Lehigh Valley Exterior Painting

 

Don't Let Your Lehigh Valley Home Lose Its Luster: The Importance of Exterior Painting with Ryan Amato Painting  

Living in the Lehigh Valley, we all know the importance of a well-maintained home.

Our four distinct seasons bring vibrant beauty, but they can also take a toll on our property's exterior.

Here at Ryan Amato Painting, we understand the unique challenges faced by Lehigh Valley homeowners, and we're dedicated to providing exceptional exterior painting services that will keep your home looking its best, year after year.

More Than Just a Paint Job: Protecting Your Investment

A fresh coat of paint does wonders for curb appeal, but it's about more than just aesthetics.

The exterior of your home is the first line of defense against the elements.

Sun, rain, wind, snow, and even fluctuating temperatures can cause significant damage to your siding over time.

High-quality exterior paint acts as a protective barrier, shielding your home from these damaging effects.

By regularly repainting your exterior with Ryan Amato Painting, you're not just enhancing your home's beauty, you're making a smart investment in its longevity and value.

Long-Lasting Beauty and Increased Efficiency

We use only the highest quality paints and materials, specifically formulated for the Lehigh Valley climate.

These paints not only provide a beautiful, long-lasting finish, but some even offer advanced features like solar reflectance.

By reflecting sunlight during the hot summer months, these specialized paints can help regulate the temperature inside your home, potentially leading to lower energy bills.

Expert Craftsmanship and Unwavering Customer Focus

At Ryan Amato Painting, we're not just about slapping on a coat of paint.

Our team of skilled and experienced painters takes pride in their craft, meticulously preparing surfaces and ensuring a flawless finish that will stand the test of time.

We understand that your home is your biggest investment, and we treat it with the respect it deserves. That's why we offer free, no-obligation consultations and detailed estimates so you can make informed decisions about your project.

Our focus is on clear communication, exceptional customer service, and exceeding your expectations throughout the entire process.

The Ryan Amato Painting Difference

• Local Expertise: We're a locally owned and operated business with a deep understanding of the specific challenges faced by Lehigh Valley homeowners.
• Free Consultations and Estimates: Get expert advice and a clear breakdown of project costs before you commit.
• Meticulous Preparation: We take the time to properly prepare surfaces, ensuring a long-lasting and beautiful finish.
• High-Quality Materials: We use only the best paints and materials designed for the Lehigh Valley climate.
• Skilled and Experienced Painters: Our team takes pride in their craftsmanship and delivers exceptional results.
• Unwavering Customer Focus: Clear communication, transparent pricing, and a commitment to your satisfaction are our top priorities.
• Warranty on Workmanship: We stand behind our work and offer a warranty on all workmanship.

Investing in Your Home's Future

A well-maintained exterior not only enhances your home's curb appeal and value, but it also protects your investment, potentially lowers your energy costs, and gives you peace of mind knowing your home is well-protected. Don't let your Lehigh Valley home lose its luster.

Contact Ryan Amato Painting Today

We're here to help you breathe new life into your home's exterior. Call us today at (484) 821-7112 or visit our website at www.ryanamatopainting.com to schedule your free consultation and estimate. Let Ryan Amato Painting transform your Lehigh Valley home with the quality, expertise, and customer service you deserve.

Another happy painting client

 We are in a service business and the name of the game is making sure our clients are super happy.

Another happy painting client

First there are many ways to do this, the obvious is do a great job.

There us so much more that goes into a painting project to make a great experience for our customers.

Remember we all live within the community of the Lehigh Valley

This gives us a tremendous opportunity to create long lasting professional and personal relationships.

There is nothing like going into the grocery store and having someone come up and say hello.

Telling us how great their interior painting , epoxy floor or kitchen cabinet painting work turned out.

Additionally we help our clients through many aspects of life, weddings, divorce, births and even deaths of family members.

By helping paint a new home, start a new chapter of their life or help prepare a home for a new owner.

We take our work and the trust people place with us very seriously.

We are super grateful for this trust and have made so many new friends over the years.

Does every job go smoothly? No that would be impossible.

There are paint shortages, family issues, trucks break down or mistakes made.

We however always go above and beyond to make it right.

