CertaPro Painters® of Chicago & North Shore

Overall the project was a success. Miguel, the project manager and his team arrived on time. Worked carefully and diligently to complete the paint job as prescribed. I really like the way Miguel began by review the details of the job before beginning and confirming my color selections. This is important to me because I want to confirm all work before it begins. Miguel, Daniel, and Ernesto completed the job in one day!! (I thought it would take much longer). Also a big shout-out to Mary the contact person in the office. I called multiple times to confirm and asked questions. She was kind and patient and answered all my questions. I will definitely hire Certa-Pro again!

There were admittedly many challenges to painting my 115 year old home. The house had not been painted for perhaps 25 years. Over the years the thick stucco finished had been patched many times with different textures and different shades of white. Mature shrubs grew up against the walls which also had moss and mildew growing on it.Parts of the wall were splattered with mud. Vines had covered portions of the walls and when taken down left tiny tendrils everywhere. The trim was three different shades of grey and dark blue and needed to covered with white. Miguel and his painting crew were very professional and very detail oriented. They arrived on time, asked my for my feedback throughout the process. They were careful around the shrubs and they cleaned up thoroughly at the end. I am very pleased with the results

They did a good job repairing the rotten wood in my deck. They addressed all the issues. They replaced all the rotten wood, did all the repairs.

The project went incredibly smooth from start to finish. Francis did a great job managing the project and Norman’s work was exceptional! The thoroughness and attention to detail were top notch!

Wonderfully. The painting team did an outstanding job. The painters themselves were, friendly, easy to work with, understood what was needed, and how to approach it. We were very, very pleased with the results and appearance of the work they did. The Service Team at CertaPro was top not notch too. They were service-oriented and operated with a great deal of professionalism. (I found this refreshing as you don't see a lot that these days). I'd hire them again for sure.

Ottis Ballenger is the franchise owner of both CertaPro Painters of Evanston and CertaPro Painters of Chicago & North Shore. My Proposal / Contract with him shows his address as 1816 Johns Drive, Glenview, and his license as #2013264. I originally wrote up his review with 16,000 characters and spaces, but I had to abbreviate it because of Angie's List's limit of 10,000 characters and spaces. See my more-detailed evaluation under CertaPro Painters of Evanston. I have documented their terrible workmanship with numerous photos at many stages of this project. I have attached ten of them (the Angie's List limit) to this evaluation. Ottis Ballenger came to my house in August 2017, said the job would take 2-1/2 to 3 days, and he could start in about 2 weeks. In Sept 2017 I signed the proposal / contract for $2,310.90, plus the cost of wood replacement, and sent it in. Ottis' foreman came out in September and told me my job could be done in 1 day. In October Patti sent the work crew. The foreman wanted to start the work while the porch was still soaked in many places. He was going to paint over the wet wood--if I gave him permission. I told him "No." Later in October Ottis' workers came again and started the job. After a while, when I looked at the job they were doing, I saw that it was not according to the proposal / contract. The porch worker did not put primer on the rusted hand railing, just one finish coat. They replaced only 1 step that has rotten wood. They did not use primer. Ottis told me that using primer was a bad idea--even though the proposal states that primer would be used, and the paint company told me it should be used before the final two coats. The porch worker was supposed to replace rotten wood at the ground level on the south side of the porch, but instead he put putty over the rotten parts and painted over it, lying that he had replaced the wood. One day the crew left for the day leaving paint cans, wood, and my broom on my front lawn without telling me. When I told the porch man he was supposed to scrape and prime the hand railing, he looked at me and said, "We don't have to listen to you." When I met with the foreman and the crew to point out their defective work, I caught the two crew members laughing behind my back--twice. The foreman didn't say anything to them about it. Ottis did not offer an apology on any of the three occasions when I told him about it. He merely said, "I thought I did." The garage man destroyed all the ivy on the east side of my garage, even though I told him to remove only the parts on the soffit to be worked on. After he told me he finished the garage job, I saw that in several places he did not prime or paint even a single finish coat. I did a "walk around" with Ottis to assess the work. Ottis assured me it would be done correctly. When the foreman left after he said the job was done, I noticed that the paint was already flaking off. Ottis said a different crew would do the job correctly. In November Ottis said the crew would do the job, depending on the conditions. If that didn't work, they would do the job in Spring 2018, when the conditions were right. Then he said they would do the job in May or June 2018. In March 2018 Patti said they have me on their "Spring Go back board for a full repaint, not a touch up. Ottis will spec a completely different paint system." In May 2018 Patti said I was "on the board with a tentative of 6/6." In June 2018, Patti said they are "backlogged but I am scheduling into the week of 7/16 and 7/23." I told Ottis I was planting grass, but his workers could still complete the porch work without any need to step on the grass--and Ottis agreed with me. I reminded Ottis that in November 2017 he said I would have his highest priority in Spring 2018. Ottis' crew did not come in July, either. Neither Patti nor Ottis would give me a commitment date for completing my job. I told them I need to see some action, not get more excuses. Ottis e-mailed, "We are not removing painters from any project currently in progress ... I have instructed Patti to return your deposit to you immediately ... and we are removing your project from our production board. The content of your previous emails reveals to me that a better course of action for us both is to cease communication and move on from each other.” The check for my $770.30 deposit arrived a couple of days later. In August 2018 I completed my "F" evaluation of CertaPro Painters - Evanston. Angie's List told me they sent my evaluation to them. Neither Angie’s List nor I have gotten a response from Ottis or Patti. I also e-mailed my evaluation to CertaPro Painters Headquarters in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and directed it to both Customer Service and the Legal Department. I am waiting for their response. I'm hoping it won't be necessary to send a complaint to the Better Business Bureau or HomeAdvisor, or take other action. We are now approaching a year in September that CertaPro received my signed contract. I have shown extreme patience with Ottis and Patti, and I've had enough of their excuses and delays. What excuse could possibly be valid after a year of waiting for a 1-day or 2-1/2 to 3-day job?

