Preparing for winter

Winter is on the way:

For the painting business, this normally means one thing a slowdown, layoffs, scrambling for work etc.

Typically after the holidays painting may be the last thing anyone is thinking about, they had family over during the holidays they are paying off bills and simply regrouping.

For the painting company they should be preparing for this all summer and fall by marketing, contacting clients.

The theme of this blog is not marketing however it is how do we determine who continues to work?

This may seem like a tough decision but the whole summer and fall is an audition for this.

We track production of their jobs, return trips to correct their work, days they called off, refusal of overtime.

All of these things play a role is deciding when things slow down who will continue to work, without having routine employee reviews that superstar painter may not know his jobs have been underperforming or he is considered difficult to work with or the office cringes when we here his or her name.

Use this time to make your team stronger, remove troublemakers and it is also a great time to find painters that may be unhappy somewhere else but would be a great fit within your company.

It is not the time to lay low and let the winter pass by. It is the best time to find new painters, develop new systems and make your business grow.

How success makes it tough sometimes

Running a "larger" painting company has its ups and downs and that is a story for another time but at the top of this list is how many clients, salespeople and others assume I am the person to speak to no matter what the subject may be.

Whether a job issue, a color selection, a new product they want me to buy, some marketing thing or their dog is sick and they can't work today.
When I don't answer these issues sometimes it may come off as I don't care or the matter isn't important enough. That is far from the case but look at it like this when you go to any other store or restaurant they have put people in place to take care of any need that may arise.

I worked very hard to get us into the position that I could start to bring in other personnel to handle most of these matters so I could step back and grow and manage the business, to be involved in every day to day matter would take away from the ultimate goal. That doesn't mean in any way your projector question is not important only that we have trained someone to specifically handle these requests.

I knew long ago to stick with what you do best and for me that is estimating and marketing, not worrying about the job site daily issues or a truck broke down. These issues are handled by our production and shop team, trust me the truck will get fixed and if not they will learn the lesson as we hold everyone accountable. They do not typically make the same mistakes twice.

So when someone calls the office and asks for Ryan, I have strict policy on taking calls, I am very focused and protective of my time, we only have so many hours in the day people so use it wisely, me being interrupted on something I am not that great on dealing with may take me away from a super opportunity or something personal I need to attend to.

On another blog I will explain how I manage my daily tasks, listen up as it will free you from stress and anxiety, you may ruffle some

 feathers but it's your life, enjoy it!

How to work hard

This may sound crazy to you if you're a hard worker but we have found when hiring not everyone wants to work hard or earn their success.
I was always taught to work your butt off for everything you get, if you work hard usually it comes to you, sometimes it won't but that doesn't mean give up and roll over

Work your butt off

Working hard shows for me the first day you start, we can see it by the way you go from place to place, how you complete tasks, how you interact with other people, slackers usually hang out with slackers so when we fins a start usually he is surrounded by other stars and they are a great source of inspiration and other employees.

The people I and we do not get along with are those that skate by each day doing only enough to keep under the radar and not be noticed, but with our company, we track everything so that shows very quick unless another motivated worker simply calls and tell us "this guy is no good"

Work for it

I do think working hard can be taught but must be done early in life, we are not normally going to take someone who slacks and turn them into a superstar so when we're looking for potential painters we are looking at past jobs, how they present themselves, do they stand up and shake hands when someone walks into a room.

We want to be surrounded by awesome people, people who lift us up and bring something to the table and that goes for customers too, if your complaining and grumpy each day we do not need to work for you or be around, we can move on to ones that lift us up and will be awesome clients who bring
other awesome clients.

What to expect on the first day of your painting job

The first day of your painting project is coming up and by now hopefully, you have expressed all of your expectations and have turned in your color selections. So now what?

A good company will call and confirm the start of the job a few days beforehand and introduce either your foreman or project manager at this time, he would be your point of contact throughout the process, one thing this person hates is clients calling the office when he or she can easily solve almost any problem on site and much  faster.

