I needed a bathroom painted. Badly. For all the right reasons. The walls looked shabby-especially after having crisp, white ceramic tile installed so my guest bath floor no longer imitated chunks of glossy egg yolks spilling from corner to corner.

To save money, I invested in a sturdy mallet, a crowbar and protective gear and experienced, firsthand, what contractors undergo when chiseling ceramic tile cemented in place around the time Caesar conquered the world. My motivation was simple: I was desperate to save bucks on my bathroom refurb and frankly, I welcomed the chance to smash unmovable objects into smithereens for too many reasons to mention here.

What's someone without a lot of money to do in the rarified suburbs of Chicago--where price tags on goods and services cause downstate Illinoisans to laugh out loud when comparing their prices to ours? Find a savior.

In this case, I needed to find a painting savior. At the onset of my search, I gathered quotes, considered doing the job myself and grew so frustrated, I was about to leave the wall as is---until an intriguing flyer missed my trash bin, landed on my floor and caught the cat's attention. Reaching for it, I spotted the headline saying, in essence, we paint small rooms for $99.

Say what? $99 to do my small bathroom? What's the catch? I headed for the contractor's website, $99PerRoom.com and learned that there was no catch. My bathroom fit size criteria for a $99 paint job and since I wanted white walls, there was no additional color mixing charge. White paint comes standard and is included in the cost of the job. Turns out, an environmentally safe formulation is used to boot.

$99PerRoom.com is the brainchild of young suburban Chicago entrepreneur Chris McCarthy. He's done contracting work most of his life and holds a real estate license, but admits to having grown tired of listening to people complain that their budgets couldn't cover the amount of decorating work necessary to spruce things up. Could I relate? You bet your paint can opener.

Like the flyer that narrowly escaped my cat's claws, McCarthy's marketing instincts kicked in when the idea of $99PerRoom dawned because the concept could kill three birds with one stone: He could do what enjoyed, own his own business and establish a unique niche that's so price-driven, customers like me can't help but be attracted to his concept.

He's no fool, by the way. I recall being so excited about the price attached to my bathroom walls that I upped my order to include a second project. That's how much money I saved.

Here's the beauty of $99PerRoom.com: You head for the website and consult the chart on the home page to figure out your final room painting cost based on your measurements and the addition of a color that adds about 20 bucks to the cost. Receive a free estimate based on your own figures and a detailed invoice arrives in your e-mailbox. My experience was idyllic.

McCarthy's website is packed with information about everything from the story behind his mission to make room painting costs affordable to his use of green paint products. His concern for the ecosystem doesn't end with his paint choices: McCarthy and his crew regularly undertake volunteer clean-up jobs in the community; they tackle unique ecological challenges like removing garbage from wooded areas, waterways and easements.

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First Person: Affordable Chicagoland Paint Contractors? Found One!

An undercover sting operation resulted in the arrest of 12 illegal contracting suspects in San Mateo County on Thursday, according to a statewide agency that oversees licensed contractors.

The sting took place at a commercial property in Belmont, and was carried out by the Statewide Investigative Fraud Team, who posed as property owners.

SWIFT members asked suspects to bid on painting, drywall and flooring projects ranging from $1,000 to $14,000, according to Rick Lopes, a spokesman for the California Contractors State License Board.

In California, all home improvement jobs valued at $500 or more must be conducted by a company or person with a CSLB-issued license, Lopes said.

All 12 suspects were cited for contracting without a license, and one, an East Palo Alto man, was also cited by CSLB on an unrelated $5,000 warrant for driving with a suspended license.

In addition, 10 of the 12 suspects were cited on a misdemeanor charge of illegal advertising. Lopes said seven suspects were contacted through ads on craigslist.org, while five were called from business cards and newspaper ads.

The 12 suspects are Dardo Osmar Romano and Dino Joseph Landucci III, both of San Mateo; Edwin Francisco Zavala Valdivia of Sunnyvale; Hugo De Leon-Garcia of Hayward; Rafael Vicente Andrade Villalta, Concepcion Flores and Rossemberg Emmanuelle Hernandez, all of Redwood City; Loni Taaniela Maama and Filino Sokai Masifilo, both of East Palo Alto; Louie Graciano Ortiz of San Jose; Mario Ramirez Reynoso of South San Francisco; and Daniel Aaron Dayton of San Francisco.

The suspects are scheduled to appear in San Mateo Superior Court on July 15 to answer to illegal contracting charges.

CSLB officials encourage consumers to verify that a potential contractor is licensed before hiring them.

"Don't rush your spring clean-up, only to ruin your summer fixing someone's bad work. Check the contractor license. Get three bids," CSLB registrar Steve Sands said in a statement.

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Unlicensed contractors caught in San Mateo County sting

Baytown, TX (PRWEB) May 27, 2014

Veteran Duane Peterson and his wife Stormie are looking forward to bringing a new level of customer service to the painting industry in Baytown, Texas through their new company, Fresh Coat of Baytown.

Fresh Coat Painters offers residential and commercial painting services including interior and exterior painting, wood staining and finishing, and other services for nearly every protective coating application. They use quality, environmentally safe materials and offer a 24/7 customer service center, online scheduling, in-home color design consultations, and detailed quotes. Fresh Coat of Baytown serves Baytown, Deer Park, LaPorte, Mont Belvieu, Beach City, Dayton and many other communities within East Harris County, Liberty County and Chambers County.

The idea to open a local Fresh Coat Painters franchise started with the Petersons own bad experiences.

We own some rental properties and, in the course of maintaining those properties, we have had some literal horror stories and contractors situations that left our jaws on the ground. Then, when we did our marketing research, we, through the phonebook and internet, located as many contractors as possible and only four of the eight contractors came to do an estimate, and one of those people said they wont do exteriors in the summer because of the heat. We also had no idea how many of them came up with the total price. We had no clue what all we were paying for and why, Peterson said.

We are opening Fresh Coat Painters to bring a new level of service to the industry in our community and to set the standard, he said.

Before launching the business, Peterson served in the military and in law enforcement. He also has a bachelors degree and masters degree from the Forbes School of Business from Ashford University.

Fresh Coat is committed to quality products and services and the company offers a 3-3-3 customer service pledge, so calls will be answered by a live person within three minutes, a quote will be delivered within three days (customer schedule permitting), and the job will be started within three weeks. All Fresh Coat employees are insured, trained and background checked.

I believe in doing things right, honest and fair. Customer service is everything. At Fresh Coat, were a customer service company that hires painters. Not just a painting service, Peterson said. When people come to us, we want to help them make their home what they truly want it to be. We want to build a relationship. We want to give back to the community and work with the veteran community and those who are less fortunate,

Fresh Coat was founded in 2004 as part of Strategic Franchising Systems. In the last year, Fresh Coat has been included in the Bonds Top 100 and named to Entrepreneur Magazines Franchise 500 list. Fresh Coat also is part of the International Franchise Association, the Small Business Associations Franchise Registry, VetFran and Minority Fran.

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Peterson Family Launches Fresh Coat of Baytown

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