Painting the exterior of your home is too big and too important a project to leave to just anyone.  Exterior paint projects are major undertakings that require smart color choices, extensive prep time, high-quality materials and proper technique to ensure long-lasting beauty and durability.  Therefore, you have to research local house painters in Blackhawk, California to make sure you hire the right team for the job. Here we offer tips to help you find the best exterior painter.  

Do Your Research

Visit the company’s website and look for the following information:

  • Guarantee: A good house painter offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee and a warranty for at least a year.
  • Insurance: This kind of speaks for itself, but an exterior must be insured to protect your property from possible mishaps for both personal injury and property damage.
  • Bonded: Bonded exterior painting companies have special insurance to protect customers from poor quality or incomplete work. This ensures the work will be performed as outlined in the estimate or contract.
  • Licensed: In California, any company or individual performing work costing $500 or more must be licensed by the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB).
  • Screened painters: Information about how they hire their professional exterior painters tells you they take special steps to ensure their painters are skilled and will provide high-quality work. Also, details about keeping up to date on the latest trends and safety measures speak to the company’s commitment to excellence in their industry.
  • Testimonials and Reviews: Nothing helps build confidence in a painting company more than testimonials from past, satisfied customers.
  • Free estimates and color consultations: This should be a basic service provided by professional paint contractors to ensure you understand the work involved, the cost, and the right colors for the job.
  • Materials: Painting companies can easily cut corners and use sub-par materials and paints. This reflects in the work, and also impacts the appearance and durability of the paint. Ensure they explain the types of materials and paints they use and why.

These are the key indicators a painting company is established and trustworthy.

Ask for an Estimate

If you find the paint company’s website checks all the above boxes, ask for an estimate. If they charge for the estimate, move on. Ideally, you want them to come to your home to provide the estimate, but with the pandemic, they should also offer virtual or phone consultations. Estimates are designed to assess your home, identify specific needs, and discuss exactly what you expect them to complete. Communication is key to exterior paint projects as you want to ensure the house painters understand your needs and expectations. However, you also want to understand the cost and a breakdown of what is involved in performing the job properly. This is also the opportunity to ask questions and do a gut check on the exterior painter. Some things to watch for when speaking to your estimator include:

Do they know their stuff?

The painter should be very forthcoming with information and go into perhaps too much detail about their process, the right kind of paints to use and possible challenges your home might present. This signifies a passionate painter who loves the work and understands the importance of proper methods and materials.

How much time did they spend looking at your home?

A painter who gets out of their car, looks at your home and provides a quote is not doing their job. To provide an accurate estimate, they need to walk the entire perimeter of your home and look at every detail to understand the scope of work. They might also ask questions such as when you last painted your home or even if you’ve experienced any leaks in the home. They should be interested in seeing the entire home, and some might even grab a ladder to get a closer look at a spot they suspect has rot.

Have they made recommendations?

Professional painters like to offer solutions and will look for problems they need to consider for the project. They should point out areas requiring special attention and let you know how they’ll tackle them and how it impacts the cost. Recommendations show you they know what they are talking about and that they believe in clear communication. This ensures you understand what is involved and all the costs associated with the project.

Did they mention a process?

Understanding what the project involves should also include at least a basic overview of the process. How do they protect your property while they work? Can you be home? Do you have to do anything to prepare for the work? How long will it take? How do they clean up? What kind of paints do they use and why?

One last thing: If they hesitate to answer questions or seem to be in a rush, they are not committed to customer service.

Ask for a Color Consultation

Some companies provide separate color consultations, while others include the color consultation at the estimate. Of course, some companies don’t offer color consultations at all. These are the ones to avoid. Color consultants are different than painters or estimators. Their skills are on the creative side, and they consider your home’s style, detailing, and your taste to develop a color palette that works for your specific home. They offer color samples and help you make the right color choices by listening to what you envision to ensure you are 100% satisfied with the results.  

Review the Estimate and Proposal

Once you feel comfortable with the estimate and color ideas, review the estimate and proposal in detail. This is very important if you are looking at several painting companies. You can compare the details to see how much work each painter has put into their estimates and the level of work they’ve planned to complete for your project. The details you want to see include:

  • A description of work: This will tell you what the cost includes and should list every surface they need to paint. It should also indicate what work will be performed, such as removing existing paint, prep work, repairs, caulking, priming, coats of paint, etc.
  • Hours of work and cost: This accounts for the cost of labor and how the painter’s time is allocated for each phase of the job. If one painting company comes in much lower than the others, this could mean they pay their painters far less, and therefore they are less skilled. Fewer hours could also mean less detailed work. Remember, you get what you pay for.
  • Material costs: Each project requires various materials and quantities of materials, including wood to reframe rotted window frames, types of specialty paints, replacement of details such as ginger breading, etc.
  • Colors: If colors have been determined, make sure the paint colors are listed with the details of the house where each color will be applied.

These steps will ensure you find the best exterior house painter in Blackhawk, CA. You can also make life easier by calling the experts at Colby Painting to provide an estimate.