It was very professional, very efficient They worked courteous and polite and they cleaned out. They cleaned when they were done. They were great. They got here at earliest time that we said, they stayed. They tried to finish between 4:30 to 5:00. I don't see brush marks. It was fine, no complaints. I would recommend them.

They assigned and communicated a Project Manager on the painting team who was sure to check in every day to make sure we were constantly communicating, on schedule and addressing any issues as we moved forward. Their team was efficient at setting up quickly each day, cleaning up after themselves and being respectful of our space and property. Their patching and painting work is very professional.

Beyond professional AND clean! Superior service!

I would hire Certa Pro again in a heart beat. They had a very high level of professionalism coupled with very good quality work. They aren't the most expensive and they aren't the cheapest, but they were the most professional and reliable of the half dozen or so painters I interviewed for our project. They are quick and efficient - They started our project 2 days after we agreed on the price. They had our project done in 3 days. That was half the time that others quoted us. They didn't do this by cutting corners, they accomplished this by putting a lot of people on the job and working in an efficient and organized manner.

Quoting and scheduling process with Ottis went fine. The quality of the work was far lower than expected. In discussing my concerns 1st with the crew cheif and then with the scheduler, my concerns were met with excuses and justification for why the sub-par work should be acceptable. When I escalated to the estimator (owner) with whom I had my original positive interaction, his answer was the by process, its best to direct quality concerns to the crew chief and scheduler. He did not seem to pick up on the fact that I had gone that route and only pivoted back to hem when I was not satisfied with the answers that i received. Several areas have the original wall color showing through even though the crew chief insisted that they applied (2) coats. Light wiping of the walls 1 week later removed paint to the point where the old color showed through. One particular area had the new paint already flaking off after 24 hours. Crew chief blamed that condition o a previous paint job ( >20 years ago) and said that the past painter did, not prep the surface properly. I told him that this is exactly what i was paying him to do but he did not seem to understand this to be his responsibility. Not the approach I was expecting from a reported professinal painter. Crew that did the job left a much more significant mess than expected. Quote indicated that measures would be taken to minimize the less like "wet sanding", etc. The crew left the site with several areas of plaster on the floors and floor grates. Also left several paint drips on the exterior sidewalk and porch. Many areas were not even wiped down and had a blanket of dust remaining. In the end, I refused to welcome the same crew back into my house and had to tale care of the touch-up and clean up myself. Altogether, the provider started out great but did not deliver what I would consider to be acceptable professional quality for this rather simple project.

