Community

Expert Advice: How to Hire a Truly Great Painter for Your Home

Posted on April 27, 2020

Hiring painters for work at your home is intimidating and overwhelming. Getting informed before heading into this endeavor allows you to feel confident in your choice of colors and painters. To prepare for your appointments with potential pros, we got expert advice from our McKinney painting professionals. Here is how to hire a great painter for your home according to the experts at CertaPro Painters of Far North Texas.

Online Research

There are many free outlets available online for you to begin your research for a painter in McKinney. Search results for painters in your area will turn up places for you to see painting projects and read reviews on potential providers. Websites are a good place to start your research. Surely, the painter will have glowing reviews and a beautiful portfolio of past projects. The images should show both wide scope and close up detailed views of the work they have completed. Look for images of the crew on-site with equipment in hand.

Make sure you look beyond just the website of a contractor. While the site is helpful to see work and learn more about the services the painter provides, it will not give you both sides of their work. Do further research into review sites to see both the good and the bad work done by this particular painter.

Any McKinney painter that does not have an online presence should be a red flag to you. You want a painter that treats this as their full-time business and takes it seriously. Websites are a small investment in their company. Those without a website are also unlikely to have the required licensing, insurance policies, and best practices you want for your painting project.

Referral sites seem like a great way to get painters sent directly to you. Since these sites make money based on referrals and not on successful jobs, their recommendations could be little more than a background check or phone call to the owner. The referral sites want you to feel secure in their offerings but many McKinney homeowners have been duped by their practices.

Interior Paint Walk Through

Estimates and Estimate Appointments

Painting companies in McKinney are very familiar with estimate appointments and most offer them for free to potential clients. They want to understand your project to provide you the best possible estimate. This means seeing the property and addressing any imperfections and repairs that need to be completed in conjunction with painting.

This meeting gives you a chance to evaluate the company as well. Beyond getting an estimate for your project, you can interact with a representative of the painting company. Look for professionalism, punctuality, and thoroughness when it comes to assessing your property for work and addressing your questions and concerns.

When you book estimates, be sure to meet with at least 3 companies. This can seem like overkill but remember, this is a big project. Reputable companies know that you are seeking estimates from more than one place and they need to win you over with their interactions with you.

After your estimate appointment, you should look to receive a professionally prepared estimate. Typically, this is provided via email the next day once your estimator has a chance to gather costs for the crew and supplies for your job. It should include full contact information on the paperwork. Two sections should be prominent with totals: labor and supplies. Keep in mind that most companies will be a bit cautious giving you a hard and fast estimate. Many changes can occur once on the property that can alter the cost slightly. This includes color changes, unforeseen repairs, and crew needs.

Review and Compare Estimates

When you receive your estimates, take time to go over each one. Be careful with overly high and overly low bids. These can mean the estimator didn’t understand the full scope of the work, or that they don’t carry proper insurance and licensing, allowing them to provide work for cheaper. If this is the case and an accident or damage occurs as a result of their work, you could be on the hook for medical bills and repairs.

Now that you eliminated the extreme options, go through the remaining options. They should give you a roadmap for your project. You’ll get a good idea of what to expect in terms of crew, schedule, and materials needed. More thorough estimates provide you with scheduling, listed repairs, and details on color choices. Not every company in McKinney will collect all of this information upfront. It may come to you later in a package with the contract once you have chosen your provider.

Working Within Budget

Your estimates provided can be negotiated upon. If the prices are over your working price, some painters will work to trim the scope of the project. With some time and elbow grease, you can take on some of the preparation work before your painters arrive. Read over the preparation details in your estimate. Consider taking on items to reduce costs like removing faceplates, cleaning walls, or repairing dings.

Schedule With Us

We’re happy to be included in your estimate appointments. Schedule a free, no-obligation meeting with our estimators to discuss your upcoming painting project.