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Everyone wants their home to look as inviting and pleasant as possible. You likely also want to show off your own specific style for anyone who drives by your home or steps inside of it. This is exactly why choosing a house painter in Seattle can be such an overwhelming decision.
The best thing you can do to choose an excellent painter is to educate yourself on the project that is coming up. Knowing where to start, what you should be looking for, and red flags to be aware of serves as a great first step here.
Painting can be more challenging than you think. That’s why even DIY painters often choose a house painter in Seattle when they have a big project and want it done just right. We’ll go over what a painting contractor does, how you can hire one, and tips for getting the best price for the services.
What a painting contractor is
A painting contractor might hire themselves out directly to homeowners or they might be a subcontractor under a contractor who is tasked with handling the work. Most painting companies are fairly small operations and can range from having one employee who does all the work to a few dozen painters working together under a company.
What a house painter in Seattle does
While it depends on the company, many painting contractors take on a variety of jobs. One day a painter might be cleaning up some window trim and the next they might be painting an entire house inside and out. Assuming you are having interior work done, a painter would typically be expected to handle the following things:
- Covering up the areas that are not going to be painted, such as the windows, floors, cabinets, and counters.
- Preparing the surface to be painted through light sanding and scraping any loose paint away. Tapping in nails, using tack cloth, and cleaning the woodwork will also be done, but this work is minor.
- Removing lights, electrical plates, doors, and other things in the way.
- Moving furniture out of the way for an easier time painting. However, many painters will expect you to handle this on your own.
- Priming current paint of new drywall with an interior latex primer.
- Adding two coats of colored interior latex paint to the walls.
- Placing two coats of ceiling paint.
- Painting the molding and trim, including window trim, baseboards, window muntins, etc.
- Touching up spots missed during painting.
- Cleaning up any paint accidents that happened.
- An evaluation between the house painter in Seattle and the homeowner.
Making a plan for your house painting
If you are ready to start looking for the right house painter in Seattle, the first step is determining what needs to be painted and what color you would like it to be. To save money over the long term, you want to be sure that the painting job is done right the first time. When you meet with potential contractors, let them know what sort of paint you want to be used and how many coats you want to be used. As with any other sort of material, some paints are better than others. Be sure you disclose the importance of proper preparation and that all of these things are listed in a contract before you sign.
Finding out your options
The good news is that there are many resources available to help you choose the perfect house painter in Seattle. However, it can also be difficult to be sure the names and websites you find online belong to contractors who have a good reputation and the skills you need. As such, it’s crucial to understand the best places to find a reputable painting contractor, which include:
- Referrals offered from family members or friends who have had painting done in the past.
- Online review sites known for reputable ratings such as Angie’s List, Google, and Yelp.
In most cases, the painting contractors with great reviews on these websites are going to offer the best quality and be concerned about not only meeting your expectations but exceeding them.
Always get several quotes
Now that you have an idea of a few house painters in Seattle that you might be interested in choosing, it’s time to go through the process of getting quotes. Getting a number of quotes is a good idea so you can compare your options. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the lowest quote may not always be the quote you want to choose. Sometimes a super low price tells you that a contractor will do a shoddy job compared to others. When you have multiple bids, you can get an idea of a reasonable price for the job.
We recommend that you get three quotes or more before you choose a painter. Keep in mind that you may need to contact more than three contractors to get the bids as some may be filled up with work and others may not be as responsive as you would like them to be.
Interview each house painter in Seattle
Not everyone is satisfied with the painting contractor they choose and one of the most common reasons for this is because the right questions weren’t asked before a decision was made. When you make the time to meet up with a house painter in Seattle, you should act as if it’s a job interview. In reality, it is. You’re choosing whether a certain person or company gets the job of painting your home.
Since this is an interview for the contractor, you cannot be afraid to ask them even the toughest questions. You want to learn as much as you possibly can before you hire someone, not after you have already signed on the dotted line.
Assuming you have followed the steps above, any Seattle area painter you are speaking to is most likely reputable, so you do want to show respect while you ask questions. However, a house painter in Seattle who seems too busy to answer your questions is not one that you want to hire to paint your home. This means they might be too busy to answer additional questions or listen to your concerns during the job.
If you aren’t asking the questions you should be, you may end up making a decision based on nothing more than price. Price is important, but it should not be the only thing you take into consideration when choosing someone to paint your home. You want to be sure the company is capable of quality while also giving you value for the amount you spend.
Verify the contractor’s references
When you talk with a painter, be sure to get a list of past clients that the contractor has done work for. Your job doesn’t end there, though. You also need to be sure that you contact these references and ask about the job they had done. Ask questions about how long the painting took and whether there were any issues during the process. If you really want to be thorough, ask for references that are more than a year or two old. You can ask how the job is holding up a few years down the road.
Ask about a guarantee
Any house painter in Seattle who is good at their job should be more than willing to offer a guarantee on their work. The guarantee should protect you against blistering, chipping, peeling, excessive fading, and chalking for at least a couple of years after the job is done. If these things occur, you should find that repairs are available at little to no cost. Some painters may tell you that a guarantee or warranty isn’t needed, but that simply is not true. Even if the paint has a warranty, that doesn’t cover the labor, which is the most expensive part of the job.
What to ask your painting contractor
Thankfully, there isn’t a lot of specialized jargon you need to know to speak with a house painter in Seattle, like you might with an electrician or a plumber. Any house painter worth their salt should be able to explain things in a plain and simple way. Below are a few things that you may want to talk about when meeting:
- Find out whether the estimate that is provided to you will include the cost of the paint to be used.
- Ask about what sort of paint the contractor is planning to use.
- Determine how many coats of paint are going to be put down.
- Ask how the non-paintable areas are going to be covered to protect them.
- Find out how long the painting job is expected to take.
- Check whether the painter expects you to leave the home during the project or not.
- Determine whether masking tape will be used around your trim or if the cut-out method will be employed.
The cost of hiring a house painter in Seattle
Having a house painted may cost more than you originally expect. Many painting contractors have a formula that is used that looks at the square footages of the ceilings and walls combined with the linear footage of the trim. Preparation time is also calculated along with the actual costs of the paint and primer.
When a house painter in Seattle gives you an estimate, it tends to be based on experience with past similar jobs. This may not be tied to specifics, but it tends to be a good figure. The best way to know how much a good estimate is would be to get quotes from a few contractors which you can then compare.
Choosing the right painter for your needs
If you need a quality paint job done in the Seattle area, Tera Painting is here to offer you just what you need. We’re insured, licensed, bonded, and have plenty of experience to ensure great results. If you are ready to get your home painted, you can get in touch with us today to find out how we can assist and what the cost will be.
