Professional painting is more costly than doing it yourself, but it's an easy way to save you the aggravation, sore muscles and to get the job done right. To hire a top-quality Austin painter you should:
- Determine the areas in your home that you want painted.
- What prep work do you want to do before painting? For example does trim need to be replaced. How about the carpets. Do any holes need to be patched? What about texture on the walls or popcorn on the ceiling.
- Decide what colors you want to go with. All paint stores have paint charts and swatches that you can use to take to your home and examine in your lighting. Do not expect the color to look the same on your walls as it does in the paint store. Once you make an initial decision, purchase the small sample colors and actually put some paint on the walls (or have your painter do this) before committing to the colors. A small swatch can look completely different than a larger painted area.
- Contact several painters and get pricing estimates.
- Have the painter inspect the site and get a written quote. Make sure that all the contractors are bidding on the same terms. Apples to apples. Anyone that makes a phone quote is probably going to have surprises for you in the end. You simply can not see all the work required over the phone.
- Ask for references and check them. Was the previous customers happy with the work, did the job complete on time and on budget? Where there any surprises.
- Get and execute a contract. The contract should contain: work to be done, total cost, payment schedule, timeline, etc …
- Remove all furniture and other movable items before the painter is scheduled to begin. Anything not removed should be placed in the center of the room and covered with drop cloths.
- Give referrals for work well done!