We had Jens crews from CertaPro do our main living space in 2024. There were a few hiccups, but…read moreeverything was sorted out and the result was excellent. I would have gladly referred them to others at that point.
Fast forward to July 2025. We are replacing the flooring, painting the basement and master bedroom. I called Dave and his estimate was substantially higher (three times) than the other two quotes we received. Dave adjusted the quote, so we booked them knowing the previous job was great. We provided paint which is paint and primer in one with guaranteed 1 coat coverage. We also did all the wall prep, filling and sanding so everything was ready for painting.
The job was to start on Monday July 25th. At 11 am when no one was here I called in to find out that they were not coming as planned, instead they would be here on Tuesday. Apparently, something came up, I understand stuff happens, just inform us rather than have us move furniture in the bedroom in prep only to find out we need to put it back and move it again. I sent Dave an email, no response.
I was informed by Kathleen that the crew would be here at 11 am on Tuesday. At 11:15 I called to ask where they were, Kathleen checked and informed us they were on the way and would be there in 25 minutes. They showed up at noon, one hour late.
Our master bedroom isn't huge but has vaulted ceilings. The color we are covering is a very light shade like what we are using now, light blue to light green. They had this room completed in an hour with cut in and paint, way too fast. They did not tape anything, did not protect the bedroom furniture which received paint splatter from rolling, did not remove the built-in vacuum plate, painting it on the edge. They started to put all the switch plates back on wet walls. I asked them to stop, and I would put them on later. I removed the vacuum plate and in doing so ripped the wall as they painted it and the paint in one spot started to dry. The cut in job was atrocious, paint on the ceiling around the room, paint on the trim (note baseboards are removed for flooring), insufficient paint in spots around the room due to not having enough paint on the brush or the roller.
When I pointed the issues out to the painter, he said they were told only 1 coat, yes 1 coat coverage. If done properly 1 coat is sufficient. He insisted it needed two coats even though most of what they had done was ok with one. When asking about the cutting in and the paint on the ceiling he said, "oh it was like that before, I have pictures". There were a few small spots the last CertaPro crew made last year (one of the hiccups) but not the entire room.
We painted my office ourselves with the same paint. The original color was a darker orange, and we used the same paint as the master. We had no problems at all with one coat coverage because we took our time and made sure the brushes and rollers always had paint on them (wet).
With the problems we were encountering I spoke with Dave, and he wanted to pull them and send a different crew to address our concerns. Before Dave called the crew off they started to paint the basement but did not get very far.
Kathleen contacted me and let me know the new crew would be here on Thursday morning 8:30 - 9 am. They were on time.
I showed the person what was needed with the basement and mater bedroom touch ups. He was surprised because he was told that he was only coming for touch ups. He was not prepared to cover furniture and was not aware the basement needed a full paint job. I was very surprised as both Dave and Kathleen knew what was going on.
He looked over everything in the master bedroom and made excuses as to why the coverage wasn't good. One coat is not enough. I attempted to point out that 98% of the wall and cut in was good, he just insisted it needed two coats. He said we should just paint everything again. My response was "Whatever we just want it fixed"
I asked about how to fix the paint on the ceiling and as it is not currently painted they would have to paint the entire ceiling and then the walls again. I told him I would discuss it with Dave.
He came to my office and told me he would start upstairs because he needed permission to paint the basement. He then came back and said maybe we should just leave. I again reiterated we just want it fixed.
He was on the phone with someone and when he finished proceeded to pack up. I asked what was happening and he told me they were leaving. "You are angry and we do not need to put up with it so we are leaving" Let's say I was shocked and now getting angry over this whole thing.
My mother-in-law was present through this and can attest to the fact I was calm and not angry at all. Until they were leaving with no work being done.
I tried to call Dave 4 times, he responded via text once saying he would call me right back. He never answered any calls or texts, never got back to me. I tried Kathleen 4 times, no answer, no return call.
Jen (the owner)
