Partner Post: 5 Essential Questions to Ask Paint Contractors

This post was republished with permission from McCormickPaints.com. 

When you’re ready to hire a painting contractor, it can be tempting to go with the most inexpensive option. If you haven’t been involved in many painting projects, you might think that almost anyone could handle the task. Think again! You’ll need to be able to work with the contractor to make a number of decisions ranging from choosing a color palette to figuring out day-to-day logistics.

To help you get the process started, here are five essential questions you must ask prospective painting contractors.

1. “How can I verify that you have a good reputation?”
Painters will be in your house day in and day out, potentially for several days or even weeks. As such, making sure that your painting contractor has a verifiable track record is incredibly important.

Most contractors are members of a local chamber of commerce or a trade association. These organizations can help give you a sense of the contractor’s longevity and community involvement. If you’re having trouble researching contractors, our team here at McCormack Paints is more than happy to recommend some credible painters in your area to you upon request.

2. “So, what do you think?”
Once you’ve vetted various contractors in your area, it’s time to start shopping around a bit. At a minimum, you’ll want to give at least three of the contractors you’ve pinpointed as potential options a call. Then, ask them to meet with you at your home.

First, this puts you on familiar ground, so you’ll be less afraid to push for a realistic estimate if you get a quote that seems absurd. Second, it gives the contractor an idea of what they’ll be working with.

Good contractors won’t be afraid to tell you what they think about your home’s condition and how hard they’ll have to work (and therefore how much they’ll have to charge) to paint it to your specifications.

3. “Can I see some of your prior work?”
If you’ve found a contractor with a good reputation who gave you a workable estimate after visiting your home, your next step should be asking to see some of their prior work. The ideal scenario, in this case, is hiring a contractor who was already used in the past by a friend or family member so you can just visit their house and see how the paint job is holding up.

If that’s not possible, then the contractor should have a gallery of their work that you can look through. Understanding what your contractor is (or isn’t) capable of is particularly important if the paint job you want requires any sort of stenciled or hand-painted design or pattern-work.

4. “Can I get a guarantee on that? Sign here.”
You’ll want to make sure that you have a contract drawn up that explicitly covers all of the terms and conditions of the work you want to be done and what it will cost. This should also include all of the contractor’s key information, including their phone number, name and address, and license number.

Liability should also be a stipulation unless you want to be on the hook if a ladder gets dropped on your car or a worker gets hurt on the job.

Remember, you only have to go through the awkwardness of driving a hard bargain once – on the other hand, a poor paint job will mar your walls until you can hire another contractor if you don’t have a good contract and a guarantee in place.

5. “What is the quality of the paint and other materials you use?”
Because paint technology has advanced, it’s important to verify that the paints will last for a long time, maintain their color and help prevent future hassles.

If you want to make sure your painting contractor is using high-quality materials, just ask them to use McCormick Paints and accessories! For almost 60 years, McCormick Paints has been providing homeowners and contractors alike with paints and painting products that guarantee incredible results every time. To learn more about the company’s paints and specialty products, visit the McCormick Paints website.