How to Find The Best Local Painters

Finding local painters isn’t always an easy task. Where to begin is a confusing step for the majority of home owners, this is especially the case because it’s not easy to find out how painters operate until after you’ve hired them. That’s why it’s best to take a thorough approach when hunting for a painting contractor, failure to do so can result in lost money, lost time, and in some cases a horrific experience. Let’s take a look at some tips for finding and selecting from the myriad of local painters available in your area.

What’s the best way to find local painters?

The best place to begin looking for local painters is online, this may seem contrary to common belief but if you consider that the majority of painters who have websites also have thriving business or a keen business sense – this is a no-brainer. Typical fly-by-night painters will not have the resources to take this step. It’s also a good place to learn more about the painting contractor, as often you can find galleries or testimonials. Visit our home page to get a well-rounded look at the basics of painting to help when evaluating your contractor upon gathering estimates.

You can use an easy web-based service like this one, or you can do a search for “cityname painters”. Typically a search like this will reveal a number of results and is a good start to connecting with a great local painter. When you begin browsing sites it’s a good idea to jot down the websites of the companies you found the most impressive. Once you have found 3 or 4 that look impressive go back to their websites and either call them or use the form on their site to submit your request for an estimate.

What should you prepare before the painting estimate?

Before calling local painters for bids it’s a good idea to prepare a small itemized list of all the aspects you want painted. This will include what rooms you want painted, any specific details you want the painters to address such as holes, cracks or other imperfections. Also an important thing to do is consider paint choices, if you’re interested in using a specific brand of paint it will be important for the painting contractor to know this since it will affect the cost of the paint job.

Having this information together can really help to sort through the local painters because it allows them to give you a much better, more detailed estimate. This will then allow you to sort through your painters to see based upon cost which you would consider hiring. This leads us to the next stage in your search for local painters …

When selecting a local painter the lowest bid is not the best bid

This may seem obvious to some people, but there are definitely a few of you out there who are keen on saving the most for your money. I can really understand this attitude as times have been tough lately and we all could use a little more cash in our pockets, plus it’s just painting after all, right? It may seem like simple task but you are risking more than just your paint job, you’re risking your home and even your safety.  An inexpensive painter may be priced so low because they’re inexperienced and don’t fully understand the job they’re about to take on.

When selecting from your local painters based on price – drop the lowest bidder if it is considerably lower than the others. This’ll guarantee you’re not dealing with someone who is either inexperienced or expecting to do a less than fantastic job painting your home.  Hopefully, at this point you have 2 or 3 bids from professional, reputable local painters.

Which of your local painters should you give the job to?

So by now you should have a few painting bids lined up; they should clearly detailing the work that will be completed, state terms of the job (such as start date, completion date, hours of work), and cover all aspects of your agreement between the painting contractor and yourself.  Now you should ask yourself which of the local painters made the best impression.  A few questions you can ask yourself:

• Who seemed to know what they’re talking about?
• Who did you feel the most comfortable talking with?
• Who was the most courteous in your home?
• Which painter gave you the most detailed explanation to your questions?

These are a few general questions which will help you when considering what painter to hire. Remember, these painters and their employees are going to be working in your home for as long as it takes for the job to be completed. Often painters have to move your furniture and move any items you have lying around that may be in the way of the paint job, so you’ll feel more comfortable with this process if you hire a painting contractor that you get along well with. I hope these guidelines will help you in your search for local painters!