We want to make sure they have had an awesome painting experience in the end.

By looking at our reviews and the countless awards won you can see it goes right the majority of the time

Referrals are our best advertising and our awesome clients keep us so busy from those alone.

So You Want An Epoxy Floor For Your Garage

You walk out to your garage each morning, stepping on oil, a dirty floor and concrete that is cracked and decide you would like a shiny new epoxy floor installed but have no idea where to start.

Maybe you had a friend or family member had theirs done or you have seen them on YouTube or Facebook and now you want one too.

But how much are they, how long will it last and where do you start?

Where To Begin

Finding a reputable contractor you can trust is your first step, this is not a project for your typical painting contractor so that should not be your first step. A reputable epoxy installer or a painting company who has a dedicated epoxy department is the way to go. Epoxy can be very tricky, no two applications are the same, epoxy is very finiscky with the surrounding temperartures, moisture in the air and also surface temperatures. Only an experienced epoxy installer will know what to do and make adjustments along the way.

Even a slight difference in the normal dew point can drastically change cure times, dry times and recoat times of a floor. Not knowing these and what to do can be disaterous for your garage floor. What could go wrong? The sheen could be blotchy, the color could be off, the epoxy could eventually fail and peel off not to mention the cosmetic issues you can have.

Finding Your Contractor

Finding your contractor won't be an easy one, there are not that many fully trained and experienced companies out there or some only do commercial epoxy floors. Steer clear of a painting company who says sure we also do floors, if they are a painting company they should have a totally seperate crew who only does floors to be assured they are trained on new applications, products and the issues that come along with them to fully get the results you want. 

The Right Products

Everyone will look to Google as their go to source of information and see buzz words such as high solid, polyaspartic and more but remember even though a company is using those "type" of products there are many inferior formulations from one epoxy manufacturer to the next. You could be using all the "right" products but they could be cheap brands giving you a much lower quality epoxy floor.

From thinner applications due to poor training of the crews or thinner coating due to low quality products you won;t know this until its too late and you are recoating your garage floor way to soon.

Stick to a professional epoxy floor company that can manage all of this for you.

The Application Process

Most professional epoxy installers will be grinding your floor, this does not mean it needs to be done each and every time but to achieve the proper surface for your concrete and the new epoxy it is usually determined it needs to be diamond grinded. The company should have a full seperate hepa vacuum attached to the grinder sucking up all that nasty concrete dust leaving your home and their workers safe.

Proper set up of the area should be noted, keeping all other areas clean that are not being done is professional and important, it is not easy to get cured epoxy off surfaces it should not be on.

After cleaning all the grease off of the floor with specialized products, the company will most likely be grinding and cleaning once more. After cleaning there are a couple routes a company may go.

If it is determined you don;t have a vapor barrier a liquid (primer) vapor barrier may be used.

If you do have one already they may go direct to the concrete with the epoxy, remember each and every step costs money so any added coat or step will be additional costs to your final bill.

After the epoxy is put down now is the time to add flakes or anti slip additives, this can be a very unique and custom installation process and you may get a different look for whoever is installing (throwing) the decorative flakes. You want one installer applying your flakes to make sure it is uniform.

The Clear Coat

Another term you will hear so much is polyaspartic, this is a type of coating that is not vulnarable to the uv light like epoxy is, is hard and a terrific top coat.

However it is difficult to apply, the life once mixed is very short and it is not inexpensive.

This is what I would choose for my house though.

You do have some other options, but they will effect the longevity of the coating, the amount of time you have before having to coat it again.

Depending on the use of your floor will also determine what type of clear coat you will be using.

Expectations

At the end of the day the proper expectations are needed, if you have concrete that is moving or water pressure coming up from underneath your floor you could have some issues, this would not be a failure of the coating itself. If you drop something very heavy it could chip the coating no matter what you have down on the concrete. Remember the floors are extremly tough but nothing is bulletproof.

Proper Maintenance

Properly maintaining your epoxy floor and coating is important but not hard at all.

We would love for you to use just a simple combination of dawn and soem warm water, this is all you should need to fully clean anything off of your floor if you get it right away. Do not allow solvents to sit on your floor and wipe those up right away just to prevent any discoloration.