Everything was great. The painting was done meticulously and professionally. George, who stained my cedar wood fence for me, did an impeccable job with the work, was very courteous and treats customers like they are #1. If in doubt about hiring a painter for any job, CertaPro is the place to go. They are honest, experienced professionals, and prices are very reasonable.

Emily came out for us to help us select colors and to bid the job. She even came back to pick a different color for the playroom when our son objected to our first selection. The workers went above and beyond by figuring out why a pocket door was getting scratched and fixing the trim. The workers were careful and did not leave a mess. The final total was higher than the quote, but only because we added a few items after we started. The cost was as little as half the price of one of the competitors.

On time, on budget, quality work. They were very easy to work with throughout. The guys who did the work were very nice.

Great. Painters were punctual and did a great job.

Excellent work. Friendly, hard-working, and careful painters. Quality product.

Great. They use quality products. The crew we had was professional and we are very pleased with the end result. We will be using them again.

They did a great job - very clean, friendly and good communication.

Did a great job! Very clean, professional, they covered everything when painting, put everything back when they were finished. The lines are perfect, showed up on time every day and did not leave without letting us know where they finished and what was left to do.

First, CertaPro worked with us for over nine months as we negotiated with the builder to secure the funds to repair the stairs and provided several updated quotes. Second, once we were prepared to move forward with the job CertaPro's scheduling department worked closely with us. We experienced several rain delays but we were always well informed in advance of scheduling situations by Patti. Th communication was excellent. Once the job started the painting crew arrived on schedule and kept us well informed of their progress. It was a four day job and they cleaned up each evening. The workmanship was excellent and they left our property in pristine condition. This was a very professional crew! The entire process was seamless with respect to working with CertaPro and the results were beyond our expectations. While the price may seem expensive, we elected to go with a very high quality paint and have two coats applied. This ensures that ongoing maintenance will be reduced. Finally, CertaPro provided us with an ongoing maintenance plan regarding how to properly maintain the structure and how to handle winter snow removal to minimize damage. I would highly recommend CertaPro for any difficult outside painting job. We found them to be extremely professional and reasonable considering the scope of work. They were recommended to me by my daughter who has used them on several projects and has been very satisfied with their work.

The name just says it all!!! The painters from Evanston office of Certa Pro Painters were masters at their job Greg and Anthony were attentive professional and timely during the job done at our home. We will be definitely using Certa Pro for all of our future painting needs.

they were beyond reproach. they showed up initially for the estimate on time and very professionally. they quickly took measurements and came back with a quote within a few days. the scheduled appt for painting went extremely well also. they showed up at the appointed time and completed the work quickly and very well. i would recommend them to anyone and plan on using them again.

Thoroughly satisfactory and extremely professional from initial phone inquiry to completed job. Emily was very knowledgeable and helpful in pointing out areas that needed repair, explaining the processes and recommending colors. Francisco and his team of painters arrived on time each morning, completed the project on schedule, explained each step of the project, took time to show us how various stain options would look on the doors, did an excellent job and thoroughly cleaned up the site each day. We are very pleased with the result.

The painter was on time and finished all the work in one day.

The project was completed on time and in a very professional manner. The gentleman Ottis that provided us the estimate was very thorough and fast. The painting team was great. I would definitely use them again. The costs were also a lot less than other estimtes we had.