If you’re considering hiring a professional painting contractor in San Diego, California, you might be wondering if you should buy your own paint or let the painter come with their own paint. Nowadays, it’s quite easier for homeowners to buy their own paint for their painting projects, thanks to plenty of information available online and the informative attendants at the local paint stores.
Indeed, you can make an effort of buying your own paint in advance before even the painter arrives. This gives you a bit of freedom when it comes to choosing the colors and brands. However, allowing the professional painter to buy the paint comes with a number of benefits too. To help you decide whether or not you should buy your own paint, let’s look at a few factors.
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The Suitability of the Paint Product
Buying the paint supplies yourself might help you save a few dollars by eliminating the painter’s markup. However, from primers to stains and paints, the pros have years of knowledge and experience which can help you pick the best product for your kind of project.
The requirements for your type of paint supplies might vary depending on a number of factors such as exposure to sunlight and moisture, traffic, the condition of the surface, and so on. So if you choose to buy your own paints, you might fail to account for such factors. -
Compromise in Quality
In an attempt to save on paint, many homeowners tend to go for cheaper paint options. While it’s ok to try and minimize your project costs, buying cheaper, often low-quality paints might cost you more in the long run. First, they don’t cover as well as the high-quality paints, and this means you will need more paint coats to achieve the desired coverage.
Paints from the “big box” stores might cater to DIY painters but simply don’t stand up to professional-grade paints made by companies like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. So instead of having to incur more costs of applying additional coats, you should probably allow the painter to choose the best professional-grade paints for your project. -
Pro Painters Have Access to Better Pricing.
Professional painting contractors have established a relationship with their vendors which enables them to purchase paint supplies at the best possible price. This means they can get the best paint at a lower price and pass these savings to you. In reality, it might be actually cheaper to allow the painter to make the purchases. -
Time and Effort
Professional painters have a high level of expertise in products and applications. They don’t have to spend hours researching online for the best product for your kind of surface, aesthetics and so on. They will be able to choose the best possible product for you from their preferred vendor and have it ready for use within a few hours or even minutes. This saves you the time and effort to endless research, a trip to the paint store (and more consultation at the paint store) and minimizes the risk of choosing the wrong product.
Bottom Line
Buying your own paint gives you more control over the exact price and brand to use, and gives you the comfort of knowing that paint will be ready when the painter arrives. You might even end up saving some money if you get the best offers. However, you run the risk of choosing the wrong paint for the job, despite having spent hours on research.
If you’re considering hiring an exterior residential painting contractor in San Diego, California, we recommend that you allow them to choose the best paint for the job. At Ron Rice Painting & Consulting, we only use the best paint products from reputable companies such as Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. And we also offer guidance on the best color combinations to use.
Give us a call today if you need professional assistance with exterior home painting.