It's a month after the work was "complete" and we're still findings more problems with Cook's work. - Paint on the kitchen cabinets continues to peel off - it appears that there was no surface prep or priming done of the cabinets and drawer fronts. - The screws holding one of the drawer pulls were cross threaded and the pull won't sit straight. I'll need to replace the pull. - Numerous unpainted areas have been found. - So much paint on the basement door and jamb that the door doesn't close. I will need to take it off and plane the edge. - Still scraping dripped paint off of the refrigerator. - Baseboards in the kitchen are so messy I will need to sand and paint them. I'm reducing the rating to one star since I can't give zero. read more

We have tried to contact Larry to schedule a time to have a new window dropped off to replace the broken one. He has not taken any initiative to work with us and we still don't have a replacement window. Please consider a different company as Larry is very unreliable, does not take accountability, and is difficult to communicate with. read more

STAY AWAY - Larry collected our job deposit for 50% of the quote. He completed about 10-20% of the work and then started to disappear. He would no longer answer phone calls and we needed to call from disguised numbers to get him to answer. He would say "I'll call you right back" and then never call back. After a month, we realized we had been scammed and had to hire someone else to finish the job. All in all, Larry scammed us out of $2k and cost us close to 2 months on our timeline. There was never an explanation, apology or refund. He simply disappeared. The business should be re-named to Crook's Plastering. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! read more

This guy presents well. I have a video for my own evidence. Run. Run. Run as fast as you can. RUN.....RUN FAR AWAY FROM THIS INCOMPETENT AMATEUR DRYWALL INSTALLER It was a month after he said he would initially start did he ever show up. By this point I was already calling him to find out status. Finally he came and started working. Did some work and came back 2 weeks later did some more. Since I was staying temporarily elsewhere waiting for work to finish, we had to schedule a walk through. When I walked through I had him spots that looked awful that I could see right away. He fixed a couple areas, got his check and left. The following Monday when the electrician came through he pointed out all the areas where he messed up mainly around all the electrical outlets that he has to work on. I tried to contact Mr. cook several times. He has not responded. I left several messages and text messages. 2/27. Mr Cook responded with pictures of his truck totaled. Waiting to hear back from him on his health and future ability to complete the project. Update 3/1. This loser contacted me saying me he would have his son come out within the week, two weeks later I'm still waiting to hear from the guy in the meantime I have sent him texts and tried to call him and left messages I have nothing from this man this man is a liar and a cheat once HE getS your money you will never, I repeat you will never see him again the man left such a mess behind I'm still to this day cleaning up drywall from the mess that he left from drywall pieces all over my yard to the mess he left in the Basement. I had this man come out to fix the drywall in my basement per request of my refinance company after Mr. Cook came in and install the drywall I had the electrician come out to put the boxes back and the electrician informed me that Mr. Cook missed the whole so bad that Mr. Cook re muded the brand new drywall over his error and then Mr. Cook cut holes in the mud for the sockets. The problem with this is the mud crumbles when you try to insert the socket so essentially the entire socket area ended up crumbling away. The electrician had to install new sockets above the old area that Mr. Cook Drywalled in a non muded area. This guy is a complete hack. Complete waist of money. read more

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I would rate negative stars if I could. Job doubled in price half way through. Work was sloppy. He was difficult to get a hold to finish the project. He clearly didn't know how to replicate the plaster texture and never returned to finish the remainder of the job. We have to hire another company to finish and redo parts the project. You couldn't pay me to ever have him do work for us again. Save yourself and your house! STAY AWAY! read more