It's that easy, do this and you should have years to come of your new epoxy floor.

Kitchen Countertops or paint the cabinets first?

We are asked this question all the time and it is a great one.

In a perfect world, everything goes as planned and this is a simple answer.

But as we all know it is never that easy

Even with the most conscientious contractor mistakes happen and small damage can occur such as scratches, dings, and dents, if you refinish your kitchen cabinets first and then have backsplashes or countertops done there is a very good chance some things can happen. 

$$$

When mistakes happen it costs money, it costs money to the painter to come back and do touch-ups and in turn that cost will be given to the homeowner to cover or put in the estimate in the first place to cover these incidental costs so we recommend doing your painting AFTER all other work is complete.

Floors can be covered, counters can also be covered and protected from any damage.

Think about it wouldn't it be great to start and complete a project without having to ask contractors to come back out?

Having your painter do his or her work after all other trades have been in is a perfect way to maintain project costs while getting a top-quality job.

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

Painting in cold weather

When is it time to stop painting in the Lehigh Valley?

The Fall is on the way and that means leaves changing colors and falling, Halloween, Thanksgiving and yes cold weather.

We are asked each year when is it too cold to paint and that is a great question and it depends on a few different things.

Typically in years past you would need to stop painting around 50 degrees which really limits the season in the Lehigh Valley to paint exteriors but with the new paint formulations Sherwin Williams has many pints that can be used down to 34 degrees. This means we can extend the exterior painting season possibly months ahead. We actually painted well after Christmas a few years ago.

We do have to remember a few things, when we say the temperature needs to be 35 degrees we are referring to the surface temperature of the material you are attempting to paint. So if that is metal such as aluminum siding the surface temperature may be a lot lower thence  the air temps. 

We use the information from the local weather channels and temperature and surface temperature gauges. This is very important to know, you may be able to push it a few degrees but much more than that and you could risk paint failures such as peeling, flaking, discoloration and more. Plus you would void your manufactures warranty from any of the manufacturers and trust me they will go back and look at the dates and local weather reports.

So what happens in the Fall is there is no guarantee an exterior painting project can be done, so we typically tentatively schedule these projects with the risk it may need to be done in the next Spring.

For instance we had approximately 10 projects push into 2019 from last Fall, although they are the first projects to be done it still takes time to go through those jobs, not every person can be the first job.

The Fall can be a great time to paint and do exterior projects, you don’t have the direct sun to contend with much or as much rain as we see in July and August, it’s cooler so we have longer work days as we are not contending with higher temperatures and the paint doesn’t instantly dry which makes it easier for the painters .

Most painting companies will be very experienced dealing with the weather and there is no need to micromanage this or delay the project because of a few degrees here and there and can actually add additional costs because of delays. Trust who you hire and remember in most cases they have been doing this a long time.

How to properly prepare your concrete for epoxy

Proper preparation of your concrete for an epoxy coating

Properly preparing your concrete floor for epoxy is serious business, without doing this step absolutely perfect you may have coating failures such as peeling, hot tire pickup or a ruined floor.

This step is not one for the average house painter, it takes a lot of training, knowing and using the products on many projects. Sometimes you have to make quick changes on a job site to deal with surface conditions, access or the unexpected. Without having come across these before there isn't much that can help you.

Typically a diamond grinding or acid etching is needed. These are two totally different processes and each has their up and downsides.

Grinding a surface can be dusty even with the best of equipment, leading to dangerous silica thrown into the air as well as much more cleanup.
Acid etching can simply be dangerous from the fumes and the burns that can occur.

the goal of each is the same, rough up the surface for the coating to adhere to it better.

In recent years even special primers may be used in lieu of these two preparatory processes. Special primers for hard to bond surfaces can and have been used successfully, they are not inexpensive but in comparison to the other ways,they are similar in cost.

We have seen too many times homeowners and contractors take the chance by not prepping the surface due to either cost or laziness and it always ends the same, we come in and see sheets of epoxy that can be just pulled off of the floor.

Taking the time to properly prepare your floor will actually cost less in the future because you will be eliminating the repeated prep or removal of the failed coatings because once it starts to fail it needs to be removed before applying another system on it in many cases.

