How to Get the Best Deal on Your Exterior Painting Project
Considering residential painting in San Diego, California? Well, repainting the exterior of your home can be quite an exciting but equally overwhelming task, especially if it’s your first time. But, Ron Rice Painting & Consulting is here to offer some few helpful tips.
When planning to repaint their home exteriors, many homeowners shop around the internet and in local magazines and directories for the best deal on their paint job. Many times, we’ve received phone calls from homeowners looking for a quick phone quote. They would give us the square footage or the number of rooms and ask how much painting that would cost.
Such homeowners typically call a number of other painters with the same request trying to get the best deal on their painting project. For someone trying to save a dollar on their next paint job, I don’t blame them at all. However, what many such homeowners miss is that getting the best deal on your home painting project is not all about “how much?”
To get the best painting deal, you should focus more on the value you’re getting out of your paint job. Hiring a painter is a little more like hiring a tailor for your suite –you get what you pay for. So to get an affordable exterior painting deal that will offer maximum value for your money in the long run, here are some tips:
Source for the Best Painting Contractor You Can Get
Instead of calling a bunch of random painting contractors for a quick phone quote, you need to take some time and source, filter and interview the best painting contractors from within your region. You can always ask your friends, family or neighbors for recommendations.
If you can’t find the best referrals from your inner circles, you should probably turn to online directories and search engines, and narrow the search to your region. When considering potential candidates, keep the following things in mind:
• Experience: You want a painting contractor that has at least three years of specific experience in residential painting, but the more, the better.
• Insurance: They should have a sufficient liability cover as well as workers’ compensation to shield you from any additional costs should something go wrong when they’re on the project.
• Rating and reputation: While you should not expect shiny 5-star ratings and glowing feedback everywhere, a considerable number of negative reviews and feedback should be a cause for concern.
• References: If they can refer you to some of the exterior painting projects they completed recently, that would be great.
Request for a Painting Estimate
After reviewing your options based on the above points and more, pick your best three candidates and request for a painting estimate from them. Now, here is where many homeowners get it wrong, as earlier mentioned. Before requesting an estimate, invite the painting contractor to your home and first brief them on what you need to be done, and allow them to assess the project.
Invite each candidate for an estimate separately, making sure you give them similar instructions and needs. This increases your chance of getting comparable painting estimates. While different painters have fairly different quotation formats, each estimate should clearly bring out the main things like the project scope, prep work to be done, supplies and materials needed, number of coats, timelines and of course, the cost.
Once everything is broken down like that, you will notice that the cost of painting is just one of the many factors to consider, and you should not anchor your decision around it if you’re really looking for the best deal.
Bottom Line
When looking for the best deal on your exterior painting project in San Diego, California, don’t be tempted to go for the cheapest offer on the list, rather, look for painting services that offer the best value for each dollar you spend.
At Ron Rice Painting & Consulting, we offer reliable, durable, and affordable painting services in San Diego and its surrounding areas. Give us a call today for a free estimate or information.