8 Questions to Ask a Professional House Painter
Whether you are preparing your home to sell or trying to boost its curb appeal, a fresh coat of paint may be all you need. You can either do it yourself or hire a professional to handle the job.
Taking the do-it-yourself approach may help you save money, but it will also take up your time and probably sacrifice a high-quality finish. Hiring a house painter means you’ll end up with a professional-looking finished product.
Info to Know Before the Painting Begins
Painting your home is an investment. Whether you are painting one room or your entire house, you will be protecting the value of your home for years to come. An excellent paint job will create a pleasant atmosphere in your home.
To achieve the best results, you must choose a reputable, experienced house painter. To help you hire the best painter, here’s a list of questions to ask before any paint is applied.
1. Are you insured and bonded?
The state of Indiana does not require professional painters to be licensed. That’s why it’s especially important to check out reviews and past performance to ascertain whether the contractor you hire is reputable. It’s also especially important for them to carry insurance and be bonded.
A house painter who has liability insurance that includes workers’ compensation coverage is also a must. This provides them and you with protection in the unfortunate event that your house gets damaged or a worker gets injured on the premises during the project.
Bonding protects the client who hires the business for a specific job or project from financial responsibility from losses they may suffer if you the contractor doesn’t fulfill their contractual obligations
2. What personal protection equipment do you use?
Even if painters have workers’ compensation insurance, the last thing you want is to have a painter get injured on your property. Professional painters are expected to wear safety equipment designed to protect the technician’s body from injury or infection.
3. Do you use subcontractors?
A painting company that completes all the work with in-house employees is a company you can trust. However, some painters sub out the work to other contractors. You don’t know their skill level or work ethic. Subcontracted painters may not be as committed to doing a quality job as the full-time staff.
4. What kind of prep work is included in your quotes?
A quality paint job does not start when the paint goes on the wall. It starts during the preparation process. Generally, one-third of a high-quality paint job is spent on prep work, such as removing stains, caulking cracks, sanding rough wall surfaces, or repairing drywall.
Some house painters, however, offer more intensive prep work than others and some offer minimal prep work. Find out what a painter will and won’t do to get your walls ready to be painted. Your house painter should be able to discuss their surface preparation methods.
5. Do you offer a warranty for your work?
You want to choose a painter who will guarantee their work. Painters’ guarantees typically last one to three years. A quality house painting company will stand behind its services and is proud of its craftsmanship.
6. How will my home be protected during painting?
Furniture should be covered and moved away from walls before painting begins. You want a painter who’s going to take extra measures to protect your furniture, fixtures, and floors from paint splatters.
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7. Have you received any awards for superior service?
Listen to what previous customers have said and look at the awards that a company has received. Customer testimonials are essential to a painting contractor because they establish themselves as a leader in the field. It also shows how committed they are to providing superior service.
8. Do I need to do anything before you arrive?
Requiring a customer to do any part of a project the client hires the company to do is a bad business practice. Some painters will require their clients to do the prep work, including moving furniture and spackling walls. The contractor should do these tasks, not you.
Forcing you to do much of the hard work before the painting project starts allows them to cut costs and increase the number of houses they paint in a day. You should remove small breakable objects and expensive artwork from the walls yourself, however, to avoid damage to them.
