
If you’ve never attempted to paint your entire house before (interior or exterior), you should know that the process isn’t easy. It’s both time-consuming and tedious. It’s a job that requires precision and patience.
If you’re up for the challenge, Godspeed. However, if you’re looking to mitigate stress, save time, and ensure a professional finish, you might want to hire a painter.
But how do you find the best residential painter for your home? After all, like any investment, you want to make sure you’re getting a respectable return on your investment.
We’re here to help. Keep reading for everything you need to know about hiring a professional painter.
Get Recommendations From People in the Community
First, talk to other homeowners in your area. Ask around to find out if any of your immediate contacts have used residential painting services in the past. If so, who did they use and would they recommend their services?
Ask friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for in-person, try to get recommendations on Facebook. Join a community page and ask the residents of your town who they recommend.
Ask About Experience
Before you hire a painter, find out about their experience. How long have they been painting homes? Do they specialize in interior painting, exterior painting, or both?
Experience isn’t everything, but if you need a professional job done and aren’t willing to risk it, finding a painter with several years of experience may provide peace of mind.
Find Customer Reviews
To find the best professional painter for your needs, find out what other customers have to say about their services. Most service providers, like painters, post customer reviews and testimonials on their websites. This is a great resource for finding unbiased opinions.
Read about customer experiences with interior painting companies to determine your best choice. Were the painters helpful, kind, and professional? How did the completed project turn out?
We also recommend finding reviews from other sources. Google “painter near me” to find a list of local painters. Then, do an additional search using the company name and “reviews” to find testimonials from Google Reviews, Yelp, the Yellow Pages, the Better Business Bureau, and more.
Ask About Custom Designs and Patterns
Assuming you have the time, patience, and ability, painting a wall a single color isn’t incredibly difficult. However, many people hire a painter for their home because they’re looking for something a little more intricate.
For example, many parents choose to have their children’s rooms painted with special designs like stripes, polka dots, or geometric patterns. Talk to the residential painter before hiring them to find out if they are capable of painting custom designs.
Make sure you show them examples of what you have in mind. They will tell you if it’s something within their wheelhouse.
Look at Before-and-After Pictures
If you’re concerned about the results of your painting project, ask the professional painter if they have any pictures from previous projects. This is especially important if you’re looking for a custom paint job.
If you can’t find any before-and-after pictures on their website, ask them directly if they have any examples of their work to show you. This is not an unreasonable request.
Pay special attention to the details of their work. This includes things like trim, straight lines, cleanliness around edges and corners, etc.
Ask About Insurance and Credentials
Before you hire a painter for your home, you need to make sure their business is licensed through the state. Most states don’t require any special certifications for residential painters. However, their business license must be up-to-date.
Furthermore, any respectable professional painter will also carry insurance. If it’s a painting company, rather than an independent contractor, they should carry worker’s compensation insurance. This policy will cover the costs of medical bills and lost wages if an employee is injured while working (i.e. falling off a ladder).
Both independent contractors and painting companies should carry professional liability insurance. This insurance policy protects you and the company against any damages to your home. If a painter accidentally causes damage to your home, their liability insurance will cover the cost of repairs.
Ask About Their Process
When hiring a painter, you should also find out how they prep the surface for painting. For example, if the area you want to be painted has chipping or peeling paint on the surface, how do they fix it?
You don’t want to hire a painter who takes shortcuts and just tries to paint over it. This can lead to problems down the road.
A professional painter will remove the chipping paint before painting. They should also let you know about things like wood rot and other serious issues they find, rather than turning a blind eye to it and painting over the problem.
Find Out About Warranties and Guarantees
Next, credible service-based businesses offer customer satisfaction guarantees. If you’re not satisfied with their work, what will they do about it?
If the wrong color was used, the finished product turned out messy, or there are any other issues, will the painter remediate the issues for free? Ask the painter if they offer any warranties or guarantees on their services.
Get a Free Quote
Finally, ask prospective painting contractors or companies to give you a free quote or estimate for their services. They may ask for measurements, pictures of the space to be painted, and examples of what you want. Alternatively, they may meet you at your home for an in-person assessment.
Then, compare and contrast painter prices to find out which professional will offer you the lowest rate. However, you must also understand the importance of the other factors listed in this article. A bottom-dollar rate from an inexperienced painter with no insurance and poor customer reviews is not worth your investment.
Are You Looking to Hire a Painter?
Are you planning on repainting your home? Whether you’re looking for an interior painter or an exterior painter, make sure you follow the steps listed above to hire a painter who will be worth your investment.
And if you want more consumer or homeownership advice, stick around for a bit and look through some of our other articles. Our blog was created to help people like you in all areas of life.