Some home improvement projects need a professional. Not all homeowners are prepared to DIY their HVAC installation, build an addition, or pour a foundation. However, other projects, such as painting could be completed by a DIYer. After all, everyone can dab a roller into paint and roll on to them all, right?
But painting is more complex of a task than it looks. So, most DIYers happily decide that they have to bring in a painting contractor to handle the job.
Let us talk about what pro painters do, how you can hire them, and how to bargain the best deal for your painting project.
Who is a Painting Contractor?
A painting contractor can work as a sub-contractor for a general contractor, or can also hire itself to the homeowner directly. In most cases, the painting contractor is typically a small operation, starting from a sole proprietorship to twenty or thirty painters working under a small company.
Find the Best Painting Contractor
Painting contractors are mostly locals (currently, there are no nationwide paint contractors). While paint contractors focus on painting, some handle related tasks like minor drywall work, wallpapering, plaster repairs, and trim and molding. The other tough aspect is making sure a painting contractor comes to the site.
While this doesn’t apply to all painting contractors, it is uncommon to get a paint contractor to arrive to check the house and provide a written estimate. It is not the fault of the painting contractors; it is between the small-size operations of the contractors as well as high demand for their work.
Since it is almost impossible to get information about local painting contractors online, the saying ‘talk to neighbors’ is applicable here.
Some contractors show signs on the lawns on the sites they are working on, but this is often done by general contractors and siding and replacement windows
providers.
So, aside from the white panel van of the painters packed out front, you usually do not know what is happening in your neighbor’s houses. City areas usually have local magazines (for instance, there is Seattle Magazine in Seattle), and most of them often contain renovated homes.
These pieces will have the contractor’s and sub-contrasubcontractor’s phone numbers but be careful, these sub-contractors are often highly expensive.
What are the Things a Painting Contractor Does?
Many painting contractors will perform any kind of job, from just painting your window trim to a complete house painting job. However, let us imagine that they are painting the interior of your home, you can expect them to do the following:
- Coverage of the entire areas that will not be painted, like kitchen counters, floors, cabinets, and windows.
- Little surface preparation before painting, which includes sanding and scraping away of chipped and loose paint, tapping in some popping nails, cleaning the woodwork, applying tack cloth in some spots. The vital part here is small, as the painter will assume that the house is almost ready for painting.
- Removal of doors, electrical plates, lights, and other barriers.
- Moving furniture far from the work area to have better access to the places to be painted. Some painter is not doing this for you, so you would need to discuss this in advance.
- Priming new drywall or the existing paint using an interior latex primer
- 2 coats of the interior latex paint color on the surfaces.
- 2 coats of ceiling paint.
- Painting the trim and molding, such as window muntins, baseboards, window trim, and so on.
- Cleanups for accidents (regardless of the effectiveness of the coverage using drop-cloths, there will still be some drips).
- A lasting evaluation between painting team leader and homeowner.
Ways to Discuss Your Painting Project
Unlike talking with an electrician, you don’t need to learn specialized terms. Most residential painting contractors are well vast in making homeowners better understand things. Some of the things you may want to discuss are:
- Is the cost of paint added in the estimate?
- What type of paint does the contractor plan to use?
- How many coats will they apply?
- How will they cover non-paintable surfaces for protection?
- How long can you take on the job?
- Is it better for the residents to leave the house during the painting project?
- Will they use masking tape around the trim or use the cut-in approach?
How Much doe Painting Cost?
Beyond your expectation. There are painting contractors that have a specialized costing formula, finding the total square footage of walls and ceilings, together with linear footage of trim. They will determine preparation time, including
‘hard costs’ for primer and paint. Many painting contractors will provide you an estimate based on their experience with related jobs.
While this estimate cannot be taken as specifics, it is often a reasonable amount. For you being the homeowner, your best way to determine if this estimate is a good one for you is to make quotes comparison
from other contractors. An entire house internal paint project like the one discussed in this write-up can cost about $10,000 or more.
How Do You Determine A Good Painting Contractor?
We also should include that while we are majorly discussing painting contractors, these tips apply to almost any construction or remodeling goals you might be aiming to achieve.
Let’s look into this and discuss the kind of features you should find attractive:
- Ensure you feel comfortable: While it can be tough to define a comfortable feeling, you should not price the ability of intuition. Painting particularly needs a high level of comfort and reliability since you are opening the doors of your home for strangers to come in. if they appear, act, or talk uncomfortably, avoid hiring them.
- Clean, detailed quotes: In our series of articles, we discussed the disadvantages of napkin quotes. Do not for any reason accept a napkin or paper towel, even if you find it attractive or branded by the company. The quote they give you must be clear and comprehensive, which implies that when you read it, you completely understand the work to be done, the products to be used, and the specific steps and preparations they recommend and why.
- A protection plan: The care and respect of your painting contractors for your home should be seen. For an indoor painting job, find out how your floors, valuables, and furniture will be protected. For projects outside your home, you might want to know how they will care for your landscaping (you want your rose bushes safe from ladders getting jammed into it).
- Referral and portfolios: You can get a better sense of what your painting contractor is capable of doing as well as their kind of experience through the internet. Start from checking for their reviews online, and make sure you keep a tab on how your prospective contractor responds. You can learn something from how they handle the rare poor review as well. You could also ask your painting contractor which houses they’ve painted near you.
- We do not recommend that you walk around another person’s yard, poking at deck boards or trim, but you can always drive by. In short, your contractor will surely say they do good work, but it is left for you to see that they do good work.
- Punctuality and a structured schedule: Consider slow arrivals, missed schedules, unclear details about deadlines, and others as warning signals. Punctuality and understanding that your time is precious and valued are important. If they are not timely while they are trying to win your business, just imagine what you will be facing when they finally got your job.
- Top-quality products: Your chosen painting contractor should be able to help you with the quality products they use, and the reason. Expensive materials and products work well, appear nicer, and last longer. If your painting contractor uses poor products to reduce your cost, they are not doing you any good. During the review of your proposal, ensure they list a specific product, not just a paint manufacturer. Each manufacturer produces options for contractor grade.
- Warranty, insurance, and licensing: Does your painting contractor protect you with insurance coverage? It is important to be licensed and insured, and offering a transparent, comprehensive warranty provides additional peace of mind.
Are You Searching For A Trusted Painting Contractor?
If yes, contact us at Best Contractors Chicago. And, be free to ask us all your bordering questions, using the above-listed as inspiration, if necessary. We are sure we will pass the test excellently.
