Tips for Hiring a Painting Contractor from Start to Finish

Unfortunately, painting contractors have a bad rap for being unreliable, untrustworthy, and unprofessional.

• They don’t call back…even when the homeowner is requesting an estimate.
• They don’t start or finish the job on-time; if they finish at all.
• The work doesn’t live up to the quality standards that they promise.
• They don’t stand behind their work when there’s a problem.
• They run off with the customer’s deposit and are never seen again.

Painting – as with many of the other home improvement services – is often seen by unskilled, out-of-work types who are looking to make a quick buck, as something that anyone can do.

So, really, at the heart of this problem are the large number of illegitimate painting contractors that are taking advantage of homeowners and tarnishing the good reputation of those businesses that are trying to provide a valuable service to the community.

Time and time again, we pick up slack where our competitors fall off.

We understand the difficulties of getting some painting contractors to show up. And we can guarantee that this generalization does not apply to our painters. Each of our professional painters takes great pride in their work and loves what we do. Conrad’s Painting is the painting contractor you can rely on. Which is why we’re providing you this list of tips for hiring a painting contractor, to help protect yourself from an illegitimate, unreliable painting contractor.

How to Find a Reliable Interior Painting Contractor

Research and Review

With all of the internet resources that are available to you it is easier than ever to find out all of the information you’d ever need on local contractors. Most professional painters are hired through “word of mouth”.

Reviews, references, and past projects are a great place to start. Facebook and Google reviews are great sites to see how businesses are rated by the public as well as browse reviews of your neighbors’ experiences with them.

Hiring the right painter requires thorough research and a rigorous vetting process. Once you have a few potential painting contractors in mind, it’s important to know what questions to ask. Asking these questions helps set up expectations and details from the start ensures a smooth and successful painting project experience.

You Get What You Pay For

It is always a good idea to get a couple of quotes before deciding on a contractor for your project. Invariably there will be a company that will give you a low bid because they badly need work.

Good painting contractors have necessary expenses and they have to make enough money from the jobs they do to pay those expenses. Shady contractors are notorious for doing jobs for low wages, and they will often times convince the customer that they’re getting a “good deal”.

The fact is that they are cutting corners somewhere to provide you with that “good deal”.

In order to make money on low bids, illegitimate painting companies will often times skimp on proper workmanship practices that will leave the homeowner with a project that may look good on the surface but will not hold up over time.

Ensure Accountability

A good painting contractor will provide you copy of the scope of work that they intend to perform on your job. A scope of work will outline exactly what the painting contractor will be doing for you, step-by-step, to complete your project.

This will enable you to make an apples-to-apples comparison of the different bidders, and may give you some valuable insight into why there are large financial discrepancies between the different bids.

Accountability can also be held through a written contract or proposal that is signed by both parties. Everything they say they will do to make sure it gets done to your satisfaction.

Hiring a Paint Contractor from Start to Finish

Every job is different, based on the project scope and needs. However, let’s take a look at our process of hiring us as your painting contractor for the interior of your home compared to a previous project.

Quoting Process

• Initial call/email for introductions and scheduling a quote.
• One of our paint contractors comes to your potential project site. They measure the square footage of each room, take notes of any specific requests, potential issues outside of normal repairs, note the height of each room, consider potential accent walls, and weigh material options.
• The estimate is sent within 48 hours. Contract and down payment steps proceed upon request. Once a contractor is hired, a start date is arranged.

First Day on the Job

• Equipment is unloaded and our crew sets up shop wherever the agreed-upon designated storage spot is.
• Coverage of all areas that will not be painted, such as floors, windows, kitchen counters, and cabinets.
• Patch and prep for whole project scope. Including minor surface preparation, light sanding and scraping away loose paint, tapping in a few protruding nails, cleaning off the woodwork, using tackcloth in some areas. The key here is minor, as the contractor will assume that the house is mostly in paint-ready condition.
• Outside of minor scope includes moving furniture away from walls or removing hanging decor.
• Removal of electrical plates, lights, doors, and other obstacles.

Job Progression

• Priming new drywall or the current paint with an interior latex primer.
• Two coats of ceiling paint.
• Painting the trim and molding (baseboards, window trim, window muntins, etc.).
• Two coats of the color of interior latex paint on the walls.

Last Day on the Job

• Touchups of missed spots.
• Clean up of “shop” and equipment.
• A final evaluation between painting foreman and homeowner.

Why Hire a Professional Painting Contractor?

When it comes to working textures, hanging wallpaper, or painting a design on your unique accent wall, you can count on Conrad’s Painting for high-quality work. Our painting crew prepares the walls for interior painting by filling any holes or cracks in ceilings and walls, sealing any stains, and scuff sanding any uneven surfaces, including loose or old paint. This creates the smooth, clean canvas necessary for a perfect finish. And will protect your floors with drop cloths, taking care to secure every inch of the room from start to finish.

Our wallcovering installers are dedicated to superior craftsmanship in the hanging of every type of wallcovering. With experience installing wallcovering in healthcare facilities, restaurants, schools, offices, and apartment buildings, you can count on us to get the job done on time.