CertaPro Painters® of Cincinnati

I was extremely pleased with the workmanship and professionalism of all involved, especially the 2 painters that were at my home for a week. They needed to put on an additional coat not inoted in the estimate for the interior, and it was included in the original price.

Two workers arrived the first day around 10 AM. The supervisor (Abraham) came in and asked me what was to be done, then brought in his co-worker (who spoke no English) and told him what to do while Abraham left to purchase all the paint. When I looked the co-worker (Arturo) had begun removing a wallpaper border at the top of the walls without covering the oak bookcase that he had pushed out from the wall (but not far enough to be safe from the water, wallpaper and glue mess falling on it). He had put a drop cloth down on the floor to protect the carpet but not over the furniture. I asked him to take care to keep the water and mess off the bookcase. I don't think he understood me. Abraham returned with the paint and began quickly working on removing the remaining wallpaper border and scraping down any glue places left on the wall. It was estimated to take 3 hours and it did - no more than that. However, I had to cover the bookcase when I saw, again, that Arturo had not covered it up or pushed it farther from the wall. That was the only Con in the whole experience. When the painters arrived after noon, they covered everything completely and immediately began working. Abraham had dried the plastering/repair work he had to do in a few places and the patching to fill holes in walls (where paintings and photos had hung). He sprayed Kilz on some of the spots on the ceiling and the ceiling was painted by the two new workers. They also began painting the walls with rollers while Abraham began cutting around the doors, ceiling, baseboards, etc. The ceiling got one coat of paint and the walls got two coats of paint - and all that was finished in one day! They had estimated 3 days for the job and the total job took 1 1/2 days instead, which made me happy. Abraham was personable, worked constantly while he was here, not even taking a break for lunch until he had a good stopping place. He was excellent with the trim, taking care around the carpeting (which wasn't an easy feat). He and Arturo returned the second day to do two coats on the trim and door and were gone by 2:00 pm the second day. We have discovered a few small places that didn't get a second coat of the trim paint in the entryway and above a door in the hallway. We can finish that with the can of paint we were left. Considering the size of the job and the work involved, I would give Centrapro a B+ on this job and I would ask for Abraham to return when we have more painting work to be done.

The company was easy to work with and performed the work according to schedule. The reason for my C ratings on quality and professionalism are in part due to the way the business manages its contractors. The business works with teams of independent contractors and once the sale is concluded the customer is entirely in the hands of the contractor that CertPro assigns to do the work. There is (or was, in my case) zero quality control from the central office of CertaPro. I did get the impression that they were willing to get involved if I was disatisfied with the work. However, this places the responsibility for oversight and quality supervision squarely on the shoulders of the customer. This would be a daunting task for the average homeowner not familiar with painting processes or working with blue collar painters. Although I am a construction person and do have experience in both these areas, I nevertheless found it difficult to manage the work because of the time it demanded and the way the painters went about their task. The contractor assigned to me was a 3-man Mexican team and although they struggled in English they were very friendly and anxious to please. Had it not been for their positive attitude my task would have been much more difficult and I woud not have given CertaPro an overall B rating. It took a while for me to gauge their level of competence. The first issue I noticed was that they were not well-equipped. Their pressure washer gun was broken and they could not turn off the spray once the motor was started. This led to the operator moving around the house with the high pressure spray going in alll directions, stripping leaves off trees and spraying parts of the house (such as the soffit vents) that should not have been exposed to water. They were also poorly prepared to deal with the prep work needed. They had no power tools - only small hand scrapers, sanding pads that were too fine, and no hammers with which to knock in protruding nail heads (they used the scraper handles for this with limited success). I eventually lent them a power disc sander when quality problems became an issue (see below). It soon became apparent to me that they were keen to minimize the most important part of the job - preparation. They removed obviously flaking paint but easily ignored large areas where the paint was laying flat but had lost its adhesion to the substrate due to years of becoming damp. I repeatedly had to call them back to such areas but was by no means able to catch all the problems. They were very keen to begin applying primer and did so well before completing the scraping/sanding on the side they were working on. Eventually they were doing prep work, applying primer, and applying first and second coats in different places, all at the same time. It was impossible (for me or them) to accurately track where they had and had not applied two finish coats. As I said earlier, they were eager to please and somehow concluded that my wife and I would be happy once the paint went on! Eventually I had to take the foreman aside and explain to him that what I was most interested in was not the paint but the preparation before the paint was applied. On day three I did a walkaround and identified about 70 problems. Most of these were areas where filler had been applied and then simply painted over with little attempt to remove the excess, leaving ugly blotches. In a few areas the new paint had already begun to peel off due to the failure to deal with the loose paint underneath. I then demonstrated how to remove the dried filler with a disc sander. The foreman asked me if he could borrow the tool and, to my surprise, when I next looked at the job they had gone around the entire house and addressed all the problem areas with the sander. They then repainted these patches as needed. It is important to note that in the end I believe I got a reasonable job but this would not have been so if I had not become actively involved in the process. It is now just over a year since the work was completed and I am watching carefully to see if I have any peeling or other problems. At this stage there are several places where the filler color is showing through the topcoat (indicating that only one coat was applied to these areas). I will probably touch these up myself unless there are other issues requiring attention before the two-year warranty expires. I believe CertaPro, which seems to be a decent company, would be well served by ensuring that their contractors are adequately equipped, laying down standards and procedures for them to comply with, and by having an independent person on their staff conduct quality inspections at different stages of the job. I would consider using this company again, but only if they would agree to meet such requirements.