Once you take the time to do this concrete work and prep you can be assured your epoxy has the correct surface to be applied to and will last for years to come.

Amato Completed Garage Epoxy Floor

Epoxy Floor Installation

Amato Painting was able to work on this three-car garage recently in Hellertown, Pa

The client called us as they were moving to the area and wanted a trustworthy estimate and contractor to take care of this project as they would not be home during the install. 

We estimated it through pictures and measurements first to determine the budget and once that was approved we arrived onsite to meet the homeowner to make sure we were a good fit for each other. Right away we knew this would be a great project, with expectations from the client set, knowing we could meet them we scheduled the project.

In this instance, the homeowner gave us access to the home and we arrived to diamond grind the floor, after correcting some power issues with the grinder we cleaned and prepared the floor and applied two coats of an epoxy coating.

We broadcasted epoxy flakes into the second coat, came back the next day and cleaned up and applied a clear coat on top of all of it, this will help to protect the flakes, the floor and give the floor longevity.

We used Seal Crete Hp products on this floor and it took two of us to apply it, when mixing epoxy you only have a certain amount of time to get it onto the floor so it is important to have a very clear plan when applying it and everyone knows their job.

Proper mixing of the epoxy is another key area, we follow all of the manufacturer's specifications, paying very clear attention to the mixing and time they want the product mixed.

Once we were complete we made sure everything was clean and there were no signs of us being there. The homeowner was able to move in on time and very happy we were able to get the floor complete on time.

Garage Epoxy Floor

Garage Epoxy Floor Process

Everyone wants a nice garage for their cars, tools or a place to play. We all rush out to buy those kits you see in the box stores with great anticipation and hopes, do everything right it says to do on the box only to find a few months later it might peel up.

Concrete floors and garage floors are one of the toughest substrates to paint and the reason is the unforeseen conditions under and the abuse it takes on top of the floor. We may not know there is a moisture issue under the floor or water pressure pushing up, we cannot control the movement of the home, no epoxy or paint can withstand that and not to mention the hot tires pulling in and out each day.

Knowing these things can happen and the floor is not impenetrable to any of these things happening are called expectations, as long as you know what to expect and understand things can happen you will have a successful project and a floor that should last. Yes, you may have to do it again, yes it may need maintenance and cleaning or another coat added. These are things to expect.

The start of any good floor job is cleaning the floor of grease and dirt, you will need a degreaser or emulsifier to remove the grease from the concrete, if you do not clean the floor properly or before prep you could push the grease even further into the concrete which will speed up any paint failures.

After cleaning we need to get the surface ready for the coating. This could be by chemically (acid etch) or mechanically (diamond grind) depending on the coating your using and condition of the floor that will tell you which manner will work best. 

Now the floor is ready for coating and hopefully we have decided to use a professional company to do this or at least are using a higher end product. The epoxy has very clear directions on mixing, sweat in times and or time to get it on the floor as well as the number of coats and thickness it needs to be applied.

Make sure to follow these specifications to the letter or again you could end up with a failure of the coating. 

Now you have a choice, are you adding decorative flakes or an anti-skid additive into the epoxy? Now is the time to do it, this will all be subjective on who is putting the flakes down, you can get different looks from different applicators, you can also choose a sparse flake or cover the entire floor solid with flakes.

Once you have your flakes down, the next day is the time to add your protective clear coat, we like to use top of the line products here as this is the coating protecting the top side of your floor.

If you follow all the directions, use good products and have the proper expectations you can have a great epoxy floor too.

Exterior Painting Season

It's almost exterior painting season, how can we tell?
Every time the weather breaks for a day or so we get ten calls asking why we haven't started someone's project yet.

It never fails, we can come out of the coldest, wettest winter, it can snow yesterday but when it hits 40 degrees or so everyone will call, we chalk that up to excitement in getting the project done.

However we must have realistic expectations and know when it is really time to start your exterior painting, what no one wants to do is start a project and then the weather goes back down and we have to stop, and now we have ten projects started that we cannot finish, have to start new ones to keep everyone working and just a cluster of incomplete work.

Every painting contractor I know has come out of the worst 2018, weather-wise and many projects were held over to be done in the Spring, add to that your other work still scheduled and you have an interesting painting schedule to deal with.

