Getting Your Best Painting Estimate

 How to get your best painting estimate

Comparing estimates seems to be the thing to do, we all do it, get three estimates put them side by side and look at the pricing but when I tell you how impossible that is you may think and look at it another way.

The three estimates you received, if you took those three contractors and had them in the same room at the same time they still would come back with totally different ways to do the job.

 Maybe using different materials, different applications. different workforces and for sure different overhead. 

The most important difference and one we aim for is a totally different experience. 

You all have called around to contractors, how many call you back? or take forever to call back or never do?

How many keep you updated on the process, help choose colors.

Train their staff and have a ton of resources behind them to help make sure your job goes well even when something goes wrong?

If they do show up for the estimate how long does it take to get the estimate back to you? 

For us it is the same day or next.

Do they have one person dedicated to making sure your project goes well and your totally satisfied? We do.

I am asking you to forget the norm and throw away price shopping for a second.

Also the price may be important for some but if it costs a bit more for the satisfaction of knowing you have no worries or responsibilities,  and can be assured no matter what you will be happy isn't that worth it?

If you had an issue with someone calling you back or showing up on time for your estimate what happens once the painting project starts?

You will always find someone cheaper but at what expense to your home or project?

Asking the correct questions

A major issue in the painting and construction trades is insurance.

Listen, things may and will go wrong from time to time.

Is your contractor insured with the proper liability insurance AND worker's compensation to cover all their workers? 

This is not something you want to find out about after the fact and be surprised your now responsible.

Available right away?

Did you call a painter the last second and needed them the next day, and they are free?

That is a red flag, of course there are variables here, maybe their schedule freed up due to a cancellation or delay.

But trust me, most good contractors, and painters are not readily available to start a project immediately.

4-6 weeks or more is the norm for a good contractor, I would highly suggest digging even deeper with the questions if someone is available right away.

NO company has an unlimited amount of quality painters ready to go when a call comes in if they do great work in most cases.

Check out our blog

No matter who you choose to do your painting work, we want it to be a great experience, there are many good painting companies out there.

The goal is to find one who delivers what they promised, meets your expectations and your totally comfortable with.

Once you find that company, there is no need in the future to continue to get multiple estimates. You already have your go to trusted painting contractor

On the estimate

Please be home for your estimate and be present, turn off all phones, computers and not be on a conference call. 

This is an important time to be available and to share your wants, needs and expectations for your project.

Please be aware, scheduling an onsite estimate or virtual estimate with us, we audio and may video record estimates, your scheduling of an estimate is acceptance and agreement of this. It may be used for training and or social media.

Please put all pets away so we may be able to discuss the project, although we love pets, we will want to lay with them and it can become distracting

Why paint your kitchen cabinets?

Why paint your kitchen cabinets?

Why is kitchen cabinet painting so hot and in right now? 

The easy answer is it saves so much money vs replacing or refacing and you can get a tremendous transformation of your kitchen in way less time then replacing or refacing your kitchen cabinets.

There is no way to replace your kitchen cabinets with quality ones for the same or even near the same price as painting them.

You can get a great job that will stand up over time by having a professional do them the right way.

This includes preparing them correctly, using the right paints and coatings and simply doing the right thing.

Painters can lie

Unfortunately doing the right thing and the painting industry does not always go hand in hand. It is easy and affordable for someone to go out and but a ladder and a few brushes and say they are in business.

Let's start a business

It is simply not that easy and professional companies know this, that is why it is laughable when customers will try to compare estimates from many different painting companies while some are barely companies. You may be able to get away with this painting a wall but certainly not with kitchen cabinets.

The process is straight forward but it is when something goes wrong that professional painter with all their experience can save the day, they can adjust and be the superhero of your job.

Painting can be easy but it can also be hard and confusing. 

Years of experience is where a true professional painter shines. That does come with a cost, a fair cost. To simply compare estimates based on price does away with all those years of training, working and the experience gained.

So what will you do?

Will you simply take the lowest price and cross your fingers and hope for the best or be assured your project will come out correctly? It's your choice.

Be present on your painting estimate

Be present on your painting estimate

Being present is much more than simply being there, you know you can be physically there but miles away in your mind.

When you call any company to come out and give you an estimate all the want is to be able to give you an accurate cost and possibly do the work for you. 

By not taking this seriously you are wasting their time but more importantly what happens if you actually give them the project to do and you never reviewed all the information with them? You're setting the project up for missed expectations and possible failure.

I cannot tell you how many times I go look at a huge painting project and get little to no information from the client. It makes it hard to give an actually detailed estimate, there are always many follow up questions that could have been avoided on-site and the work order the painters follow is one we made up with this little info given.

