hiring Painting Contractors for a Home Remodel

Firstly, I would like to apologize for our previous blog entries disappearing. In my novice attempt to upgrade the blog, I lost all prior data and have to start over:( anyway, if you are here, you are probably researching the process of painting your home or office. It can be a tedious task for a new home remodeler. there are so many things to know, when hiring a painting contractor for your home improvement project, I just don’t know where to start.

Well, you may have noticed on our blog, we have a Free Local contractor Search Engine. this tool is powered by Americas Largest and most comprehensive database of painting contractors, house painters, interior painters exterior painters, ceiling painters and a ton more home improvement resources. Feel free to type in your zip code and select the service you are seeking. You will soon discover a comprehensive list of Pre Qualified Contractors in your area that are ready to come to your home free of charge and give you an estimate. This convenient, contractor search engine is a whole lot easier than searching through Craigslist or Google and Yahoo , trying to figure out which painting contractors are legitimate, who is still in business, which painters are the best and which painting service are the most affordable.

Once you have chosen one, two or three different Painting Companies to schedule your free estimate, you need to make sure you have an organized agenda to discuss with each individual painting contractor. It is always best to give each painting contractor the same information so the painting estimates will be on a level playing field. Things to think about when preparing your checklist for the free estimates are as follow:

1. What is the scope of work. Interior Painting? Exterior Painting?
2. How extensive do you want your paint job? All doors and jambs to be painted? Ceilings? Baseboards? Linen closets? Closet Doors? Bathrooms? Window frames?
3. Do you want the same colors or different colors? If you choose different colors, you can expect to pay more to paint light colors on top of existing dark colors. The same applies for painting dark colors on top of existing light paint colors. the best bet, when choosing paint colors for your painting project are to go with light to mid tones. They look better and cost you less.
4. Preparation? Do you want all of the holes in walls patched and texture matched? Do you have holes in doors? Are your existing doors and jambs oil based paint? If so, there will be extensive preparation to apply new water based paint products over the old oil based. The old paint will have to be sanded first, then prime coated , then painted. It can be quite costly, since they dont make oil based paints anymore.
5. Will their be people in the home during the paint project? If you will be living in the home, during the painting, this means there will be people to work around, furniture to cover, move and protect and potential delays. This will cost more.
6. what paint brand do you want? Go online, do your research on paint brands. the majority of Painters use Dunn Edwards paints. For some reason it is just the professional painters choice. There are many other paint brands to choose from, but Behr Paint seems to be one of the home owners more popular choices.
7. If you are painting cabinetry, always specify if you want the insides of the cabinets painted as well, you dont want to be stuck in the middle of a painting project and learn that your painting bid didnt include painting the inside of your kitchen or bathroom cabinets.
8. Minimize the amount of colors on your project. The less colors you use, the less expensive your painting will cost. The reason for this, the painting contractor has to thoroughly clean and flush all of his painting equipment each time they change colors. It can be time consuming and costly.

Now that you have your checklist prepared for your free painting estimates. It’s time to schedule the appointments. Make sure you discuss payment with your painting contractor and be sure to always leave at least 15% until the project is totally complete and you are satisfied. This will ensure your painting contractor returns to take care of the small touch ups which will surely be required.