Archive for February 2nd, 2012

Having your home or business painted can be an expensive and time consuming process and you have to be selective with trusting your most valuable asset with a painter.

Here are some steps to follow when looking for the right painter for your job:

• Ask your friends and neighbors for referrals.  Their experiences can help point you in the right direction.
• Always get several estimates.  Make sure that the estimate includes all related costs (paint, supplies, taxes, etc).
• Always inquire about the type of paint that will be used.  Sherwin Williams alone, has at least 5-6 different products.
• Trust your own instinct.  You are your own best judge of character.
• Ask about the warranty.  Make sure you are protected from faulty or defective work.

Following these steps will help ensure that you hire a painter that you can trust and receive quality service.

The old adage is true; the cheapest paint is not necessarily the most inexpensive.  Before you make a decision based on price consider this:  lower quality paints require more coats to cover the surface, are not as durable and usually need repainting much sooner.  This is especially true for exterior paint.

To get true reading of the cost, look beyond the price tag and compare the “cost per year of service.”  Let’s say you are painting home that requires 20 gallons of exterior latex paint, you have 2 options:

• Buy a low quality, exterior paint at $20 per gallon with an expected lifespan of six (6) years.
• Buy a high quality, exterior paint at $35 per gallon with an expected lifespan of twenty (20) years.

In the first scenario, your out of pocket material cost would be $400 (20 gallons at $20).  Since the paint is expected to last six years, the “cost per year” is $400, or $67 per year.  If you use a higher quality paint, your material cost is $700, but since you will not need to repaint in at least 20 years, your “cost per year” is $35.  By choosing the high-priced quality paint, you actually save $32 a year in paint expenses.

That is a small amount of money for materials only.  Once you add labor into the equation and the increased frequency to paint your house, the cost will be significantly higher.