I originally had a need to have exterior trim painting to be done and contacted Certapro after reviewing companies in Angies List. The sales person came out promptly and built an estimate for the work that we needed. While he was at the house i had mentioned that i needed to paint the foyer and hallway and asked if he could build a quote for that as an option. He took pictures of that area also and reported he would get back to me. In a few days he sent us the quote for the interior work also. Over a couple of weeks we set the date for work as i was going to be out of town. The workers showed up on Monday and reported they were there to pressure wash the outside wall and prep the areas to be painted outside. The only thing a little strange about that was it was raining but they did the pressure washing anyway. It was warm so i guess they didn't care about getting wet since they might have anyway while pressure washing. Tuesday they showed up to start painting and since it was still a little rainy they reported they would start in the interior. This is where things started getting weird. I noticed that they had brought the foyer paint in but i didn't see any primer. As the old paint was dark the sales person had quoted a primer first. I told the worker but he acted like he didn't know and then stated he would cover any repaired areas (nail holes). I told him that it was in the contract to paint the entire surface. He agreed to paint the dark area with primer but not the off white area. They began pretty quickly and i noticed they were painting the color right behind the primer but didn't say anything as they are the professionals. I then noticed that one of the workers had his ladder up against the wall that had just been primed and when he moved his ladder it smeared the primer. I could see this as my office is on the second floor just outside the foyer. So they went through the motions and completed the entire project by around 6:00 PM. We took a quick look and it looked OK as the sun was going down around the back of the house and there wasn't as much light in the foyer. (It is on the East side of the house) My wife had noticed a couple of small places and we decided to take a closer look at the project. Here is a list of what we found when we actually did a close work of the project: There were two large paint runs that ranged around 3 or 4 feet in length. They covered the carpet with tarps but did not tape between the carpet and trim so along the edges are white trim paint on the carpet. The tops of door jams also were covered in wall paint since it might not be noticed at first. There is paint in a couple of places on the banister. i had noticed that they hadn't taped all the banisters where they meet the wall. Because the main paint color was done so quickly after the primer you can see the white through the main color in places especially at the ceiling line. I received the left over paint cans and noticed that the trim paint did not have a sticker for the color. We found out they hadn't used the color we requested but had used a straight white. This is after i emailed the coordinator and gave the painter a swatch of the actual color. This also meant i would have to go back and paint all of the trim since this would not match any other trim. The trim paint was also sloppy on several areas and we can see through to the old paint. With all these problems we decided to go look closer at the outside area. We found that they had not cleaned the gutter as they had reported in the contract above the area that was to be painted. I called Certapro and had them have the project manager stop by the next day so we could cover what we found. They did report they would come out and fix any problems but we were so afraid of what more they might do we decided to come to an agreement on a reduced cost so they could cut losses and just not come back. The original cost was around 1500.00 and the agreed cost became the 817.00. At the end of the day i had to go back and repaint all of the foyer, all of the hallway and all of the trim as the trim color was not the correct color at all. I also had to go back and repair the runs in the paint and these are not easy to repair. As of the writing of this review i am still working on the trim (10-15-12). I can't report on other reviews and i was also told they utilize subcontractors but our experience was horrible.