Also, the temps are still dropping below freezing at night if you paint too far into the afternoon and the temperatures fall you could have some issues with the coatings.

We like to watch the weather closely and look ahead at the long range forecast and try to set projects up that way in the order that they were booked.

Remember there are other projects going on then just one and many that were booked ahead of yours, patience is the key when working with any good contractor.

Most paints now can go down to about 37 degrees, maybe a bit lower but we try to not press that if it is not absolutely needed. For the typical homeowner, this is not needed and they should simply wait, the projects that have to be done for a sale or a business or other reason other than we simply want it done are the priorities this time of the year.

Let's all hope for a great mild Spring and awesome summer so we can get all of our projects done early and or on time. We get to work with so many great people and businesses I wish we could do them all at one time but obviously, that is impossible.

Amato Painting named finalist for Best Customer Service

Amato Painting is honored to be named a finalist for Best Customer Sevice for 2019 in the Best of the Valley from Lehigh Valley Magazine

Customer service is something we take very seriously and work on each and every day says Tanya Freed who heads up the administrative department at Amato Painting

Voting begins April 15th online and we hope all of our clients and friends can take a moment to help us out.

Can you go lower in price?

Can you lower your price?

"We received your proposal, we are still getting other estimates but yours is the highest so far, can you do any better on your price?" John A. Easton,Pa


Thank you for emailing, we can certainly discuss the price, I am glad you reached out but first, can we review the time and conversation we had while I was out there?
You mentioned when I was there that quality was the most important thing to you. has that since changed?

The reason I ask is now you are comparing our proposal to price alone. in my experience comparing price alone only works when you're comparing the same product or experience, we do not feel anyone can match our experience, communication and value at all. were top quality products still important? someone to be available to answer any questions you may have?
Do the other companies have someone answering the phone 24/7 or allow you to text or chat with them?

Are their painter's employees or subcontractors? Not knowing who will do your project until they scramble to find someone? These are all questions you should ask not to mention the insurance and workers compensation needed to protect your amazing house or business.

There are certainly more things. the un saids that are important such as training our painters, safety and knowledge and relationships in the painting industry that we bring.

If this has all changed please send us the other proposals and we will review and make sure we all match one another in promises, experience and being able to give you the project you hope for the price promised by others.

Ryan Amato 


This is a real conversation guys, one we get frequently and we always answer the same way, we're not a commodity, we are offering our experience and training over the years and the value our companies bring. don't let under cutters threaten you, they are just disrupting the market with sales pitches, getting things done in one day the lowest price etc.
there aren't many shortcuts that can be taken that will not effect your projects. there will always be a lowest price but at what expense.?

Imagine getting a painting estimate with no stress

Imagine ending the frustration of getting estimates

Getting any type of estimate can be frustrating right? Most companies don't have someone to answer the phone let alone will they call you back and if they do getting them to come out on time is even harder.   

I am not sure what it is with the painting industry but painting companies are even worse at this, it could be that anyone can buy a pair of paint pants and a business card and pretend to be in business.

The issue is they are not trained in business or customer service at all.

They may the best painter around but if they cannot service their clients how do you think your project will go if it starts at all? Do they know they need more than just liability insurance or what taxes are due? I have been around this industry awhile now and I can tell you the answer is no.

When we took a look around at the other competitors if you consider them competitors at all we realized there was certainly something missing and that was the attention to communication from the initial call to the completion of the project so we decided we would end that.

With us, you can schedule an estimate right online, no need to speak to anyone for all the people who love to schedule online. Schedule now 

This was the first thing we have done, you can also chat directly with us through our website at www.ryanamatopainting.com during normal business hours and if you happen to call after hours we brought in a call center to make sure we didn't miss your call.

All this along with our internal checks and balances has made us the number one company prioritizing customer communication. Now we are human so even with all of that something may be missed, we work hard to make sure that doesn't happen though.

We take this so seriously after each project we send out a report card to see how we are doing and get amazing reviews on our client support, we have become friends with so many of our clients it's a great feeling to go out and see everyone and also that they feel comfortable to refer us to their family and friends.

