The beginning…
After putting himself through college at Portland State University, painting apartments and rental homes, Mike Hughes went to work at a large corporation in 1995 with a degree in Finance Law under his arm. He quickly realized that working in a cubicle was not his lifelong dream and decided to open Absolute Painting & Power Washing.
His goal was to provide honest, hard work along with attentive personal service that exceeded his customers expectations. His customers started to tell their friends and family and the company quickly grew making it more challenging to keep up with demand. In 1997 Mike’s mother decided to join the company and become a full time house painter and business partner.
Since then Absolute Painting & Power Washing has grown to nearly 20 employees and services the entire Portland Metro/Vancouver area. In addition to offering the highest quality in painting jobs they also offer all types of construction services, interior design and color consultations. They attribute their steady growth and success to consistently delivering quality results and making sure their customers are happy.
Our Team
Mike Hughes – Owner -“We guarantee you’ll be a satisfied customer.” From the beginning, this quote has represented the primary beliefs that have built Absolute Painting & Power Washing. We strive to improve our business and our services every year by continually asking our customers how we are doing. Thank you very much for all of your support over the years and we look forward to working with you in the future! Without you, we wouldn’t be here.
Beth Hall – Sales, Design, Color -“Good design doesn’t need to be complicated it just needs to reflect your personality.” With more than 15 years in the industry, Beth brings a wide range of experience and talent in all capacities of new construction and remodels as an Interior Designer. Her goal is to transform your vision into reality.
Karen Rickerson – Sales, Design, Color -”I love how color can transform a room and communicate emotion.” From an early age, Karen has been drawn to color as a means of inspiration & communication. With over 15 years of experience, she attributes her success to a strong belief, and a delight, in serving her clients. She appreciates and understands their desire to be surrounded with a space that is unique to them
Mary Ornelas - Office Manager -As a busy mother of three, Mary knows very well the importance of keeping an organized schedule. This essential quality is at the core of every successful organization. Her interaction with our clients as well as our crew is one of the many aspects of her work that she enjoys.
Diane Pettis – Crew Leader & Business Partner – One could say Absolute Painting actually started with Diane, since she’s Mike’s mom! She’s been painting since the business opened 16 years ago. She loves meeting new people and seeing the changes they make in their homes. A ‘ghostly’ painting story she will never forget still brings chills whenever she shares it. While painting a bathroom in an older home she heard a women’s voice coming from a vent in the ceiling saying, “What are you doing in my bathroom?”. Since Diane was painting alone that day she felt compelled to investigate further. She soon realized that no one else was in the house. Apparently the mysterious ‘occupant’ wasn’t used to people being in her bathroom!
Antonio Alonso – Crew Leader – With over 17 years in the painting industry, Antonio has worked the last 6 years with Absolute Painting. Aside from the exercise and working with the crews, one of his favorite parts of being a painter is ensuring a customer’s home looks sharp and that they are happy with the results. A story that he likes to share is when a customer jumped up & down with excitement over the painting job. She was so happy it made Antonio happy. The tip she gave him also made him happy!
Danny Sandoval – Crew Leader – Danny has been painting for the last 10 years and with Absolute Painting for 3 years. He enjoys the sense of accomplishment after transforming customer’s homes and seeing the smiles on their faces. One of his favorite painting memories happened after finishing a job. The children of one of our customers gave him a handmade card to say thanks!
Omar Mendoza – Crew Leader – As a seasoned painter with 15 years in the industry, Omar has been with Absolute Painting for nearly 2 years. Taking a great amount of pride in his work, Omar’s favorite part of being a painter is making homes look beautiful! This satisfaction is carried over from great customer experiences. For example, one of our customers was so happy with the outcome she said she was going to recommend us to her friends & family and then she gave Omar a nice tip!
Sam Diaz – Crew Leader – Sam has been with Absolute Painting from the beginning of his painting career five years ago. He truly loves his job and has fun painting. He likes to see people happy when their painting job is complete. Sam shares a story of a customer who was so surprised on how good the job looked, she couldn’t stop complimenting our work. It felt good!
Chris Miller – Construction Manager – With over 16 years in the construction business, Chris aspires to make sure the job is done well and that every customer is a happy customer. He started out working in the family business building houses in 1994. Since then he has functioned in many aspects of construction as an experienced carpenter, contractor and project manager. Chris has spent time as a team member for charitable causes such as Habitat for Humanity, Centex Land Trust Fund and Extreme Makeover–Home Edition.