We had recently moved here from the Cleveland area. We had used Certa-Pro on two different occasions, one interior and one was exterior painting. We were very pleased with their services, so when we needed interior painting again I contacted the Cincinnati/Northern KY Certa-Pro. The process only had one glitch- a message left to the office was never returned. After they were made aware of the issue they were extremely appologetic and had the work scheduled to be done two days later!!! The job was done in a neat and timely way, the contractors were friendly and professional. Would definitely use them again, as a matter of fact I am arranging to have more painting done soon.

Called CertaPro and was connected with Christian the estimator. He came right out looked over the job and measured. Within 2 days I received a quote for the job. I felt it was very reasonable so I signed the contract and sent it right back. I have to note that I live out of town and contracts were executed effortlessly via email. Within a few days of submitting the payment terms Randy called for a paint color. After the paint was choosen, I was put onto the production schedule. I was on a tight time frame and they made every effort to accomodate me. A couple days later, Vicki called and said they would be out the very next day to start the job. Dennis, Lee, and the other painter (didn't get his name) did a super job. House looks fantastic. It was a huge job due to the fact that the prior tenants had let their children basically trash the walls (marker, crayon, fingernail polish, food stains, etc.). Stains were sealed, repairs done, and paint applied in a timely and well executed fashion. I would definetly use them again.

The salesman was prompt and provided a written estimate before leaving. He also provided a folder of information including proof of insurance, type of paint to be used, and work quality guanantee - very professional. As scheduled, the house was power washed and the painting crew arrived. They took time to prepare the surface and carefully applied the paint. The result was terrific and below all the other estimates. Overall , one of the best experiences ever from Angies list and I highly recommend them.

Communication from the sales rep, customer service, and the painter was excellent. We utilized the color consultant to help us pick our color, which was a free service. They forgot to paint the lintels on the windows. I pointed that out and they painted them right away, however, they did not sand them or give them two coats of paint per the contract. The contract also indicated the vinyl siding would be scrubbed with a low toxin cleaner. The lead painter used a power-washer which did not get the vinyl clean. When I pointed this out to him, he said the siding looked better than it did before and he went over every spot. I took my finger and wiped off dirt and soot. He continued to debate with me, but finally and begrudgingly agreed to take a rag, soap, and bucket and clean a portion of the vinyl. Up to this point, he had been professional. The painting work was done neatly. The painters were an hour or two late each day.

Do remember to ask about filing small holes in walls - Certapro filled all. Remember to ask if paint is included - painters arrived without paint on the premises but purchased the paint and completed the job as promised. Always ask if the site will be cleaned up each night if it is a multi-day job - Certapro always cleans the areas affected as well as their supplies.

CertaPro was the first company I contacted for a quote and then I had two others. As soon as I met Jordan, who did the estimate, I knew I wanted CertaPro to do the job. He was very professional, friendly and prompt for our appointment. However, the other two quotes were much lower than the one we received from CertaPro. After I had all the quotes, I contacted Jordan to let him know the issue. He was really great about it and they matched the quote we were going to accept. Once we had accepted the contract from CertaPro, Hannah contacted us to let us know that the job would be done the week of March 12th. On that Monay, I got an e-mail asking if Wednesday would be okay and since our front door was to be painted, what time we could be there. I e-mailed back the best times for us and Hannah scheduled it so it worked perfectly. I got home during the lunch our and met Lee and Renee. They were both very friendly and introduced themselves to me right away. Lee filled me in on how the project was going so far and got the front door painted while I was there. When I got home after work, I was very pleased to see the completed paint job. It looks great and everything was cleaned up. Since the original quote was almost double the rest the we got, I would recommend getting more than one quote before accepting their bid, but I would not hesitate to hire CertaPro again.

They were prompt and professional. They did have to come back and re do something. The price was okay. The work only included the walls and not the trim work.

The company contacted me after I responded to a mailer. The estimator was professional and courteous and quoted the job two ways so I could decide what I wanted to do. I was contacted by e-mail about scheduling. Communication was good with prompt responses. The crew did a great job of paint match on our entry and garage from their own paint samples and then took some of our door paint to match exactly when they got supplies. They worked quickly and neatly. The house looked refreshed when they were done.

