Which brand of paint to use?

So you decided to paint your home and picked out your colors only to find out there are 5-10 different paints you can use from EACH company

Whether it is Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr or something else there so many choices sometimes it can seem impossible to choose not to mention each contractor has their own favorites and each store may give you different opinions

So what do you do? I am going to speak about our company solely here. When we suggest a paint to use it is after speaking to the homeowner for quite some time during their estimate, knowing what they expect and most important what is the budget for this project.

Each company makes at least one product we may use and we select based on the what the surface is, what results have we been getting from those products, there may be some jobs we use every different manufacturer on the project due to results we have gotten on other projects.

Some paints may cover better but not all and it also depends on what colors and bases are used. Some may flow better or go farther while some are better on wood while others are better on gypsum (sheetrock).

We have no set answer when someone asks "which paint should we use?" That is variable and can have many answers, it is an investigation to determine all of those factors I mentioned above.
Do your homework, read reviews from people who have actually used it, what a homeowner may use is not necessarily what a contractor may use.

One thing is for certain, don't cheap out when buying paint, spend the extra money if that top of the line paint performs for the application you need it for, it may last longer and really be less expensive in the long run.

Here are a few of our favorite paints currently. (and this changes often)

• Cabinets: PPG Breakthrough, great adhesion, and nice finish
• Commercial Walls: Sherwin Williams Pro Mar 200, price point
• Residential Walls: Depends, Benjamin Moore Regal or Sherwin Williams Super Paint
• Metal Surfaces: MAcro Epoxy from Sherwin Williams if we're speaking about commercial 
• Ceilings: Here is one area to go cheaper, a sheen is not what your looking for here so we want something high in clay for coverage: Pro Mar 200 again flat 

Top Emerging Company

Ryan Amato Painting has been named as a 2017 finalist for Emerging business of the year by Lehigh Valley Business
The Business of the Year awards recognizes the Greater Lehigh Valley's most dynamic businesses and business leaders who share a commitment to professional excellence, business growth, and the community.
Finalists will be recognized and the winner in each category will be announced live during an awards dinner on December 5, 2017. Finalists and winners will also be highlighted in the Business of the Year event publication that will be featured in the December 11th edition of Lehigh Valley Business.
"We are honored to again be named by Lehigh Valley Business, we cannot thank our clients and staff enough"
Ryan Amato

You will not ruin my day

A typical day in the life of a painting company:

A normal day in our office comes with many emotions and they are affected by the people we come across each day.

This could be a typical impatient general contractor, an awesome residential customer calling to give praise or one that is irrational and demanding but what we cannot do is let any of them change how our day goes.

Their emotions are not necessarily ours and letting them change how we act or feel should never happen.

So how do we do this? I will be honest sometimes this is tough but we stay grounded by knowing we have done our best in everything we do, appreciating what is around us whether that is a co-worker who is going above and beyond, our families or any number of things to be grateful for.

Who are the best people I come across? They are real people who appreciate honesty whether that is upsetting or not and understand the work it takes to produce a quality job and is thankful for someone helping them out.

When I come across these people I always make a note in their estimate folder so we all know this one is a gem and we do everything we can for them and more because of people like this travel together and guaranteed they have more friends and family who they can refer you to who have the same personality.

Now on the other hand if we have a difficult, unreasonable and demanding client the same may be said of their friends because if they act like this to us most likely they act like that in all aspects of their lives.

Don't take these people's actions and attitudes personal, in our office, we keep a list of them and reflect back upon them once in awhile, they don't even know they are treating people badly most of the time.

Forget about them and move on, remember the great ones and cultivate those relationships

Why it is impossible to compare estimates.

Why it is almost impossible to compare estimates.

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.

Yes, the price is important for everyone 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?

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How to paint your kitchen cabinets

So you have finally decided to paint the kitchen cabinets.
Most likely this after you found out how much it is to replace them or reface them.
Painting cabinets is ALL about the preparation work you do before you even open a can of paint.
This is a process and one not to be taken lightly or you could have a total failure of adhesion and just a mess down the road that will cost a lot more than spending the time doing it right the first time.

You should research the company you're going to use, have they done this before, will they be spraying or rolling or a combination of both, what products will they be using and how many coats will you be receiving? The number of coats is important for build-up up of mills (thickness of paint) and a ton more important than painting a wall.

What warranty comes along with this work? Do you know what to expect and understand it is still a paint coating and not indestructible?

This is the time to use the best paint you can get, not try to save $10 on a lower grade of paint. cabinets are used each day and take a beating, you want that coating to be hard, washable and last.
One great thing about painting them is they can be touched up when needed. Touching up doesn't mean you have a bad paint job at all, you have to expect heavy used areas or areas that rub together will wear quicker than others. If they are hit the paint may chip just as the cabinet may dent or scratch even without paint on it.

Here is a video I did explaining this process, should you have any questions please let us know, we would love to help paint your cabinets

What it costs to hire a professional painting contractor

What it costs to hire a professional painting contractor

When you call to make that first estimate you may have no idea what the costs will be

We are referring to reputable, licensed, insured with workman's compensation and highly trained painters here.

A typical days work for a painter could normally cost between $500-750 dollars depending on what is being done and the difficulty and risk involved but for this blog let's assume we're referring to a simple bedroom, here is a cost breakdown on a typical 10x12 bedroom and what to expect using three colors, one for the ceiling, one for trim and one for walls

The breakdown of costs

• Materials, tape, plastic, roller covers, let's assume that is it and it costs about $35
• Paint, you will need one gallon for the ceiling with two coats, 2 gallons for the walls and one gallon for the trim with baseboards, a few doors, and 2 window sills, using a quality mid grade paint figure $50 a gallon so $200 total
• You're already at $235 of materials and the painter hasn't stepped on site yet
• This room we would bill at a one-day rate of about $500
• So your total for this room would be around $750
• This includes the painters, insurance, taxes, fuel, overhead, and profit. 
• When you break it down the painting company may make $225 if they are lucky
• So when the customer starts to lower or negotiate all of that is coming from the profit of the company to train, get new equipment and benefits for the painters

A typical painting project

This is a typical scenario and yes you will certainly find lower prices and higher ones but this is a good one to go off of, again the difficulty and preparation will change this price

If you use this as guide you won't be surprised when the quotes start coming in, anything too low I would certainly question as the difference in price will be made upon the quality of your job for sure.

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!