On the day of the job you should have your breakables moved out of the rooms being painted, furniture put into the middle of the room and a nice breakfast ready for the painters (ok just kidding on the breakfast)

Your crew or painter will arrive and the person in charge (your foreman) will walk through the entire project with you and go over each color and all of your expectations based off of the scope of work. If there are any issues this is a great time to bring them up and resolve any unmet expectations after the job is complete.

They will go over job sequencing and scheduling to let you know how they will manage your job when certain rooms will be done and if they see any issues

As this is going on the rest of the crew is setting up a shop area somewhere you said would be a good spot such as the basement or garage, you should also let them know where they can clean their tools and what bathroom facilities to use.

Once your walk-through is complete your general spackling will begin and masking off of baseboards, plastic covering the furniture and drop clothes placed on the floor.

Now the expert work will begin, our painters are highly skilled and trained and do not need other supervision on the site, remember you hired professional, you must let them work. They may do things you're not accustomed to, remember just because you read it online doesn't make it true or the professional way to do things. Nothing is worse the client disrupting the painters, it distracts them, cause ill will and may make them rush your project.

A few days before the project is over the foreman will walk it with you, address any concerns at this time, hand you, our invoice and let you know payment is due on the completion day.

Once payment is made we will ask for any referrals, reviews and take some pictures of our work. No is a great time for a video review of our work and helps tremendously with our future work

What it costs to paint a bedroom in Easton,Pa

What it costs to paint a bedroom in Easton,PA

One question we get asked every day is what does it cost to paint a bedroom

Some people are shocked at the price and some understand the costs that a small company incurs on a daily basis to stay in business

Using a professional painting company comes along with many great things, a trained staff, professional painters, liability  insurance  and workman’s compensation paid on workers, crews, vehicles so if something would happen you and your family (and home) are covered. The same can not be said hiring a company who uses uninsured sub-contractors. You’re on your own there and hopefully if something would happen the insurance is in place on the company and their subcontractors

Here are some fees that are in the cost to paint a room from a professional company:

•                   Workman Compensation and liability insurance
•                                      Taxes, payroll taxes, social security unemployment  etc
•                    Costs such as vehicles and marketing
•                    Training for painters
•                      Health Insurance and benefit packages if applicable

So what does it cost to paint a bedroom let’s get to the answer?

To paint a typical 10x12 bedroom pictured above  with two coats of quality paint from Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore you will have these typical costs

 The average cost would be about $350

Add the ceilings and add $150-$200

Add the baseboard for about $125

So a typical room this size is around $350-$600 Depending on what is getting done, height of walls, any patching other than small dings, dents and nail holes. The timeframe is also important; if you need it done right away a good company is ging to be booked out 4-6 weeks, so to move you up in the schedule will come with a premium.

Do you need the absolute best materials and quality? Well then that is a premium

If price is the absolute most important thing and you need the cheapest price possible, than timing and quality will certainly be where the savings will come from, it would be scheduled when crews are free , a rainy day where scheduled exterior work cannot be done.  You may get trainees on site learning the trade or the average painter while the top craftsman are on the other jobs where the top quality was requested and paid for.

Most jobs can be done under any budget “if” that is known and spoken about at the estimate.

What we find sometimes is that is not shared, someone looking for the bottom dollar price never shares that, gets a bunch of estimates and solely picks the lowest price regardless of who they preferred while if they would of shared this with the painting company they likes most likely the project could have been adjusted to make that happen

Acoustic Ceiling Painting

Can Acoustical Ceilings be Restored?

With proper preparation and a highly skilled and trained team of professionals, your faded, discolored and water-stained acoustical ceiling tiles can be bought back to life leaving your facility with beautiful, brand new looking tiles in half the time and half the cost of completely replacing the tiles themselves. 

With the preparation and application of a specialty coating, your existing acoustical ceiling can be completely resurfaced and coated to not only improve appearance, but also enhance acoustic function, create better light reflectance and provide greater tile life expectancy. Acoustic Ceiling restoration services also contribute to earning LEED Green Building Credits as these specialty coatings are Low Voc and avoid waste disposal by utilizing existing materials.

