When you own a home, there will come a time when you’ll need to start thinking about repainting your walls. When this happens, you may think about hiring a painting contractor. Contractors paint your walls quickly and efficiently, saving you the time and effort of doing it yourself. However, choosing the right contractor can be … Continued
When you own a home, there will come a time when you’ll need to start thinking about repainting your walls. When this happens, you may think about hiring a painting contractor. Contractors paint your walls quickly and efficiently, saving you the time and effort of doing it yourself. However, choosing the right contractor can be an involved task with the plethora of options available. Luckily, we have some tips to help you when you’re looking to hire a painting contractor.
What Is a Painting Contractor? What Do They Do?
Painting contractors are professional painters who work under a general contractor or hire themselves out directly to a homeowner. These contractors are almost always relatively small, ranging from one- to two-person mom-and-pop operations to small companies with 30 employees. Some of these contractors also specialize in tasks like trim and molding, wallpapering and staining.
While every painting contractor is different, there are a few things they almost all universally do. These tasks will typically include but are not limited to:
- Covering areas that will not be painted
- Performing minor surface preparation before painting
- Removing electrical plates, doors and outlet covers that may be in the way
- Priming the surface they will be painting
- Painting two coats on the walls and ceiling
- Painting the trim and molding
- Touching up any missed spots
- Cleaning up after they finish the job
- Evaluating the job with the foreman and homeowner
Another task some painting contractors often do is move furniture to access the areas they need to paint. However, this is not always the case, so it’s important to ask beforehand. Additionally, the homeowner will often be responsible for removing smaller items and wall decorations.
Traits of a Quality Painting Contractor
Before you begin researching local painting contractors, you should look for a few traits to ensure you’re hiring a quality painter. You want to get the best contractor you possibly can to paint your house, so it’s essential to go through a mental checklist before hiring a painter.
One of the most important things to look for is if the contractor has insurance and the proper licenses. Every painting contractor should have the proper licenses. If a company or painter you’re looking to hire doesn’t, that’s an instant red flag. It’s also crucial for them to have insurance to help protect everyone involved in case of an accident.
Another trait you should look for is an established reputation filled with great reviews and testimonials. One of the best signs you’re going to get quality service is the positive reviews of others. If nearly every other person who hired that contractor had a great experience, you’ll likely have an excellent experience as well.
Any contractor you’re thinking of hiring should be communicative and open with you. Since hiring painting services can sometimes be expensive, you need to ask them any questions you may have to get your money’s worth. Your contractor should be willing to answer your questions to help assuage any concerns you may have about the process. Additionally, getting a thorough estimate that breaks down the painter’s costs and schedule helps you understand everything you’re paying for and ensure they’re not making up a number.
How to Find a Painting Contractor
With so many painting contractors available, finding one that works best for you may take some time. The first thing you should do is conduct some research. There are several ways to find information on painting contractors in your area.
Since many painting contractors are small, local entities, word-of-mouth referrals can be very effective methods of getting information. By asking friends, family and co-workers if they’ve recently had their house painted and had a great experience with their contractor, you can find a painter that’s been vouched for by people you trust.
Another way to easily find a large number of contractors is through search engines. By using Google, Bing or Yahoo! and inputting “painting contractors near me,” you’ll get a plethora of results instantly. Keep in mind that you’ll have a substantial amount of contractors to choose from but not much information on any of them.
A great mix between these two options is to look at review websites such as Google Reviews, Angi and Yelp! to see numerous contractors while also reading about other people’s experiences with them. These review sites provide you with a quick and easy way to find which painters in your area have the highest ratings without the time commitment of asking around or filtering through dozens of search results.
How to Prepare for a Painter
After researching the painting contractors you’re interested in and deciding who you’ll hire, contact your chosen option, get a quote and schedule a date for them to paint your house. Before the painting day, you need to prepare your home for the contractor’s arrival. While there are quite a few things painters will do themselves to cut down on time — and potentially money — you can make some other preparations yourself.
While some painters will move your furniture for you, taking out your furniture and removing everything that’s hanging from your walls can help the contractors quickly get to what they’re there for — painting. To go along with this, taking off any outlet covers and switch plates in the painting area will also benefit the contractors by allowing them to efficiently paint the room without removing these items before starting.
Lastly, you may want to ensure your walls — or whatever else is being painted — are clean before the workers begin. While this is not something people think about until the situation rises, any dust or dirt on the wall before painting will be much more visible and permanently become part of the wall after it’s painted over. By ensuring your walls are clean before the contractors come, you can guarantee any dirt or dust won’t be painted over.
Some painters will do all of the above for you, though, so if you’re looking to make less work for yourself during preparation, select a company that goes above and beyond during the painting process.
Use Our Quote Calculator or Schedule a Walkthrough Quote Today
If you’re looking to get your house painted in the Washington, D.C., area, look no further than Rent Painters. At Rent Painters, we aim to leave all our customers satisfied with our high-quality work, including a three-year warranty for interior jobs and a two-year warranty for exterior painting.
Use our quote calculator to quickly get an estimate, or contact us for a walkthrough quote. We’ll take care of the rest and leave you with a freshly painted home that achieves all your desired goals!
