Category Archives: When to hire a professional

Doing it yourself might save you a few dollars, but if you get in over your head you may want to call a professional painter.

When to hire a professional

Painting a room in your home can be a rewarding experience.

If everything goes right, you not only get a freshly painted room that looks great, but you may also get a feeling of pride knowing that you did it yourself.

But before you start, here’s a small checklist of things you’ll need…


√ Paint (obviously)
√ Primer (if needed for any unpainted surfaces)
√ Brushes (1 for each different type of paint)
√ Paint bucket
√ Roller pan / Roller frame / Roller nap
√ Drop cloths
√ Ladder(s)
√ Painters masking tape
√ Patience (lots and lots of patience)
√ Spackle
√ Drywall tape and mud (if needed)
√ Spackling tools
√ Caulking and caulking gun
√ Sand paper
√ A steady hand
√ Clothes that you don’t mind getting paint on
√ A free day or two with nothing else to do


If you already have these things, then you’ve probably painted a room or two in your time.
If not, then this could represent a significant investment in time and money.

Even if you usually do your own painting, perhaps you’re just too busy to paint a room, but you still want, or need, to have it done.

Whether you’ve done all of your own painting, or have never painted a room, there may come a time when you’ll want to hire a professional. But whom do you hire?

Here are a few guidelines to use when choosing a painter.

Ask them about their work experience.

How many years have they been painting? Perhaps they have some pictures of past jobs.

Inexperienced painters may be a little cheaper in price, but you’ll probably find out you get what you pay for. Think about it this way – If you pay a little more than you think you should… your talking about pennies. But if you pay less than you ought to, and the quality of the work is crappy… then you’ve lost it all.

Don’t necessarily go for the highest price either, thinking the quality must be better. I’ve met painters that charge $50 or more per hour, and won’t do any better of a job than one who’s much less expensive. Your best bet is to find someone who’s competitively priced and who has a proven track record.

When it comes to price, keep in mind that the prep work is usually the most time consuming and labor intensive part of any job. Therefore, it’s usually the most expensive part of any job. So if the cost seems a little high or unusually low, ask specifically what’s going to be done before the paintbrush comes out. This may help you to determine the value for your dollar.

Are they professional in appearance?

Are they wearing painter’s clothes that are reasonably clean? (Not counting paint of course)

If someone shows up for an estimate looking like a total slob, then you may not want him or her swinging a paintbrush in your home. This type of standard should apply to all professionals, not just painters or other tradesmen.

On the other hand, don’t judge your painter on the basis of dirty clothes alone. They may have just come from another job, and believed that showing up for your estimate on time was more important than going home and changing clothes.

Be sure they have references.

Multiple references are better. Anyone can have a couple of references from a family member or a friend, so ask for 4 or 5 and don’t be shy about calling a few. You can never tell how qualified someone is from their own advertising, but you can get a pretty good idea from the people who have done business with them in the past.

Serving Southern New Hampshire and surrounding areas since 1995
Now Serving Martinsville Virginia and Surrounding Areas

For A Quality Interior House Painter Call

(603) 864-9783

 

 

References

Here’s just a few of the comments some of my customers have sent me over the years…

I was going to type up all the thank you notes I’ve received and add them here as testimonials, but every website does that, and how do you know if they’re for real or just made up?

So instead I photocopied some of them for you to read.

There’s a whole lot more where these came from, but I didn’t want this page to take 20 minutes just to load, so I grabbed a dozen off the top and scanned them to this page for you…

painting references-1painting references-2painting references-3

If you’d like to see more, just let me know. I’ve got another hundred or so I can show you.

Serving Southern New Hampshire and surrounding areas since 1995
Now Serving Martinsville Virginia and Surrounding Areas

For A Quality Interior House Painter Call

(603) 864-9783

 

Hire me for a day

Do you want to paint a room by yourself, but don’t know where to start? Or perhaps you’ve already started your project and ran into something you didn’t count on?

Help is on the way!

Whether it’s crumbling horsehair plaster, water damage, smoke damage, basic drywall repair, or many other situations that require a professional… if you don’t want to pay someone else to do the entire job, or you simply want to take pride in doing it yourself, and just need a little help, give me a call.

For a low, low fee, I’ll come to you and give you step-by-step instructions on how to repair your ceilings, walls, and/or trim. And I’ll work with you for a half day, or a full day to get your job moving along in the right direction.

Once your project is professionally finished, you’ll be able to take pride in honestly telling everyone “you had a little help from a friend, but did most of the work yourself.”

It will only cost you $175 for a half day (up to 5 hours),
In return you’ll get…
– A professional craftsman with an eye for detail and nearly 3 decades of experience…
– A half day of professional labor to get your job moving along in the right direction…
– Step-by-step instructions to finish the job once I’m gone…
– My personal cell phone number so you can call me if you run into something else you didn’t count on.

That price is dirt cheap for having an expert come to you… show you, teach you, and work with you… to get the best possible results for your interior home project.

Why would a professional like myself offer to do all that for such a low price, 
when I could easily charge more (and usually do charge more) for my services?

- Because I really like what I do, and I really like helping people 
turn their houses into homes. And you'll be doing much of the work.

So if you want to save money by doing it yourself, or if you’re just a real do-it-yourselfer and simply need a little help getting high quality results, give me a call or use the contact us form and drop me a line.

If your project is something I can help you with, then for just a few dollars you’ll get high quality results that will last for years, and pride in knowing that you did it yourself (with a little help from a friend).

Serving Southern New Hampshire and surrounding areas since 1995
Now Serving Martinsville Virginia and Surrounding Areas

For A Quality Interior House Painter Call

(603) 864-9783