How to prepare your home for an interior painting project

Posted on November 22, 2022

You’ve decided to have your interior painted by CertaPro Painters of Thousand Oaks – Thank you for entrusting your home to us! Now you might be wondering – what’s the next step? We believe there are several things you can do to be ready and help facilitate the process.

Scheduling Your Project

Once you have selected your colors, you will be contacted by our office with a tentative scheduling date. If you have any anomalies in your schedule, please let us know and we will do our best to work around them. As the date gets closer, we will re-confirm your date. Don’t worry – we give as much notice as our production schedule allows, so you can be well-prepared!

Access To Your Home

If you’ve recently purchased your home or if you won’t be home during the project, we will need a form of daily access. This can be accomplished by having the customer/neighbor/family member let the crew in daily (we will advise the estimated number of days for the project.). If this is not possible, some customers will purchase a lockbox (at a local hardware store) and store a key in it. The crew will replace the key nightly. We do not recommend leaving keys in an unprotected area for obvious reasons. (Examples – in a mailbox, or under a doormat.)

Art and Wall Decor

Before we arrive, we recommend you remove art and wall décor from your walls and place them in a safe place outside the work area. This of course begs the next question – “What do I do with the nails/screws?” – The answer depends on what you are planning to do after the painting is complete. If you are placing your wall hangings back in the exact same place, do not remove the nails/screws. This is a signal to the crew, and they will paint over them. Conversely, if you remove them, the crew will fill the holes. To be certain of your choice, we recommend you discuss this with the crew when they first arrive.

Knick-Knacks/Decorative Items

Every homeowner has some degree of decorative items on tables, desks, etc. To minimize the risk of damage, we highly recommend customers pack them up and store them in an area not being painted. If you have curio/china cabinets that will need to be moved, the fragile contents should also be removed and stored away from the painting areas.

Furniture, Large Items, and Wall Mounted TVs

We are happy to move most pieces of furniture, so you don’t have to – it’s part of our service! However, there are some things we do not move, including fragile/antique pieces of furniture, grand pianos, stacks of electronics, and grandfather clocks. With respect to wall-mounted TVs, we request that customers remove them prior to commencement, and store them out of the way.

Curtains, Throw Rugs

Curtains and throw rugs are expensive items! While we do our best to cover all areas needed, it’s best for the customer to remove curtains/blinds, as well as throw rugs, and store them in a safe area until the project is complete.

Clean, Clean, Clean!

Before we arrive, we highly recommend customers do a thorough cleaning for each room in scope. This will help ensure that dust particles don’t end up on your freshly painted walls before it has a chance to dry. Of special note are baseboards – often these are overlooked in day-to-day cleaning, especially behind furniture. Having a clean surface to paint helps ensure a quality finish!

Leave it to Us!

It’s not always possible, but if it is… a good idea is to plan on vacating the work areas before the painting begins. Keeping pets, children, and people away from the work area will ensure a speedy, professional paint job that will get you back into your home as quickly as possible. If you have pets, you will want to find a place to move them to while the painters are working.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask!

We want your interior painting project to be the best contracting experience you’ve had. Naturally, most customers have questions about our process, products, or our people. We are an open book – don’t be afraid to ask!

CertaPro Painters of Thousand Oaks is committed to your satisfaction. Each project is different, so please let us know how we can provide the best service to you!

Areas We Serve

Agoura HillsNewbury ParkOak ParkWestlake VillageThousand Oaks
Saratoga HillsMoorparkCamarilloCalabasasWoodland Hills
West Hills