When you’re looking to paint your interior in your home in Austin, Texas, it’s helpful to have a trustworthy Austin painter, some good guidance, some assistance to help navigate the tricky field of interior painting.
Whatever your reason for getting your interior painted, whether it’s because you want to spruce up the look of the living room or you’re looking to up the price of your home before you sell it, the paint job should be done properly.
With that in mind, let’s look at the Austin TX guide to interior painting
What Should You Look For In An Interior Painting Contractor?
Let’s face it — you don’t necessarily have the time to paint the interior walls of your home — and that’s okay.
You can always look for and hire a quality interior painting contractor who will, with your guidance, do the full job for you and make the interior of your home look fantastic.
This is particularly true if you are looking to sell your home in the long run and make the investment that you put into getting the rooms painted worth your while.
Let’s look at some of the more important questions you should be asking before you commit to hiring an interior painting contractor.
1. Are They Licensed And Insured?
The difference between a painting contractor that is licensed and insured and one that is not is just beyond measure, and you should not even consider paying a painting contractor if they are not both licensed and insured.
Firstly, if a painting contractor is not at least licensed, they might not be legally permitted to offer painting services in exchange for money (above five hundred dollars). So you’re not going to want to get into business with someone without a license for that reason alone.
Moreover, the very fact that they got licensed means that they went through a long process through which they studied the practice of painting on a professional level, meaning they know what they are doing.
Lastly, if you hire an unlicensed painting contractor, you assume all liability for any damage that they might cause through their negligence — meaning that if something breaks — a leg included — you’re going to be the one that is going to have to pay for the expenses.
2. Will You Have To Pay For The Price Of The Paint
It happens too often that a person gets a painting contractor, and they agree to a price, only to find out after the job is done that the final price is higher than anticipated because the painter did not mention upfront that the cost of the paint was not included in the estimate.
Find out upfront if you’re going to have to pay for the paint and save yourself the upset of finding out this information when you’re suddenly presented with a much larger than expected bill.
3. Do Some Research On Painters Before You Agree To Hire Them
One of the things you should consider about a painting contractor is how long they have been in business.
Of course, it probably seems unfair to the new painting contractors out there. Still, part of the process of getting licensed is often going through apprenticeships, so even if you do find someone who has been in business for a relatively short period, it doesn’t mean that they won’t know what they are doing.
That being the case, you shouldn’t expect to pay as much for someone who has been in the business for only one year as you would for someone who prominently displays signage about being in business for twenty years.
4. Ask Them For References And Follow Up With The References
The next thing you are going to want to make sure to do when you are looking to hire a professional painting contractor is to ask for references — and then make sure to follow up with those references.
More specifically, when you ask for references, you’re going to want to ask for references that are relevant to the kind of paintwork you’re going to be getting — for what good is it to have a recommendation for a painting contractor only to find out that the reference you got had the exterior painting done. Do you want to get interior paintwork done?
When you follow up with the people that are given as references, you’ll ask them about the quality of the work, the timeliness, and that sort of thing, so that you know what kind of work you can expect to get from that painting contractor.
5. Make Sure To Compare Prices Between A Few Painting Contractors
When you’re looking to get the best price for an interior paint job, you should compare the prices between more than a couple of painting contractors.
The key to doing this is that you’re going to be presenting the same requirements to all of the painting contractors — this is an important thing.
By doing this, you know that you’ll be getting a lower price for the same kind of work, depending on which painting contractor you ultimately choose to hire.
6. Get The Price Of Your Painting Job In Writing (Not An Oral Agreement)
As trustworthy as any given organization might be, the best thing you can do when it comes to negotiating a price with a painting contractor is to make sure to get everything in writing.
It is unfortunate, but it has happened far too often that a person will say that they will do the work for one price without having it in writing, and when the job comes to an end, suddenly have a different figure for you that varies from what had been agreed previously.
Protect yourself from such a calamity by getting everything in writing upfront, including, of course, if the price of paint will be included.
7. Find Out If You Can Be There During The Painting Process
Though this is a bit less obvious, you should find out if it is permitted for you and your family to be present during the painting process.
This is not to mean merely if you can be there actually while the painting is happening, but rather if it will be okay to stay in your home overnight every evening during the time that the interior is being painted.
If it turns out that you won’t be able to stay in your home while the interior is being painted, the best thing, of course, is to make arrangements either with family or friends or to find a local hotel or motel where you will be able to stay during the painting process.
8. Will They Help Guide You In Choosing Paint?
There are so many paints out there from which you can choose that it can be a dizzying thing — a good painting contractor will be right there with you to navigate the different paints and help you to make the right selection.
They will tell you about the different kinds of paint from which you will be able to choose as well as help you picking which color or colors will go with which walls in your home so that it will look its best.
Give PaintPro in Austin a call with any painting questions you may have or to get a painting quote. (512) 862-7699