This can all be avoided

All of this can be avoided simply by putting your phone down and devoting the 15-30 minutes it takes to do YOUR estimate. Speaking about all the details and reviewing the project onsite.

Remember not every company does things the exact same way.

Here is a video I did on this exact topic

Why Hire A Professional Painting Company

Why You Should Hire A Professional Painting Company

Everyone has some kind of painting to do around their home or business and deciding who is going to do it comes down to a few choices:

• Do it yourself
• A friend has a "guy"
• Hire a professional

These choices all come with pro's and con's of course and we will review a few of them here to help you make a better decision

Do it yourself: 

Doing it yourself is always a choice but it comes with a few issues and mainly it is time. do you really want to spend your minimal free time painting? Some people love it and there is no question, others could take that free time and use it to spend quality time with their family or use it to do what they do best. 

• Your free time is used
• It may cost more in the long run
• Quality may or may not be adequate
• Knowledge of paint coatings
• No relationship with the paint vendors
• Completing the project on time

If I am spending time doing things I have no idea about I would be much better off doing my work which I can earn money to simply just pay a painter. That time your painting your not only losing time but possibly money as well.

Also, you may not get the professional or timely results a professional company such as Amato Painting

A friend has a "guy"

We all know someone always has a guy who does side work or is a jack of all trades, you have seen their work and know the price is low but this comes with some issues for sure.

• Will they show up as promised
• Will they come each day
• Are they really insured fully?
• Their knowledge of paint coatings is limited
• Is there really any warranty
• Will they even finish the project?

So the issue really is, with that lower price you are certainly losing things, if something would happen you will not have a warranty, they probably do not have a relationship with the paint manufacturer who can assist in any matters.

The insurance issue is certainly one not to look past, liability insurance is not expensive, workers compensation is and if they have employees you need to make sure they have this.

The difference in price from this to a professional painter you are gaining many things that we will go over below.

The professional painter

The professional painter, some have given painters a bad name and some are simply awesome

• Knowledge of paint coatings
• Experience in all matters related to paint and applications
• Resources to solve and correct many issues
• Trained staff, employees who have a vested interest in your project
• Timely completion of your project

Some of the cons using a professional painter would be you need to check if they are using their own employees or is there another company coming to do your painting work.

This is so important if they are subcontracting their work out, how are they training those painters, the only thing they care about is collecting the check, good luck getting them to come back for any issues.

It will cost you typically more than any other solution above in the short term, but the long term actual cost will certainly be less.

Keep them

Once you find a great reliable painting company, make sure to hold onto them, they are certainly hard to find, we recommend to our clients to be very open with communicating with us so we know what you expect, your deadlines, past experiences and any needs that may arise before, during or after a project.

Choosing Paint Colors Can Be Stressful

Choosing paint colors can be a stressful task

Choosing paint colors for some is fun and for others can be the most stressful thing to do with a home improvement project.

Choose the wrong color and it can ruin any great paint job.

With so many available colors today it can seem impossible to choose the perfect color, also lighting, the shade can dramatically also change the appearance of any color inside and out.

There is a reason there are professional color consultants to help make this decision easier.

But let's take this a step further

What if we can take pictures of your home or business and show you what the new possibilities are as far as color?

We now offer three free color renderings for our clients on most full repaint projects.

With the help of our great vendor Benjamin Moore we can take a picture of your exterior home or business and show you the different variations of what colors are possible.

Free Color Renderings

Along with a color consult and these color renderings, there is simply nothing to worry about when you're making that huge decision regarding the paint colors for your home.

Still can't decide after seeing three renderings? No problem we offer affordable packages of additional renderings.

How long will the painting take?

How long will my painting project take?

This is the age-old question we get from the estimate when the project starts an during and one that can generally be answered but needs some flexibility as job conditions change frequently.

While on an estimate your estimator is measuring, looking at surfaces, the amount of furniture in the way, what types of paint that may be used, how many coats and historical production numbers from past similar jobs. They will use all of these things to determine how long a job may take to charge accordingly but remember this is an educated guess.

Once a project starts there are some unknowns, such as how well will the paint dry, cover or if they will run into any issues with the surface. Drying conditions change due to humidity and temperature and can severely slow the job process down or speed it up.

Sometimes your painter may have a family issue and have to miss a day, or a car may break down, these everyday normal occurrences happen and should be considered with the timeline, we always suggest leaving some room before and after the tentative dates we give.

