Wow, we had the same experience as Patty from Bound Brook. My first experience with hiring a contractor did not go well. I now know why people do the work themselves-- except my past experiences with that did not go well either. Besides the fact that he only did about half the work we hired him to do (and got paid for 75%) of it, he was slow (only worked a few hours a day), sloppy, lazy, and not respectful of our home. For example, while staining the floors, he got stain all over the new base moulding he put down and high enough so that the shoe moulding won't cover it. Speaking of the new floors, we're going to have to have them redone. He didn't sand between poly coats and the floor is gritty. His laziness (sounds like a royal term) was shown when he didn't bother to sand the corners of the room. He did a terrible job in the closets. It might not be possible to save the floors as they can only be sanded so many times. He left rooms unfinished and in disarray. He didn't put up any tarps like he said he would, so everything in the house was coated with sheetrock dust. He went into our refrigerator and drank all the water and killed a bowl of candy my fiance had on the table-- not intended for them. One of the few good things I can say about him is when he suspected one of his employees of stealing our pressure washer, he hounded him all day, took picture for evidence, and then got the PW back and locked it in the garage. He installed the crown moulding upside down. He'd show up at 10, 11, or 2 PM, work a few hours and leave at 5. Last Friday was his last day at the house. He got there at 10:30, sat in his car for an hour, packed up his tools, went inside to grab a water, and left without doing anything. He has not been back and will not return text messages or emails. He's based in North Jersey (Long Valley, Washington Township) and has worked in Bound Brook, Carteret, Long Branch, etc. he says he serves (or fleeces) all of NJ. Joe C. of PPP should not be hired by anyone. If you want his name or company name, send me a message. He also stole masking tape, nails, and plastic tarps. He broke a ceiling fan and lost screws needed for other ceiling fans. You know the expression you get what you pay for? Well, in this case, we got less than what we paid for. Our house is still in major disarray. We continue to hang out in the basement until the house is finished. We have hired a new contractor who is starting towards the end of next week. He has worked for friends and other homes where we have seen the quality of work and are very satisfied. read more

A few facts about this contractor - Hired to sheet rock 2 bedrooms and a bathroom that had been stripped down to the studs: 1. Sent out 4 people on Tuesday morning (one being a non-involved female) started work about 11 am. 2. Sheetrock was hauled into the house, the workers stayed till 2:30 - some work was done 3. Worker did not show up till 11:30 on Wed morning - some work was done 4. Worker showed up at 9:30, worked till 5:30...a lot of work was done 5. Worker showed up at 7:20 - worked till 12:30 - left with all tools That was the last we saw of them. Owner said he would arrive on Saturday to finish. He not only didn't show but doesn't return phone or text msgs. Not one of the 3 rooms was completed. The job is so bad we have had to hire another contractor to tear it all out back down to the studs and start over. We had checked his references, obviously those were not accurate. We did not have a signed contract and he was paid 50% up front. Our BAD So a word to the wise......do not make the same mistake we did. He low balls an estimate and it sounds good. I'll be happy to provide pictures if anyone has any questions. read more

I recently had a smiliar issue with Mr. Centra. He is unreliable, messy, rude, crook. I will write a full review later, but i encourage you both to put in a claim with the BBB. I did, maybe if they see a pattern they will help us get some money back from this scam artist that calls himself a professional... what a joke!!! To anyone reading this... BEWARE... spend extra money upfront because if not you will be paying for it months later!!! DO NOT HIRE THIS MAN! read more