These are certainly things to consider when hiring a company, any company to work around your home, a low price alone does not make a great job, yes you may make it through without a problem but if something comes up don't you want it to be handled quickly or a stress free project in the first place?

We make a point to get you a price on the spot if not the same day, are the other painting companies showing up or getting a proposal they promised right back to you? How has communication been? We send a few text reminders, emails, and a phone call to remind you of an appointment or follow up to answer any questions.  

If you need anything done please feel free to reach out anytime, I can guarantee someone will get back to you. 484-821-7112

Get to know us: Tag Entwisle

Get to know us 

Tag Entwisle

Tag is our operations manager and comes to us from his past management experience with Gold's Gym and Amazon. He brings a devotion to the company culture, great communication and always strives to be a role model to our staff.

We were lucky enough to bring Tag in, his current role has the responsibilities of managing all the painters and crew leaders, the daily schedule, making sure all the clients are satisfied. He developed a year long training system for the painters.

Accountability is a must for Tag and expects and demands it from everyone around him but at at the same time is fair and loyal.

He has overseen many different projects from commercial painting, small and large to residential interior and exterior projects.

He has worked directly with Benjamin Moore to learn all the new products as well as the ones we currently use each day.

There is no rest in our office but when Tag has free time he loves working out as well as spending time with his to girls. Fun fact Tag has competed and will be competing again in bodybuilding show.

Amato Painting Visits Benjamin Moore Headquarters

Ryan, Tanya and Kevin Visit Benjamin Moore Headquarters

We were lucky enough to be invited to Benjamin Moore's Headquarters in Montvale, NJ to take part in a group question and answer session with many of their departments such as marketing, color, and more.

We have developed a great relationship with Benjamin Moore through our local store Gleco Paints, not your average paint store by any means, their service and concern about our business and company go well above anything else any other store or company has ever been able to offer.

I have been lucky enough through them to meet many people from Benjamin Moore and through that, I was asked if I would be interested in offering my knowledge and experience in the painting industry in a formal group discussion which will be filmed and used for training, social media, and other outlets.

So I gathered up a few people from our team, a painter Kevin who has been with us the longest and brings a unique perspective to the painting industry, our office manager Tanya who has a hand in almost every process in the company and myself who gave a perspective of marketing, daily operations and  anything else they wanted to hear about.

Our day started with about an hour and a half drive down, it was great to get out of the office for a day, I was shown some of the questions before I arrived but I wanted my answers to be genuine and not planned so I did not really look at them or show them to my team.

We arrived early in the morning being greeted by Brian and James, and a bunch of cameras, we would be filmed much of the day.

From there we were given a brief tour of the offices, meeting many great people throughout the day, some I knew personally and some I knew from Linkedin. Everyone was so nice and welcoming to us.

We were able to take a break and just chatted about paint coatings, faux finishes and in that conversation, a few great ideas came from James regarding some marketing ideas for our company, I wrote those down right away, sometimes it takes throwing things back and forth and great ideas will come out of those conversations.

Skipping ahead we then filmed in their store of the future to get some footage of the day before we went to lunch with Benjamin Moore and the film crew.

After lunch again we took a tour around the office and ended up at the room that was prepared for our question and answer session.

Not being prepared is slightly nerve-wracking however we were going to discuss topics I know well and love so I figured it would be easy enough.

We were hooked up to the wireless mics and cameras are rolling and then the questions began, I have to say the people of Benjamin Moore were awesome, they made it very easy with great questions, I was asked about everything from my background in the painting industry, hiring, marketing, paint coatings, likes, and dislikes.

It was great to hear Tanya and Kevin also speak about the company, I got a lot of great information from the group, and many things to take back with us and review. We filmed for about two and a half hours and wrapped up the day doing some voiceover work and saying our goodbyes.

Also on the way out we were lucky enough to meet and say hello to Dan Calkins their Ceo, who was very appreciative of our work and marketing efforts.

I wanted to Thank Brian who invited us down, has been awesome to work with and who has become a friend as well, we appreciate everything they have done for us and we can't wait to see the finished product.

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.

What to expect on your painting estimate

What to expect on your painting estimate

Everyone needs painting, not many have time to do it, with so many things going on in your daily lives, work, family, hobbies and more it can be a task that gets ignored and in some cases, painting is more than just a cosmetic task.

