If you are looking to hire a painter for your house project, follow these essential tips to make sure you land with the right candidate.
House painting is a common home improvement venture most homeowners like to attempt because apparently it seems simple to accomplish. Whatever the scope of the project, hiring a professional painter will keep you from making mistakes that can turn costly and save you a lot of time and extra work in the long run.
Once you have made a decision what project to undertake in your home, the next step is to draw a line and review the following characteristics of a qualified painter that who meets your needs:
Background Experience. Has the painter been in business for a quite a while? Painters have a high turnover in the industry. Make sure you hire someone who not only has the experience, but also shows he is creative in his expression to know what he is talking about when you ask some questions.
Professional References. Ask the painter for references and contact them at your leisure. Make sure they are genuine projects the painter has worked on. It’s very important you do your due-diligence before you decide to hire them.
Know How. Is the painter able to make suggestions about what materials for the various house surfaces will work best for your venture? Every professional painter keeps updated with the latest products trends and procedures. They will make recommendations for what colors and finishes match your surfaces best and have expert knowledge about what’s trendy.
Have the painter explain to you in detail how he plans to do his work. What steps in preparation does the painter take before starting the painting? 80% of any professional paint job starts with proper preparation. The painter should start by moving everything out of the room that isn’t permanently attached to the floor. The painter must remove everything attached to the walls including power outlet and light switch covers.
After the painter empties the rooms, he will bring in the drop clothes, canvas, or plastic sheets to cover the entire floor space. Also, all the furniture left in the room must be covered. Even the when you try to be a careful painter, chances are you will trickle or splash paint!
Proper Estimate. Make sure the painter includes the scope of the project in the estimate in writing, including a list of materials they will use and quantities of each kind, the percentage amount of prep work that will take to finish the painting job. Professional painters issue their clients with a copy of the scope the homeowner stated at the beginning, including a formal written contract along with specs of the work to be done.
Guarantee. What guarantees does the painter offer? You should be without a doubt confident when hiring a painter, and that trust should be reflected in whoever you choose will be determined to stand behind their work. That’s why 1st Painting Contractors offers a complete warranty that best guarantee everything we touch.
Express Written Warranty:
As the finest 1st Painting Contractors, we provide a warranty second to none for a regular period of 2 years. We will supply all labor & materials to correct any defects in the painting application, craftsmanship or work quality. The following are not covered in the express written warranty:
Decks and wooden fences are not included in our express written warranty due they often require maintenance every 2-3 years
Premature breakdown on any surface painted that is not the mistake of the painter or the quality of the workmanship performed. Some examples include:
Base surface failure including wasting drywall, termite damage, rotting wood, etc.
Extreme moisture incursion resulting in surface collapse due to external causes
Surface physical damage after paint job had been completed
Implied Warranty:
Most painters can easily blame most early breakdowns on the wall structure or hidden defects not the mistake of the painter. This is extremely hard to prove otherwise to the common homeowner. This is why it’s common to see 5 to 10 years written warranties from painting contractors, sometimes even a lifetime warranty. However, all these contracts include stipulations with cumbersome definitions of defects in craftsmanship and work quality, making these contracts worthless to the homeowner. This is where we differentiate ourselves from the rest of painting contractors. We stand behind our implied warranty and we will honor to take reasonable responsibility if our workmanship results in premature failure. In the case of an early breakdown, we will meet you personally to inspect the problem areas, and get to the bottom of the problem and find out the real reason why it is failing. If we conclude that the problem isn’t certainly outside our control, we will undertake the proper repairs to fix the issues completely free of charge. On the other hand, if it is a more fundamental ongoing problem such as base surface breakdown due to water incursion, softening or rotting wood due to termite damage, we will make sure to do a thorough job to perform all the necessary repairs and fix not just the surface paint, but also the real cause of the continuous problem so that it will not come back. We will inform you of what is needed to be done and we will do our best possible to maintain these maintenance costs low. Whenever you hire 1st Painting Contractors to care for your home curb appeal, you are sure that you aren’t just getting a paint job, you are also our lifetime partner in the care and conservation of your precious home.
Workers’ Insurance. Whether the painting contractor has employees or sub-contractors, everyone working on your property must have the proper insurance in case there is an accident, their accident is covered by their workers’ compensation insurance and you as the homeowner are not responsible for any damages such accident causes. The contractor must also have general liability insurance to cover for any property damages. The contractor should provide you with a copy of current proof of insurance both for their business employees and any subcontractors if applied they will be using while working on your property.
Painting License. Make sure the painting contractor has a California license, general liability insurance to cover for any potential property damage and workers’ compensation insurance to cover for any accidents the workers may have. Knowing that the painting contractor has the proper licenses and insurance will allow you to sleep peacefully at night. A trustworthy painter will have all the proper licensed and insured papers ready when you ask for them. These insurance policies protect you and your home, as well as all their workers they may have on your property at any given time.
Price. Although low-cost is important, you should not only consider the lowest bids as they don’t always guarantee they will do a good paint job. You should also consider hiring someone with experience and quality workmanship as you are investing in your valuable home. You may want to consider if the painters are properly licensed and are covered by insurance both of their workers and your property. Do your due diligence to identify the best painting contractor. Most likely, the lowest bid painter will not have all these licenses and insurance. It’s important that you don’t hire solely on price. The painting industry is very competitive. This is why painters work under very low profit margins. There will be situations when you would be able to hire college students, cheap labor workers around the corner, others between jobs during the summer and you were satisfied with the work. Keep in mind this doesn’t always give you satisfactory results.
Get Three Bids. Sit down and write down the questions you will be asking all the contractors you get a bid from. This way, you will be able to compare apples with apples and ask the same questions and expectations of the paint job you require. You should take careful consideration and compare all work proposals making sure they all have the same scope of work and amount of prep work, quality materials along with all the proper formally written documentation after you receive the bids. It is common standard for contractors to take no longer than a week.