Tips for Hiring a Painting Contractor – The Spruce

Certain home improvement projects absolutely require a professional. I cannot think of many homeowners who are ready to install their own HVAC, pour a foundation, or build an addition. Other projects, like painting, just seem to be begging for the do-it-yourselfer. After all, who isn't capable of dabbing a brush into paint?

But painting is more difficult than it looks. So, it is with great pleasure that many DIY painters decide that it is now time to hire a painting contractor to take on the job. Let us find out what painting contractors do, how to hire them, and how to negotiate the best price for your painting job.

A painting contractor can work as a sub, or sub-contractor, under a general contractor, or can hire itself out directly to the homeowner. Usually, the painting contractor is a relatively small operation, ranging from the one-man sole proprietor up to 20 or 30 painters working for a small company.

Painting contractors tend to be local (as of yet, there are no nationally franchised paint contractors). While paint contractors concentrate on painting, some perform associated tasks such as plaster repairs, minor drywall work, trim and molding, and wallpapering.

The other difficult part is getting a painting contractor to show up. While this generalization does not apply to every painter, personally I am extremely grateful if I can get a paint contractor to show up to look at the house and to later produce a written estimate. I hardly fault the painting contractors, because I think it is a combination of the contractors being smaller operations along with a high demand for their work.

Because it is next to impossible to find out information about local painting contractors on the Internet, the old adage talk to neighbors applies here. Some painting contractors display signs on the lawns of houses they are working on, but you find this more with general contractors and siding and replacement windows companies. So, other than the painters white panel van out front, you often do not know what is going on inside your neighbors houses.

Urban areas often have local magazines (i.e., in Seattle, there is Seattle Magazine), and many of them feature renovated homes. These pieces will list the names and phone numbers for the contractor and sub-contractorsbut be warned, these sub-contractors are usually very high-end and expensive.

Most painting contractors will take on any kind of job, from merely painting your window trim to a full-house paint job. But let us assume that they are painting your interior. You can usually expect:

Unlike conversing with an electrician, you do not need to know specialized lingo. Most house painting contractors are good at making things clear to the homeowner.A few topics you will want to discuss:

More than you expect. Some painting contractors will have formulas that they use, totaling up the square footage of walls and ceilings, along with linear footage of trim. They will calculate preparation time, as well as the hard costs for primer and paint.

Most paint contractors will give you an estimate based on their experience with similar jobs. While this estimate cannot be tied to specifics, it is usually a reasonably good figure. For you, the homeowner, the only way you will know if this is a good estimate is to compare it to quotes you get from other contractors.

A whole-house interior paint job like the one described in this article can easily cost around $10,000 or more.

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Tips for Hiring a Painting Contractor - The Spruce