The entire ceiling system in place including grids, air diffusers, vents, speaker plates, etc. can be entirely resurfaced and finished in a variety of colors to match your current color scheme perfectly. The tiles themselves are restored and left in a bright, clean white finish that is sure to add the wow factor to your facility. The tile coating system is resist to dirt, dust and the yellowing that is often caused by UV light exposure which not only helps to keep your ceiling looking clean and new, but also improves the acoustical function and performance overall.

As the premier Commercial and Residential painting company in the Lehigh Valley, we are thrilled to provide Acoustical Ceiling Restoration services to our clients. Not only does this service provide our clients with the high quality craftsmanship their facility deserves, but as an eco-friendly service, acoustical ceiling restoration contributes to our commitment of going green and practicing sustainability in the Lehigh Valley. 

What to expect on your painting estimate

Getting a painting estimate can be challenging in many ways from who do you call to how much it will cost. There are many unknowns which can make for a stressful time and one that sometimes makes you make unwise choices from choosing the wrong contractor to more importantly not selecting the right one.

When you call to get an estimate first did someone answer the phone who was polite and could answer most of your questions? Did they ask what your time frame was? Nothing is more frustrating then having contractors come out who can never meet your deadlines which simply wastes your time and the contractors. A simple question on their end can eliminate this.

After an appointment was set that is good for both parties did the contractor show up on time or at all?  This is my first red flag when looking for a contractor, if they are late to the consultation what makes you think they will be on time when your project is going on. If were late and I can count on one hand he amount of times I have been late we always call.

Did they arrive wearing a company shirt and dressed well? This again is important, if they show up in a dirty vehicle and dressed horribly it is a reflection on how they treat their own property. How do you think they will treat yours?

Were they writing things down or simply looking around and going to guess at your price? No matter how many years someone has in the trade writing things down is a necessity if only to be able to have notes for the painters who arrive on your project.

Once they arrive you should tell them immediately what your project consists of and walk through each area and be very detailed . This is your one shot at explaining clearly and being able to get a clear and accurate price. I will say it again failure to know expectations is the number one way a project will go wrong. We make sure this doesn't happen often by writing everything down, repeating what is told to us and giving the painters a clear scope and copy of what we wrote. This eliminates 95% of issues on job sites.

Once you get your estimate whether that is on the spot or emailed you should look it over and make sure the scope of work matches what you explained at the estimate and follow this with a phone call with the estimator. Following these simple rules can save a ton of wasted time and effort and make a decision an easier one.

Marketing tips for painting companies

Marketing is a team effort for a painting company

Running a painting company or any company for that matter has a lot of moving parts and none are more important than your marketing. Marketing does not just happen in an office sending out some postcards and slapping a sign in the yard. If you think this is the case you will be sitting in your home come the winter time wondering what happened.

So we have done our work in the office, got the lead, did the estimate and follow ups and made the sale but guess who your marketing really depends on? The painters

Marketing starts in the office but also extends to the job and that job is of the painters. Are they showing up wearing wearing clean clothes and a nice company shirt? Did they place a sign in the yard and say hello to the neighbors? Did they bring in the newspaper each morning when arriving at the job or do they show up grunt good morning and start painting because they think that is their only job. If that is the case your missing a huge aspect of your marketing which creates more work. We look for men and women who see the bigger picture, the more quality jobs we have they more work they have and working through the winter is huge to painters. If they can help decide their fate isn't that an awesome feeling?

You have one chance to make an  impression on the homeowner and hopefully a good one so they will refer you to the next customer, a referral is the best lead as it costs next to nothing to get. Why pay for leads when they are right in you hand to take if you do your work.

When arriving in the morning remember it isn't when you step on the property, it is when you pull up in the driveway, are you smoking in your truck? Put it out when your a block away and remember many people do not smoke and can smell your clothes and jackets if you place them inside the home. Quitting smoking is a better idea but if you must keep in mind other people and respect their property.

If you keep it simple here are a few tips to increase and tweak your on the job marketing:

• Know they are watching before you arrive
• Know the neighbors are watching
• A clean company shirt
• Professional workers
• Yard Signs
• Say hello and be friendly
• Ask for referrals
• Go the extra mile