Hiring a professional painter for a touch-up or a completely new color? The quality of the finish and the value for your investment all come down to a few seemingly minor factors.
To get the very best outcome from hiring a pro painter, make sure to avoid making the following five mistakes.
Mistake 1: Choosing Based on Price Alone
We all want to get the most affordable deal when we can, but it’s worth noting that there’s a difference between “cheap” and “good value for money”.
Make sure your professional painter of choice offers a fair value without compromising on quality. That means looking for a painting company with dozens of positive reviews, like pemcopainting.com, so you know they deliver a quality service even when they’re not pricing up unnecessarily.
Mistake 2: Not Asking For a Written Estimate and Timeline
Yes, sometimes jobs can take longer than expected, and you may see your painting project pushed back a couple of days. But if you don’t ask a professional painter for an estimate and timeline on paper, it leaves too much room for misunderstandings.
The timeline and estimate go hand-in-hand—the job should be priced based on how long it’ll take. So when you have a written estimate on hand, it keeps both sides accountable, with something solid to refer back to if needed.
Mistake 3: Not Checking for Licensing and Insurance
To be legally working in your area, a painting company should be licensed and hold appropriate insurance. This is something to ask about before you hire the company, as if you don’t, you’re at risk if something goes wrong.
Proper licensing tells you that the painter meets the standards required for professional work, and insurance protects you if your property sustains damage or someone gets injured on the job. So make sure to ask for proof of both upfront, so you have peace of mind that you’re hiring someone qualified and professional.
Mistake 4: Assuming Everything is Included
When you’re getting a quote from a painting company, make sure to check exactly what is included. The last thing you want is to go with a company that seems to offer the best pricing, only to discover that it’s the only one that didn’t include the cost of tools and paint in the quote.
Don’t just assume that everything is included! You might end up getting caught out later and having to spend more money unexpectedly down the line.
Mistake 5: Rushing the Hiring Decision
Finally, while finding and comparing quotes isn’t exactly the most exciting way to spend the evening, choosing the first company you come across is a certain mistake.
Yes, maybe this company does just happen to be the best around, but there’s no way to know that for sure until you see what else is out there. So, even if you hear great word of mouth about a particular company, keep your options open to begin with and aim to get at least three individual quotes.