With protecting wood surfaces or when selling your home painting can become very important and that's where a painting company comes in, whether cosmetically through a color change or protective by preparing and protecting surfaces a professional painting company can give you a consultation on what should and can be done.

Contractors are frustrating

We have all called contractors and know the frustration of getting someone to call back, show up and when they show up to give you a timely price. We took all of these experiences and solved each of these issues one by one. So what does a typical process look like when you call our company?

• Someone will answer the phone, we care about this so much we have someone in the office for this and a backup if they should not be able to answer the phone
• Once you call they will be able to go over the project with you and determine if it is a project we can fully help you out with
• An estimate is scheduled and various emails will be sent to explain the process, confirm the appointment as well as reminders via text, email and a phone call before the scheduled estimate
• We make sure to arrive early, if we are more than five minutes late we always will call.
• On the estimate the estimator will walk through your project with the person making the decision and who knows the expectations of the project which is very important to tell your estimator
• After walking through the estimator will walk through again by themselves and do their measurements and estimating
• At this point either a price can be given right on the spot or it will be emailed, this is typically the same day and at the worst the next day.
• A post estimate phone call will be scheduled to review the estimate and answer any other questions you should have
• A real price will be given, isn't amazing how many companies give one price and then it changes a mear 24 hours later? 
• Once you accept the estimate our awesome office staff will take over and help you step by step along the way.

Why us?

We pride ourselves in communication, you will have an advocate throughout the entire process should you have any questions, a dedicated lead painter in charge of your project and a very clear and concise and transparent process.

Why getting three or more estimates still doesn't tell you anything

Why getting three or more estimates still doesn't help

I am not sure who came up with getting three or more estimates with each project we plan on doing but it goes as far to getting four estimates on painting one room sometimes.

The time wasted sitting around and getting these estimates and having everyone come through and do their song and dance can better be saved, allowing you to do what you do best to earn money for your family.

For my own work, it is rare I would get more than three estimates and most of the time if I am comfortable with the first person that is who I go with, it is just not worth the savings to have a parade of contractors come through.

I get the thought process, you have everyone come through and look at the work, send over an estimate and then you can compare them all and make an educated decision. But what if I told you a secret? You can out all of those estimators in one room and they wouldn't be able to come up with the same price if they tried.

Each company does things differently

This has nothing to do with pricing, it has to do with products, expectations of the client, the products used etc.

Every company is most likely going to paint the wall the same way, that is not what you should be looking for, you should be looking for the things unsaid such as do they train their employees? 

Do they even have employees or do they subcontract an entire other company to do your work?

Are they truly insured? How about a warranty and do they actually back their work?

Everyone has a warranty

Every company has a warranty, it's a piece of paper and anyone can write anything but can they keep those promises? Every company will make mistakes and we are no different but I can say we have always gone back and corrected any issues, that is a warranty, it is a trust that you're hiring someone more than to just paint a room. Your hiring for trust, trust they will do what they said and deliver.

Watch out for sales pitches

Watch out, some companies have sales pitches, you may hear it can be done in one day, but every paint manufacturer has specifications on recoating after the first coat, pushing those specifications can be disastrous.

You may hear we have all our own employees and then a whole different company shows up, not trained in the companies ways, a total different vison and it may turn out great or bad,

So if they can't agree what qualifies you?

So if three or four companies cannot agree on a price, what qualifies you as the homeowner to sift through these proposals to determine which one is real? AT that point it usually comes down to price and a guess.

Use your gut, find someone you trust and maybe was referred or you have seen and heard great things about

A company that has great relationships with their vendors such as Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams because those relationships may come in handy on your project.

Find Someone You trust

Trusting your contractor is huge because once you hir them you need to step back and let them do the work, they are the expert in what they do, homeowners who try to be the general contractor are setting up their project for failure and contractors who don't want to be on that project.

The issue becomes homeowners getting in the way of scheduling, job sequencing, having to do things in the wrong order or a different way they would typically do a project, remember they have been doing their trade for quite some time. When you go to the mechanic or doctor you don't tell them how to do the work, give them some room and let them do their skill.