Painting the interior or outside of your home is one of the most affordable home enhancements that you can carry out. The first question you have to ask is, do you have the knowledge and abilities to do the job yourself and have it look professional?
If you choose to hire a painting professional like Image Line Painting what is the best way to go about it?
Look for recommendations
The very best way is to look for recommendations. Speak with family members, friends or next-door neighbors and find out if they have had a recent experience with a painting professional. Find out if they were credible, cool, clean and on time. I feel personal experience is the very best recommendation.
If you can’t find personal recommendations, the next option is to search the Telephone directory, web or talk to the paint shops in your area. The paint shops handle professionals daily and may be able to suggest a trustworthy one. A benefit of hiring a professional that has a great long-lasting relationship with a paint store is that if there is an issue with an item or color, the store will back the specialist for labor and product not simply a couple of gallons of paint. I would stay away from the huge box shops as they generally suggest professionals who pay them 20+% of the overall expense to be a suggested specialist.
Are they licensed?
One idea is that a handyman will just have 5 numbers on their license and a painting professional will have 6 numbers. The lower the number on the license the longer they have stayed in business. A State accredited professional needs to bring a $12,500 bond to secure their clients.
If you hire a State accredited professional, you also wish to examine to be sure that their license is active. You can talk to the professional’s license board online. All you have to do is go into the license number and it will show the status and the name of the employee’s settlement carrier. I took a look at a job just recently and was underbid by a specialist that does not have employees’ compensation. He declares to do the work himself, however, his site shows he has staff members. If his staff member hurts himself on the job, you, the property owner, will be accountable for his medical costs and rehab. Most house owners do not know this.
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
Watch out for claims of “years of experience”. Examine years of experience as a professional, instead of as a painter, or “in the market”. When you are at the state license board site under the license number, it informs you when business was begun. To me, painting at 10 years old does not count as years of experience. It is quite simple to begin a painting business, however a lot harder to remain in business.
COST
Do not hire on cost alone. If a quote is exceptionally low, there is normally a factor for it. There are many ways to cut cost; cut corners on the preparation work, number of coats of paint, and quality of paint used; give up liability insurance, do not pay employees settlement (prohibited if you have workers), use undocumented employees.