Terrible Work, Dishonest Person, Shyster, Shady, Unreliable, Thief I had used Mr. Cook in the past for drywall and ceiling repairs. I was happy with the work Mr. Cook had done in the past, except for a bedroom ceiling he drywalled about a year ago. When I tried to reattach the part of the ceiling fan (round decorative piece) that attaches to the ceiling, I discovered that it did not cover the portion of the ceiling that Mr. Cook left exposed (a big hole where no drywall was applied). He told me he would fix it. He never did. In spite of that, I recently hired him to fix imperfections on walls, paint several rooms, including a small stairwell and hallway, and conceal a pipe in the kitchen. I told Mr. Cook again about the hole in the ceiling (on a job he did about a year ago) to bring it to his attention once again, and he said he would fix it. He never fixed it. The timing of the project Mr Cook would come sometimes and work for 1 or 2 hours then disappear for several days. I had to keep calling him to see when he was going to finish the job. He did not have all the supplies he needed to do the job. He used portable bright lights that I supplied and damaged one of my lights. He never had any clean up supplies like a broom dust-pan, or vacuum. They asked to use my house vacuum. I borrowed a wet\dry vacuum from my son. The people Mr Cook has working for him have no idea how to do the work. The woman told me she had stopped Mr. Cook on the streets after seeing him leaving a job, and asked him for a job. She has no skills, and neither does her son. I witnessed one of painters (the woman's son) not knowing when to reapply paint and constantly rolling after the paint on the roller was obviously exhausted. The other painter (the woman) was dripping paint everywhere. Mr. Cook was not much better. They painted over the dust from their sanding. Mr. Cook took a marker and drew lines on my walls and ceiling to indicate what areas needed attention. He painted over the drawn lines. After painting I can still see the lines he drew with the marker. The so-called painters actually missed spots. They painted over electrical face plates, door knobs, and the dust they made from sanding. They did not paint the top of molding around doors. Every time I go up the steps, I can see the top of one of the door molding that never got painted. There are lots of drips on the paint job. They also use flat ceiling paint on some trim and on a bannister that goes up the steps instead of satin. They did not use any blue painter's tape, Therefore, the lines that divide the wall color from the molding color are not straight. It looks bad. I observed the way Mr. Cook and his female worker talked to each other. I believe she is his girlfriend and that's why he let's her get away with sub-standard work. Whenever he brought something to her attention that she did not do correct, it did no good. Mr. Cook wrote up contract for each job he was supposed to do. He never started one of the jobs. It was for using drywall to close a small area in the kitchen where a vent was exposed. He never did the job. Mr. Cook brought me several receipts from Sherwin Williams and asked me to pay for the paint. I let him know believed the cost of the paint was already in his price. He told me it was on the Contract. I had already reviewed the contract and I looked at it again. Just as I thought the cost of the paint was already included in his price. I paid him anyway. He would have taken the left-over paint with him, but I stopped him. Also, Mr. Cook suggested that since he gets a discount on Sherwin Williams paint, I would need to pay the full price (not the discounted price reflected on the receipt). If he ever paints for you, he will try to talk you into using the "Crisp Linen" paint color. I believe he has a surplus of that color. He asked me to pay him in full before he finished. I suggested that once I pay him, he may not come back. He told me he was going to come back and fix everything. Whenever I pointed out some of the issues, he would say "if you see it, I see it." "I'm going to fix it all." (Remember those words if you hire him). I told him that he knows the people he has working for him are not painters. He asked me didn't I trust him. ("don't you trust me"). Since he had done work for me a few times before, I paid him. Needless to say, he never came back. I called him for several days/weeks and finally gave up. I left him a voicemail letting him know that I hoped no one ever treats his daughter or wife the way he treated me. I also let him know that I would be contacting the Better Business Bureau. I have pictures of all the awful work he did. I also still have the contracts he wrote up. I don't see an option for posting picture in this review writing window. I will post pictures. I could say more... Never Again. read more

