Get What You Pay For When Hiring a House Painter

by Brett Freeman

Having your house painted is an onerous process. The expense can be a budget-buster, and a high-quality job can literally mean weeks of ladders in your yard, plastic over your windows, and vans blocking your driveway when you come home from work each night. Given all that, you want to make sure you are hiring a reputable painting contractor so that your money is well-spent.

Cheaper Doesn't Mean Better
Virtually all painters offer free estimates, so it's easy enough to get a number of bids from local painting contractors. It's also likely that these bids will vary by 30 percent or more. Don't get mesmerized by those low estimates. Obviously you need to stay within your budget, but you also want to make sure you'll be getting a quality paint job that will last for many years. In other words, it's more important to get the best house painter than the best price.

What Has He Done (Not Too) Lately?
When meeting with painting contractors, remember that you're looking for a good painter, not a good salesperson. In addition to asking for references, get the addresses of homes in the area that he or she has painted. In particular ask for homes painted two to five years ago. All paint jobs look good when they're completed: it's only after a few years that shoddy work becomes apparent.

Is He Prep-py?
Top quality house painters will spend at least as much time prepping a house as they will actually painting, and in many cases the prep work takes longer. Better preparation allows paint to adhere better, so it will last for years longer without cracking or peeling. It can therefore be useful to ask potential contractors when they can start, how long it will take before they start painting, and how long it will be until the job is completed. If less than a third of the job will be dedicated to prep work, you should hear alarm bells going off.

Hands On? Eyes On?
You should also ask if the contractor will be a part of the crew that will be performing the actual work on your house. If not, how often will he be onsite? Be skeptical of contractors who won't be actively supervising process. It's incredibly easy for painting crews to hide sub-par work, at least for a year or two. By then, of course, they're long gone.

Source:
ThisOldHouse

About the Author
Brett Freeman is a freelance journalist. He also owns a landscaping and irrigation company in North Carolina. Previously he has worked as a beat reporter, a teacher, and for a home improvement company, and he used to own a bar/live music venue.