Painting and Decorating. Which Painter?

Every now and then a time comes when our homes become looking a little tiered and in need of a lift up. Most times this is where a Painter and Decorator is required to save the day, so we embark on a mission to get the best deal out there that today’s local painters have to offer. The trick is though, there are a vast number of painters and they all give you different prices for the same job, leaving you less than sure about which one to go for. You could go for the cheapest painter but most likely he will do a job that will make your home look worse than it does before he paints it, and the most expensive quote will obviously be ignored because common sense dictates so. So you’re most likely to choose the middle price hoping that the guy will do just as good a job as the more expensive painter for some reason. What you should really do is talk to the painters when they give you a price for a job, ask more details of what he thinks should be done in your particular case and maybe ask for job references before making a decision on the matter, after all it is your house and it surely deserves best service it can get. As painters and decorators we speak to customers every day and deal with all kinds of painting and decorating needs our customers require us to look after and it actually helps us ensure the appropriate solution is given for each and every request we are faced with. Pricing jobs is probably the trickiest part of our job, because it is difficult to tell without knowing the customer what is expected from us, this is why we try to ask as many details as possible during the quotation visit as possible to ensure the price reflects the requirement. Any painter that comes into your house and gives you a price without too many question is most likely not planning to do the work as you would like it to be done. There are many details to be specified and just to name a few: What exactly needs to be painted, what finish, what paint brand, any damp problems to be solved, do the walls need to be smoothened, do surfaces need to be primed, degreased, sanded and filled….and many more which are established at the quotation stage and which all have an effect on the final price. Often customers overlook these details thinking the painters and decorators are all doing the same work and there is no need to bother with these questions but surely this is not the case. Painters and Decorators are as different as their prices and they each have their own way of going about doing their job and deliver very different results. This is why customers should ask the question why is one painter cheaper than the other, is it because they are more modest or is it because they don’t even plan to do the work required to be done by the book… Generally just speaking to a painter is enough to get the feeling about his experience and ability to deliver a good job but it is advised to check at least one or two job references to be sure that you’re not mislead. It helps to google the given painters in order to gather more information on the work they’ve done and other customers experience with them. Once all checks out you’re good to go ahead and book the chosen painters for the job and it all should work out in the end.
Hopefully this article will give you a head start on choosing the right painters and decorators to do your job… and Good luck!