When you’ve decided to start a project of house painting in Walnut Creek, you may want to do it yourself or let someone else do the work. If you plan to hire professional painters, expect that they will be asking you some questions before they estimate and start to do their job.
The following is some of the information that the best exterior painting Walnut Creek professional needs to know before painting your home. It would be a great help to have this information handy before contacting professional painters in Walnut Creek and nearby areas to get quotes. Having the information handy when you speak with them will be greatly appreciated.
Before professional painters are able to offer you a quote, they will most probably ask some of, if not all of, these questions:
- “Which areas in your house you would like to have painted? Will we paint the interiors only or the exteriors only, or a bit of both?”
- “How many rooms will we paint?”
- “If we are painting only the exterior, how big is the house?”
- “Will you have any other work done before we can actually start to paint?”
For instance, you may need repairs to areas of the drywall, install new doors and windows, or update the look of your molding. Custom Painting Inc. also does custom molding installation. - “Have you decided what colors you want to use on your walls?”
In case you are still uncertain about this matter, your painter will give suggestions. - “How many coats of paint do your walls need?”
Painters will need to know this to determine how much paint is needed. Knowing how many coats of paint and what color of the paint have already been painted on the walls will help them to decide more easily. - “Do we have to work around a messy room?”
If you tell painters how much furniture they will have to cover before they can start painting, it will help them decide the number of drop cloths they should use. - “Is anyone in your family sensitive to paint odors?”
Your answer will help them decide whether they’re going to use low-odor paint or if traditional paint will work. - “Do you have a certain paint brand that you want us to use?”
Most painters in Walnut Creek use only one brand of paint. But if you specify what brand of paint would you like them to use, it will let them know so that they can modify and provide you a correct estimate. - “Do you want us to use regular paints or eco-friendly paints?”
There are different paints on the market and not all people are concerned about the environment. If you want to use only “green” paints with low levels of VOC, let the painters know so that they can provide you a more precise estimate.
Once you have talked about the matters that painters needed to know, now it’s your turn to ask for particular information from them. You might want to know specific things from painters such as:
- The type of insurance they have. This is the most important thing you need to ask painters, other than if they are licensed, because their insurance will protect both you and the paint contractor in case of an accident or injury.
- Whether the estimate cost will be different from the final price. And if will be so, how much? If a painter offers you a low estimate in order to score a job from you, then it’s a suspicious sign. Avoid the pitfalls of “buyer’s remorse” by asking why their estimate is lower than average, or why the price would be different. You may also want to add a clause in the contract regarding remaining within a particular range difference if the estimate is wrong.
- Whether they will be able to finish their job on time. The last thing clients want is painting contractors who stop in the middle of the project when they receive another project. Make sure that contractors have committed painters who will complete their work on schedule.
- Whether contractors provide their own references. If you request references and contractors do provide them, then it’s a great sign. Then contact the references to see if that certain contractor is the right one to do your job.
Whether you wanted to do the house painting by yourself or to hire someone else to do the work, both can be very stressful but for different reasons. However, when scouting for the right contractors to do your job you must provide the right information that they need to know before they will be able to start your house painting in Walnut Creek project. If you do provide the right information, there’s a higher probability that you will get an appropriate estimate.