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Monday, January 24, 2011

How to hire a good painter.

How can you be sure you are getting a good paint job (large or small)?

There are a lot of painting companies that run around with a lot of sub-contractors who paint for them and give them different names like "production managers" and then grade them on some type of "sign off" system where the homeowner or manager grades the painters. The claim is that this "sign off system" ensures a quality job. There is also the school of thought that only employees provide top quality work.

The truth is that only individuals provide top quality work. Work status (regarding employee or subcontractor) has nothing to do with performance. Generally a "sign off" system doesn't ensure the job will go smoothly (after all, you can give them a poor grade for the job and none the less have to pay for it).
Nor does an employee of a company ensure quality. I don't even need to expand on this point because it is simply human nature that some employees are good and some are not.

So how do you make sure you hired a good painter?
While some painters or paint companies may not agree with my style, here is how my company makes sure to do a great job on every project:
(I've broken it down into 4 points)
1. The owner of the painting company (me) is on site or at least stops in every day.
This is important because nobody cares more about the job then the owner of the company. If the painting company is so big and disconnected from the field that the job is left to employees or sub-contractors who have THEIR best interest in mind, not the companies, then they probably care more about their work schedule, their breaks, their profit (if they are a sub-contractor) then if you are getting the best job possible. So make sure the owner of the painting company is on site (at least for awhile everyday)
2. I give lots of references. We suggest our customers actually call the references and ask the questions that are relevant to their painting job. If it is a small residential job then you may want to call homeowners. If it is a big Multi-housing project then you may want to call some Multi-housing property managers we have worked for.
3. We pay our painters a bonus on a sign off system. After the job is done we ask the homeowner/builder/manager to grade our performance. It only makes sense that on larger jobs that require more painters, you pay them an incentive for better performance. Sub-contractors specifically should be paid (at least in part) on performance.
4. We give before and after pictures (on the appropriate jobs) and ask a TON of questions on the front end. If you hire a painter (weather you are a homeowner, a builder or a property manager) and you can't be on site for the project, you'll want a painter who is in contact with you a lot. Make sure they bring this up before they hire you. Some keys to look for are: Did they ask for your email, cell phone number, questions on scheduling, questions entry to the house, questions on working late, questions on potential unforeseen work. Here is the bottom line, if they were not detailed in the first meeting prior to selecting them for your painting project then the likelihood is they are not that detailed a person. You can then decide for yourself if you want a painter in your house who is not that detailed.

Call Complete Custom Painting for top quality painting jobs in the Twin Cities Area
651-336-0561 cellular

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