Went well. Showed up when expected and did a good job.

We intended to get three estimates and Dave Rankin's Certapro was the first. Our experience of him was so extra-ordinary that we decided to just get on with it and use his company. He listened (and heard) what we wanted and patiently answered every detail question we had. Also offered suggestions when we asked for them. Our home is filled with art and some permanent art installations that could be complicated. Dave studied the situation and decided how it would be done. We met the Crew Manager, Martin, and he also showed the same responsiveness to what we needed. His crew of 3 worked outside for 2 - 3 days and then his crew of 4 came inside to do the more complicated, detailed work in the entire first floor rooms/areas. There were some minor not-pefect things and those that we wanted fixed, they fixed. And with a good attitude. We never felt like we were asking too much of them. Even when we were asking a lot. :-) The only thing I found disconcerting is their name. I have trouble remembering it - even when asked for referrals, I give Dave's phone number - in case I got the name wrong. Again.

.Dave Rankin, the owner, arrived promply for the initial consulation and provided the estimate quickly. Included in the service is a complememtary color consulation. The decorator comes to your home to help with color selection. I used this service and found it extremely helpful. I followed her advice and was delighted with the result. Lee Johnson, the painter,was friendly and personable. He arrived on time, moved all heavy furniture carefully,. He worked quickly but neatly and completed the job in the time alloted. When he was finished, the rooms looked great. He took care of all aspects of the painting process except moving breakables. He did an excellent job cleaning up. i would definately welcome Lee back next time I need painting done and would use CertaPro Painters again

The 2 man team was on the job from the first day, Monday, until they finished on the following Saturday. They were on time each day and cleaned up at the e nd of each day. We would definately use CertaPro again

We have an unusual situation with an old log cabin as part of our house so the painters chose to paint the entire exterior with rollers and brush instead of using a sprayer. I asked them why, and they told me they didn't want to risk getting paint on the many shrubs and plants and the old wood from overspray from the sprayer. They felt it was better for us if they did it this way. The painters were friendly and courteous, showed up on time every day and worked consistently throughout the day with minimal down time. The entire process was excellent, from estimate to completion. We would recommend Certa Pro to anyone.

Very professional crew that worked hard for approximately a week to complete this project. Very happy to answer questions, and addressed any issues immediately. Kept the jobsite neat and clean and secured ladders each night. CertaPro also sent out a 'color consultant' to meet with us and help pick our new color scheme which ended up being very helpful. CertaPro did an excellent job and we will not hesitate to use them in the future.

They were great! They showed up on time, worked hard, were courteous, respectful, and did beautiful work!

Randy did an excellent job! He came on time to do the work. I had a few questions after the job was completed and he came back to answer those for me. He told me to let him know if I had more questions in the future. I was very pleased with his work.

. They come out and look at the job, and then they give us the estimate. In their estimate they just detail all that they are going to do and us a rough estimate. For example this is new construction and so they did list that it needed a coats of primary and two coats of paint for all the exterior surfaces. They also tell us the number days it would take. As for responsiveness they set up the appointment within a couple of days and they were on time. I will use them in the future.

FIne. I was quite satisfied. The people who came out were good workers. the business was very professional about contacting me about when they would start. The bid was considerably lower than other we got.

Certa Pro responded promptly and setup up an appoitnment. The bid was the most professional and most competitive. I was referred by a friend at work. They started work the next week and began by a thorough pressure washing and the next day completed prep work and the following two days completed the painting. The workers were very efficient and neat as well as courteous. We definitely will utilize Certa-Pro again and I have recommended several of my friends their business.

Representative arrived on time to give estimate. Professional estimate emailed to me. The company communicated well and kept me up to date with timeframe and answered my questions. Job was completed when they said it would be. Overall the job exceeded my expectations.

He came in and analyzed everything. He even took pictures of 2 of my rooms that he is going to be painting, and I have never had anyone do that before. He came in with an estimate and the price seemed pretty fair to me. His wife will help with color if you need help in deciding on picking color. He and his wife are both really personable and nice. I really like him so far. He was on time. I had one other person come out from The next step is seeing how the painting turns out, but so far I am very pleased.