Hiring a Painter: Tips from a Professional

Get Multiple Quotes

You always want to get several quotes because rates can vary widely from one painter to another. Almost all painters and painting companies will come out to your home and give you a free written estimate; if they don’t you shouldn’t bother calling them. When they do give you a quote don’t be afraid to negotiate, painters want your business. If the painter you feel most comfortable with doesn’t give you the lowest quote, give him a call and tell him that you would like to work with him but you got a lower price from someone else. As long as the quote is reasonable most painters will match it. It’s also important when comparing quotes to make sure that you’re comparing apples to apples. Most contracts will vary slightly in the services they include so just because one quote is the lowest doesn’t always mean it’s the best.

Make Sure You Understand the Contract

I cannot stress enough the importance of understanding the contract. In my days as a painter, some of the biggest issues that arose were due to customer misunderstandings with the terms of the contract. A great example of this is knowing how many coats of paint are included in the quoted price. Many people expect that the price they are being quoted includes all of the necessary amounts of paint and labor it will take to make the house look good. Most good contractors will do their best to estimate the number of coats it will take to do a satisfactory job but there are some unfortunate exceptions. Occasionally you will run into a contractor who will try to undercut the competition with a lower price that only includes a single coat when multiple coats are necessary. Then, when one coat is up and its clear to the homeowner that at least one more coat is needed, the contractor will charge quite a bit more for work they knew they would have to do in the first place. A good painting contractor will go through the quote with the homeowner explaining why he thinks the estimated number of coats are necessary and often provide two prices, one for a single coat and another for multiple coats. While it should be the responsibility of the painting contractor to make sure his customer fully understands the terms of the contract, this is not always the case. Here are some questions you should ask each painter when they give you your quote:

– How many coats does it cover?

– What additional expenses could raise the cost of the job?

– Do you have insurance and what does it cover?

– Do you move furniture? (moving it out to paint AND moving it back after the job is done)

– Does this price include all prep work and clean up?

– What happens if I change my mind about the color after you’ve started?

Check References

Most reputable painters will give you a list of references and some even keep a visual portfolio of completed work. ALWAYS check several references. Like all other reasonably intelligent businessmen, painters generally only provide a list of references who were completely satisfied with their work. As a result, simply asking the reference if they were happy with the paint job won’t really get you much useful information. You should ask things like:

– Did they complete the job within the timeframe they originally estimated?

– Did you run into any problems during the work and if so how did they correct them?

– Did they clean up well when the job was finished?

– Did you feel the workers were respectful of your home and property?

– Did they show up and leave on time on the days the work was being done?

The best references often come from friends and family members who have had a good experience with a professional painting contractor in the past. Asking friends and family for recommendations is a great place to start your search for a painter because it also gives you an opportunity to go and view their completed work in person.

Final Inspection

You deserve to be satisfied with the work you paid to have done. Before handing over that final check, make sure you’ve done a thorough inspection of the work. If there is something you’re not happy with, tell the painters and they should correct it. Once the check is cashed and the painters have moved on to their next job it can be difficult to schedule time to come out and fix minor issues; so your best bet is to address any issues while the crew is still on site. While there are certain things that will never look perfect no matter how much paint you put them, you should still expect a clean, professional looking paint job when all is said and done.