Asking for a discount

One thing that always drives me a bit crazy is the discount shopper.
Now everyone wants the best deal I understand that I am referring to the one that we spend a ton of time with, discuss the entire project and take the time to present a proposal and then.....

Can you do any better?

This drives me nuts, do you go have a nice dinner and at the end ask if you can pay less?
I equate this to someone not respecting what it takes to complete a job on time and correct, the way they asked for it to be done.

Here is a short video that goes into more detail .

Number one reason for a paint job you don't like

Expectations are the number one issue a job can go wrong.
If the painting estimator, foreman and painter do not know your expectations for the project rest assured you're gambling with your satisfaction of your home or business.

If the painter is doing the job his or her way but you have a completely different idea in your head it is ripe for disaster
This is one reason we will not do estimates without meeting the decision maker and interviewing them about their project, what they expect and want so they are 100% satisfied at completion.

The number one missed expectation is general patching. What gets patched on a job before painting, how smooth will the walls be? This is all up for debate.
Check out this video I made regarding general patching of your painting project, it can help save some bad feeling sand money.

How We Hire Painters

How we hire painters is a bit different than probably
 most other companies in the fact we hire on character and not experience.

I would rather hire a great person and train them than hire someone of bad character who brings baggage in with them at the same time. This only will drag down the other workers and create a culture no one would ant to be in and one that cannot thrive.

Some of my best hires have been interviews that are rally quick chats to see if they look me in the eye when speaking, come early and are dressed properly for an interview.

We look for people who can uphold our mission statement and continue the quality work we strive for each day while working within a team and having goals of their own, not just using the job as a way to earn money or th painters that hop from one company to the next.

We have gone through many of these types and feel this year we have the best team we have ever put together, all striving to do what is right for the company and for the customer while maintaining a positive outlook each day.

You don't always need three estimates

You don’t always need three estimates:

It seems somewhere everyone came up with the great idea of getting three estimates for every project around their home from painting to electrical to plumbing.

Yes in some instances this can be a good idea especially if you don’t know any of the contractors who are coming, hopefully, you did your homework before you go that point and checked references, past work through pictures their social media pages or word of mouth.

But if you're like me I feel I am a great judge of character and if the first estimate turns out to be a great one and we connect that is good enough for me, I would prefer to not waste my time waiting around for a contractor who may not show up, is late or shows up and never sends me the estimate.

In my case  I checked out all the reviews and maybe emailed a few references but why continue the song and dance act of each estimate when I feel totally comfortable with the first?

If the issue is price alone you can get 10 estimates someone will always be cheaper but if yours looking for quality work and quality people doing it and they show up in your first or second estimate stop the show now and get them signed up to do your work because I can guarantee if they are great at what they do their schedule is most likely booked.

There will be exceptions to each rule and some people feel more comfortable gathering all of the estimates, it is tough when your doing this to make sure everyone is bidding the same way on residential work (apples to apples)

You will have to make sure they are all using the same materials, they are fully insured with liability insurance AND workman's compensation and are licensed in your area.

So if you have time to do three four five estimates, by all means, go for it, I personally do not and do not want to waste my time or the contractors and more importantly want my work started as soon as possible. 

General Patching and Why

What is general patching and why is that what I am getting?

1      After years in the painting business with Amato Painting on residential projects, the number one issue or complaint and confusion is the appearance of the walls as far as prep.

Sometimes the client is expecting a perfectly smooth new wall on a wall that is plaster or gypsum board and has been painted ten times over with runs, sags, drips and different levels in it.

To get it back to the perfectly smooth level is not impossible but not part of a typical repaint job for any painting contractor unless otherwise specified during a walkthrough and in your scope of work (contract)

So after all of these years, we do a general patching on all of our surfaces, it is the best way to offer an affordable paint job and give an acceptable prep to your walls for 95% of customers.

It is also a PDCA (Painters and decorators contractors of America standard) 4.8

4.8. PROPERLY PAINTED SURFACE: A properly painted

surface is uniform in appearance, color, texture,

hiding and sheen. It is also free of foreign material,

lumps, skins, runs, sags, holidays, misses, or

insufficient coverage. It is a surface free of drips,

splatters, spills or overspray which were caused by

the painting and decorating contractor’s workforce.

In order to determine whether a surface has been

“properly painted” it shall be examined without

magnification at a distance of thirty-nine (39) inches

or one (1) meter or more, under finished lighting

conditions and from a normal viewing position.

[PDCA Standard P1]

These are the standards we go by every day, without a standard for the painting company it would be up to the client and painter to decide what is acceptable.

General patching of walls which consists of minor dings and dents, then walls will be sanded and any spackle spots primed

General patching will not fix rough surfaces from existing paint and or coatings unless specified in the scope of work

General patching will not correct existing flaws such as old plaster, hairline cracks in plaster or GWB walls, old paint texture, bulges and uneven surfaces

New patches may show through as smoother than surrounding areas

What does this mean to you? If you stay up at night looking at the wall under a flashlight or halogen light that is not a good thing, any surface if you magnify it will show imperfections from the floor, your face, and especially the wall. You cannot expect on a simple repaint to address every little imperfection on a wall or ceiling.

What I worse is when walking through an estimate and you agree to this but when the job starts having expectations that will never be met and the customer and painters will be miserable until the job is complete.

So know your expectations before the estimate, express them to the estimator and you will have a successful happy project

10 Things you should be doing

Things you “should” be doing

Every day I am amazed at the things people should be doing but just don’t.

Does it come from how they were brought up or simply they are not fit to be around other people?

I see it doing interviews at Amato Painting, pre-qualifying potential employees, estimates, at the store

Here are my top ten pet peeves

1)      Not holding the door for someone when leaving or entering a store, this is common courtesy, hold the door even if yu have to wait

2)      Not moving to the left lane when cars are merging from a ramp on the right.

3)      Bringing your cell phone into an interview and answering it?  Now this is an automatic disqualifier for us

4)      Wearing sunglasses through your whole interview

5)      Not saying thank you in any instance

6)      Not looking me in the eye when I speak to you, are you hiding something?

7)      Scheduling an estimate, confirming it and then not being home

8)      Confirming an interview and not showing up and then begging for another one

9)      Not treating others in a respectful manner or as you would like to be treated

10)   Knowing the rules but expecting to be treated differently

These are just a few of the things I come across each day and things we look for in our job interviews, my job interviews are generally very quick and short as I am looking for character more so than your experience, degree etc.

Check your Social Media pages too, if you're applying for job interviews and your profile pic is you at a party drinking and other things with profanities and slang throughout your profile. Where is the first place you think employers look?

I am not saying I am the perfect person and sometimes break my own rules but work

hard each day to become a better person and offer something to the community

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