Every few years all of us want to make a change in the place we live – be it a house, a condo, or an apartment. Sometimes it is new furniture, yet more often it is a new paint job. A house painting project can be a major undertaking, but with rewarding results. New colors please the eye, brighten the mood, and make us feel better about ourselves.
There are two ways to approach it: a “do-it-yourself” way and “hire painting contractors” way”. There is no right or wrong choice here. It all depends on personal abilities, preferences, and resources. Let’s briefly discuss pros and cons of both.
Those of us who are DYI types, often think first about doing interior or exterior painting by ourselves first. There are a number of things to take into consideration here:
- Can we dedicate enough time for the job?
- Are we capable of moving the furniture?
- Do we understand the types of paint needed and the variety of tools we have to use for the project?
- Can we deal with stains, wall imperfections, or other challenges?
- Are we comfortable with taking off / putting on outlet plates and getting close to electrical wires?
- And my favorite – are we willing to deal with the longer lasting mess in the house and doing the cleanup after the fun part of rolling paint on the walls is finished?
There are more challenges presented by the DYI way of house painting, but if your answer is ‘Yes’ to all of these, then go ahead, make it happen, and save a bit of money.
As a professional painting contractor, I am all for the willing and able folks doing the interior painting. But if we are talking about the exterior house painting, I would be of another opinion. Even if your house is a ranch style, there would be some parts of it, like chimney, that would require using a ladder. I believe that for most people it is not worth getting yourself in the position where an accident might happen. It’s just not worth it. No savings can justify risking a fall. I should know, having started my painting company business in 1995.
If you answered even a couple of questions above ‘No, then you should not be putting yourself in the situation of taking on a project that might be outside of your comfort zone. When you add up all the expenses from the DYI option, a possibility of redoing some of the paint work, the extra time and effort you’d have to put into it, actual savings will not be significant.
Ask your family and friends if they know a painting company / contractors whose work they really liked. Ask them as many questions as you can come up with. Some of your questions should cover:
- Quality of the finished work
- Were the results long lasting
- Timeliness and keeping their word
- Was it easy to communicate, was there a language barrier
- Did they prepare all surfaces well
- Did they protect the non-painted areas
- Was the quote reasonable, yet not the lowest bid
- Were they hired repeatedly by the same people
- How was their attention to details
Look them up in the internet. Have them come in and give a free estimate. When you talk to contractors directly, make sure to ask for references. Follow up on the references with phone calls. If possible, ask if you can visit to see the work yourself. Do this extra work, it will pay off in the end.
If you are located in the Metro Atlanta area, give Matt McCurdy of CRSI, one of the best Atlanta Painters, a try. Matt is based out of East Cobb, between Marietta and Roswell, GA. He’ll be happy to provide you with multiple references and give a no-cost, no-obligation professional estimate. His prices are very reasonable, his work is always first class. Go to the Contact Us page, fill out a short form and wait for a fast reply.
Almost the whole workweek Metro Atlanta (and beyond) was pretty much shut down by 6 inches of snow which turned into ice on every road. As one can imagine, the South is not equipped for this type of weather in more ways than one – 10 snow plows cannot manage thousands of miles of roads here.