Now I can see why. I couldn't be happier with Athen's work. Petros (the owner) is an amazing painter and craftsman. He's extremely organized and gave me a detailed proposal before we started. I knew exactly how much the work was going to cost me and when it was going to be completed. We had Petros paint our kitchen and baseboards. He came in and was really careful about taping and covering all the floors. He carefully sanded and primed all surfaces before moving on to the final coat. I was truly impressed by his attention to detail. While we had him here, he also painted the stairs leading into my office. I didn't have to stop for one minute since he cordoned off the area with a plastic shield. We can't wait to have the exterior of our house painted by Petros. I highly recommend Athens Painting Co. read more

I found Athens Painting on Berkeley Parent's Network. I interviewed 3 painters to paint the outside of my large stucco house in North Berkeley. It hadn't been painted for about 20 years. There were some large cracks, some gutters that were leaking, some dry rot and a wooden front door that needed some love. Petros took a lot of time to walk through the complete job and told me exactly what he would do. He seemed to be a lot more willing to work with some of the challenges of my old house than the other painters. So, I went with Athens. I have no regrets. The prep work they did was outstanding. You would never believe that there were cracks in my house. They calked and sealed windows and steps. They replaced the dry rot that I had in a few areas. They were very methodical and it took them two weeks. During that time, I was able to pick the perfect color for the house and windows. Plus, Petros sanded, stained and varnished my front door. Talk about love! He really took the time to do the job right. I had no idea my door could look so good! Then, the painting started. He put several coats of paint on the house. We have some very exposed sides of the house that take a beating from the sun. He made sure that the whole house was well protected. He even did some extra painting that I wasn't expecting. He said that my garage door would look so much better if it were painted the color of the house. I agreed and he did a fabulous job. I also had an old, rusty air conditioner that I told him he didn't have to paint. But it bothered him to see it, so he asked if he could paint it any way. After 3 weeks, I feel like I have a new house. I am very pleased. Petros was very diligent, loves his work and was dedicated to making my house look gorgeous. Joanne B. read more

Athens painting did two jobs for me on very different buildings with different challenges. The first was a neglected multi-unit building which had just gotten some of the rotten siding replaced. There were still small problem spots that we had missed. Adding to that, ivy had grown up to the roof. We had the bulk of the plant material removed, but Petros had to deal with all the suckers that were left. The other building was an old craftsman with more than 30 windows and all the fancy trim - many angles and even a few broken window panes. It ahd been in need of a paint job for several years and actually leaked in a rain storm in 3 different places due to the old-fashioned construction style and the lack of an intact seal of paint and primer. This one was occupied so the tenants there got to see them work. Through it all, Petros was cheerful and confident. he dealt with problems as they came up and when the issues incurred an extra cost (replacing broken panes), his price was very reasonable. My tenants commented on how fast his guys work and how well they work together. It has been a year and a half and no leaks! Two years out from the first building and it still looks good. We are very happy with the paint jobs and would highly recommend Petros and Athens Painting. read more

Petros with Athens Painting did 2 painting jobs for us. The exterior of two different houses located in different cities in the Bay Area. Both Jobs were done with extreme attention to detail, were done nice, fast, and for a reasonable price. We couldn't be happier. We recommend Athens Painting highly. read more

Athens Painting has painted many square feet of my house, including the exterior and several rooms, one of which required stripping of wallpaper and extensive wall repair. I have never been disappointed with the work or the communication. Petros Firas obviously cares a great deal about the work he does and the satisfaction of his clients. He and his employees are amiable, responsible, and thorough, and I can't recommend them highly enough. read more

Petros Firas of Athens Painting Co. recently resurfaced and painted our hallway he was very flexible we had a short timeline to get the work done and was able to accomodate us and got our work done on time. His staff did a great job happy with quality of work and his crew was punctual and very clean. read more

It's too bad Michael P. chose to go with another painter -- he missed out on some fabulous work. We hired Athens on the basis of good reviews on Berkeley Parent Network and were not disappointed. Our bedroom looks amazing with perfect lines from wall to ceiling. Petros went beyond his contractual obligations and connected two new wall sconces for us. He even brought us organic fruit from his garden. Petros also repaired and repainted some large cracks due to settling of our building. Petros was extremely accommodating about returning when the cracks re-opened a bit at no additional cost because he proudly, -- as he should -- guarantees his work. read more

Petros and his partner painted the interior of of our new addition, a large bed room with a very high ceiling. The result was absolutely flawless and the whole process was very professional and enjoyable. Petros was one of three painters that we interviewed and who prepared estimates for us. We chose him, because he in detail described the process and we liked his easy manner and fair price. He is very punctual and follows through with his schedule. He is very neat and careful in protecting surfaces, windows etc.. We give him our highest recommendation. Thank you, Petros and thank you also to your partner. read more

I am a super happy customer of Athens Painting. Petros the owner and his team transformed the exterior of our shingle house from a flaking-paint eyesore to a gorgeous home that looks brand new. Petros is passionate about his work and takes great pride in his meticulous attention to detail. He seemed to relish the challenge that our ugly house presented. He spent time with us reviewing the process as well as all of our options. They started the project when he said they would, kept us abreast of decisions that needed to be made along the way, provided expert guidance, arrived early every work day, protected all the ground surfaces from debris and paint, left our house tidy every day, and lastly, completed the job exactly when he said he would. Not only does our house look incredible, we feel confident that his painstaking prep work will protect our house for a long time. We could not be happier with our experience and the results. read more

Petros, Paul, and Juan did a really nice job painting our home. They care a lot about the quality of their work and they took the time to do it right. We originally got two estimates for painting the exterior of our house. The estimates were very similar, but the techniques were slightly different. The other painting company was going to sand, while Athens scrapes. Since we have an old wooden house, there are lot of rough areas. While it might seem that sanding would provide a smoother finish, Petros explained that it can also take off more of the detail from original trim, etc. The Athens team first scrapes, then patches and primes. As they explained to us, the priming helps to identify places that need more attention. They spent a long time preparing the house for painting before painting multiple coats with high quality paint. The result was a high quality finish that we hope will last for a long time. read more