If you have a specific deadline on a project this should be told to your estimator and lead painter AND marked within your proposal and contract so everyone is aware, there is nothing worse then disappointing someone who didn't let you know there even was a deadline.

If all of these things are in order you can count on a successful painting project, with little stress and a completion day you can be thrilled with.

What you can expect on your painting project

Expectations

Expectations are the number one reason for complaints, unhappiness and also at the same time satisfaction on any project, painting or other. 

A painting project involves much more than calling up, having an estimate and someone shows up to paint your home. many things go into preparing and knowing what to expect on your painting project.

From choosing colors, sheens, knowing the date the project will start and an estimated time of completion. We see missed or unknown expectations as the number one issue for any customer complaints and it is not always the customers or the painter's fault, there is a share of the blame.

Here are a few missed expectations:

1. Start of the project: This missed expectation may have never been told to the estimator if you have a deadline that needs to be met it needs to be expressed. With so many projects going on many things can affect that start date from, weather (even if your job is interior) Any rain will push back exterior jobs and also pushing back all the other projects behind it. Other jobs taking longer before yours, this is out of anyone's control and will push yours back.
2. Completion of the project: This is an unknown, there are so many variables that go into a project from paint and spackle drying, paint not covering, sickness, car trouble etc. Finish dates are variable.
3. Prep of the surface. One of the top issues, did you explain your expectations to the estimator and did they explain what will and not be done? An old wall will not look like a new wall, have the correct expectations and you will be much happier, nothing is perfect in life
4. The number of painters on the project. Unless we are talking about commercial painting the number of painters on one project does not necessarily mean a faster job, you can only put so many painters in one room, there is a process that needs to be followed. It amazes me each time a client will tell us we need more painters with no knowledge of the painting industry.

These are just a few of the expectations that may be missed.

Here are some tips to have a great project.

• Be home for your estimate
• Have everyone who will have any critique at the estimate
• Express all of your expectations to your estimator, it may be were not a good fit for each other or we cannot deliver what you may need
• Know that everything will not be perfect. Painting is an art and will have variables, old walls will not be new, wavy walls will not equal a clear straight cut line. 
• Spend the money on top of the line paint and materials 
• The lowest price may be the highest once a project is complete having to go back and fix it, change orders, additional work.

Expectations are so important on any project, think of it this way if you tell your mechanic to just go in and fix anything and they hand you a bill for a huge amount of money without speaking to you even though you said go ahead with anything, what type of argument and dissatisfaction will you have ?

Behind the scenes of a painting estimate

Have you ever wondered what is involved with a painting estimate?

There is more involved than just showing up at the door

Let's go over a typical estimate from start to finish.

We all get excited when the phone call comes in, the client may have searched online, got a referral or saw the painters on another job.

However they reached us we take it very seriously and pride ourselves on knowing someone will answer the phone, we return calls and emails in a timely fashion.

Someone will answer that call when it comes in and spends 10-15 minutes with you gathering information, name, address, and type of work you're looking to have done.

This is also a great time for us to ask even more questions and get a sense if we're a good fit for each other before the estimate is even scheduled, we will ask questions such as have you used a professional painter before, do you have other painting coming out to estimate this work and timeline to name a few.

Some people are taken aback by this but would you rather waste your time after someone comes out to estimate it just to find out we do not do that type of work, or the job is not our specialty or the time frames just don't match up?

After this phone call we will schedule this estimate and discuss the phone call within the office and prepare to come out, we will gather any literature needed for your project, add this to our schedules and create notifications on our end to make sure we are aware it is coming.

A few days before the estimate we will send out a few emails explaining how the estimate will go and tips on how to make the most of it, so we're already into about an hour spent on your potential estimate.

The morning of the estimate I will gather my notebook and materials and make sure I am either early or on time.

We will walk the project together, letting you explain exactly what you expect and want to make sure we can offer this. After walking through with you I will walk through again on my own measuring and planning. At this time I will know if I can offer a price on the spot or it may require more time in the office to write it up.

Let's say we needed more time, I will head back to the office, sit down and put all my measurements together into a spreadsheet, once we have all of this done I will have a firm number to send over but we have to enter all of this and write up the proposal so even more time is spent on the estimate, we are typically into 2.5 hours now spent on one estimate we may or may not win.

Now comes the tough part, we send the estimate over and typically you have four types of people, the ones who give you a yes or no right away, the ones who need time to "think" and the ones who hide and do not return calls or email.

As you can see to do just one estimate can take about three hours whether we win or lose it, now some may be less and some maybe longer. This is why it is very important the person deciding is home at the estimate to not waste any one's time