Top ways to get a good painting estimate

The top ways for you to get a good paint estimate

You have decided it's time to paint inside your home, maybe it's a few bedrooms or possibly the trim or maybe your just going to paint your entire interior. 

So now what?

You will find out quickly when you start calling around, many companies will either not call back or it will take a few days if they call back at all. Once your lucky enough to get someone either pick up the phone or call you back now your issue will be them showing up at all. 

One of the comments I receive all the time is "wow you showed up on time just like you said" Sounds crazy right? People are in business but won't call back or show up.

If your lucky enough to have someone show up now the issue is they won't be honest and tell you they are not either interested in your project or capable of doing it, so they will never send a proposal over or price it very high so you never call them.

So this is why it is very important on your end to be prepared when your ready to call a painting company or any trade for that matter. Here are some things you should be prepared with.

1. Know your budget and don't be afraid to share it, when asked. A good company can generally work within any budget but without having an idea of what it may be you may receive prices all over the place. With painting there are varying levels of quality, no two companies will paint a residential project the same. 
2. Know exactly what you want to be done, are all the ceilings being done or can they be left out to help reduce costs? Is the trim being done? Again by not having all these details, your pricing will be all over the place and you may be surprised with the end result
3. What is important to you? Is quality most important or is the cost? You typically will not be able to get a low priced job with top quality work but if you're real about your expectations and budget missed expectations can be avoided
4. Be at the estimate, the person who will interact and "judge" the work should be the person at the estimate. I can't tell you how many times people don't take this seriously and leave a parent or babysitter home to show the work or even the other spouse who when the job starts isn't the person judging the work, another area where you will have missed expectations
5. Be realistic, it will rain, people will call off or be sick, other things will come up. Every company does it's best to make sure everyone works each day all year long but we will all be disappointed with workers who are not responsible, all anyone can do is make it right and move forward. Remember things can always be worse, have patience and understand everyone has a story and things going on in their life.

There are no apples to apples

When you say you want to compare apples to apples what you're really implying is every company does the exact same thing, the same quality, the same training and the only thing separating them is the rice they are about to give you.

Let me let you in on a little secret, you could put 5 painting estimators in a room, using the same paint, same application and you will get 5 different prices, don't assume each company knows what they are doing and certainly you cannot compare this with price alone.

Don't forget about the things not said, communication, the extra value they bring, will they be around if you need something down the road? Or once they are paid are they gone and forgot your name. Trust me I am involved heavily in the painting industry and there are some very questionable workers and companies out there, just as there are some great people and companies out there, but if a bunch of estimators cannot agre on a price what makes you think you're qualified enough to be able to compare them?

Things may still go wrong

Even after all of this, you may have some things go wrong, they may spill paint, or have drips or not prep as you think they should or the color may be wrong. The mark of a good company is just to correct these things if it was their fault. There is no need to yell and scream, no one wants to work for anyone like that, the painters end up trying gto go faster to get out of there, the client is upset and the office is tired of those "phone calls" Remember it's a team effort that includes the painters, the office and the client. Everyone must be on the same page for a successful project

Ryan Amato

www.ryanamatopainting.com

484-821-7112