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Week 1 (4/28/15): Prior to this week, I informed the defendant (Mr. Cook) that I was only available tuesday, wednesday, and part of thursday. He said that was perfect because it would take two days to complete the job, and three days for the wet plaster to dry, and the next week he would give me a paint estimate if I wished. The plaster repairs that he was contracted for included the living room, dining room, front entryway, 1st floor hallway, main stairway, and upstairs hallway. I agreed with the plaster estimate, paid the deposit, and scheduled a day for him to start work, a tuesday of course. Mr Cook showed up on time with two employees, and they started the work. They worked from approximate 10am to 4pm. I was to pay him the remainder when the job was completed. At the end of the first day, about 50-60% of the work was completed and he asked to be paid. So far I was impressed with the work ethic and the amount of work done for one day, so despite the job not being complete, I paid in full. The next day, he was a no show no call. At approx 11am I called to see if they were coming to finish the job, he said "no, I will show up next week to finish the job and do wallpaper removal". This was extremely disappointing, as I travel out of state for my job and I'd made travel arrangements to return to michigan specifically for this occasion. By not showing up, he cost me valuable time; and money as well, because now I had to return the following week, when I shouldn't have had to. He told me the 1st floor hallway was wallpapered, therefore he wouldnt repair the walls there. I had paid for this, but there was no mention of a refund. However, it turned out not to be true. The first floor hallway was not wallpapered afterall (another home improvement profession brought this to my attention and Mr Cook admitted he had been wrong). He also kept telling me that most of the work was done and it would only take a couple hours to finish the rest. He kept repeating this because I was very concerned about the ETA of completion. Week 2 (5/5/15): The following monday, he showed up alone (no workers) and gave me a wallpaper removal estimate (it was after this day, that I found out there was no wallpaper). I also made him write the date of completion on the invoice, so he would be legally responsible if he continued to be tardy and absent. He also promised to show up again and do a walk-through with me, where we would discuss and agree inch by inch on what needed to be done and he would use a marker to circle the spots that needed repairs. He never showed again. He sent someone the next day, Tuesday. An older gentleman showed up and asked me what he was supposed to be doing. This was VERY frustrating, because its not my job to be his supervisor and tell him what to do. As the customer, I can certainly comment on what looks undone or shabby, but I dont have the eye of a professional and its not my job to tell him what and how he should be doing things. If I was capable of that, then I wouldn't have hired them in the first place. I called mr cook, he didnt answer. I left a detailed message, he never returned my call. I did the best I could and instructed the man by pointing out the obvious things that needed to be done. He worked for approx six hours, and didnt finish the job. As I suspected, there was way more than "a couple of hours" worth of work remaining. No one else showed up again that week, and mr cook didnt return my calls. At this point, the defendant started avoiding my calls, when up until that point, I'd had no problem reaching him. He stopped answering the phone, and would not return my voicemails. I have documentation of the calls I made. After many unanswered calls and voicemails, eventually I received a call from a woman who didn't identify herself except to say she was calling on behalf of mr cook. She said he would send someone the following week. Week 3(5/12/15): The same older gentleman showed up again, asking me what he was supposed to be doing. I call mr cook--no answer. The gentleman called, and claimed he couldnt reach him either. I showed him what needed to be done, and he challenged me saying the crown molding was ready to paint (in other words, the repairs were finished). I disagreed, and when he flashed a bright light on it, I guess he saw what I was talking about because he commenced work on the specific area. During the conversation, he said that mr cook needed to come look at everything and give the final okay on whether or not specific areas needed more work, since he's the boss. But mr cook was a no show and unreachable. The man worked for approx six hours. At the end, I told him the hallway still needed to be done, he said I needed to speak to "Larry" (mr cook). He went home, the job was still not finished. Mr cook still wasnt returning my calls or voicemails. I even tried calling the number the mystery lady called from. It was a hotel, read more

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Professional, punctual, and expedient. Highly recommend him, awesome work.

Larry Cook just repaired our cove ceilings where we removed walls. In a word -- fantastic. He could not have done a better job. He was prompt and professional. I highly recommend Cook's Plastering! read more

Outstanding from contact promptness to completion of job Larry is a gentleman, a master at his craft and very professional in every area of his work. I would definitely hire him again without a doubt. I have never been so pleased with anyone that I have hired to do any kind of repair. read more

Hello, three years ago, I hired Mr. Cook to fill in and plaster a 24" by 24" hole in my bathroom ceiling. I gave him a partial payment and he was to come back to do the ceiling. To make sure I got something for my money, I asked him to fill in the opening where the medicine cabinet sat, because I wanted to install a regular mirror there. When he got thru, it looked as if my 5 year old grandson had done it. I remarked to him about the shabby workmanship and he said he'd correct this on his return. I've called him at home and he just stalls and says he'll call me back. NOPE! Next stop is City of Taylor Licensing and a small claims suit. You take full advantage of women! read more

Larry Cook is skilled in plaster as well as in painting. He has done a number of jobs for us over the years. His work is first class. In addition he has always kept to schedules, has reliable helpers when he needs them, and has always been pleasant and accommodating to suggestions and questions. He recently successfully completed two jobs for us. 1. Re-plastering a large hole in our dining room which a leaking pipe had created. He did the extensive plaster repairs and then painted the large damaged wall to match the rest of the room. 2. He then painted our kitchen, cabinets and all, with the help of two helpers. These jobs took about 1 and 1/2 days. Larry Cook has done painting, plastering, and even painted the outside of our house a few years ago. We have always been pleased with his work. read more

Mr. Cook Showed up on the scheduled appointment times and did the required repairs to our ceiling. He communicated in detail about what he was doing and finished in the estimated times. I'm happy with the finished work. Don Clay read more

Larry Cook has done several jobs for me over the past couple years. These included the interior painting and plastering repair of two houses. I was very pleased with the service and work done on both. I will definitely call again. read more