How to Hire an Exterior Painting Contractor in 5 Simple Steps.

Exterior painting is one of those tasks that are best left for professional painting contractors. Painting your home’s exterior is an involving project that requires proper training, experience, and the right tools.

Additionally, painting pros have extensive know-how when it comes to choosing the right type of paint and primer, painting supplies and tools for your paint job. The only downside is if you happen to work with the wrong painting contractor.

When that happens, you will get inferior results that don’t last and aren’t worth half your investment. This is why in this article, we will be sharing 5 simple steps you can follow to hire the best painting contractor for a remarkably beautiful and durable exterior paint job.

Here you go;

Step #1 Search for Contractors

Assuming you’ve already done some preliminary research and set aside a budget for your exterior painting project, it’s time to start searching for painting contractors. The first place you’re going to start is within your inner circles –ask your family, friends, and neighbors if they know any reliable painting contractor whom they’ve had first-hand experience with.

If you can’t find enough referrals within your inner circles, consider searching online on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Angie’s List. Preferably, you should consider working with local contractors based within your region. The goal is to get a number of reliable referrals or leads and filter down until you have top three remaining.

Step #2 Read Reviews

Once you get about six potential candidates within your local area, do a little more research on each contractor by reading reviews on online review sites and Google. Directories like Yelp and platforms like Angie’s list usually have a review section where previous clients will narrate their experiences.

Google My Business reviews are also one of the most trusted sources of reviews where you can sample feedback from previous customers that the company has worked with. While no company is perfect and you shouldn’t expect 100% shiny 5-star reviews all through, too many negative reviews should be a source of concern. If the company has some negative reviews and feedback, there should be some follow-up effort by the contractor or some offer to remedy/improve the situation.

Step #3 Check out Their Website and Make Some Calls

At this point, you’ve probably dropped a contractor or two in favor of the highly-rated ones with a positive online reputation. A genuine and reputable painting company in this era should surely have a website or some sort of online presence. This is where they share more details about their business including contact information, services, about them, previous works and so on.

Check out the services section and find out if they actually offer residential exterior painting services. Painting contractors who have only specialized in commercial painting may not be the best for your residential exterior painting job. Go ahead and call them to find out if they have a painting crew experienced in working with your type of siding –this is important too.

Step #4 Credentials, Licensing and Insurance.

At this point, you probably have narrowed down to about three contractors. Before hiring any contractor, you should make sure that you’re doing so within the legal bounds. While membership in a trade or local business group isn’t a guarantee of quality work, it shows a level of commitment and reliability on their part. Also, check to see that the contractor is duly licensed and registered to operate in your state.

In addition, ask for proof of insurance from your candidates. This is important because if anything happens to your property during the exterior painting project, the contractor will be responsible for the repairs. Also, they should have an employee insurance cover for everyone on the crew.

Step #5 Request for an Estimate and Hire

Once you’ve made all the necessary research and verifications, invite the top three candidates over for a brief interview. Give them project details, show them around and request for proposal from each of them. Ideally, each candidate should be invited and interviewed separately but offered the same details.

After receiving all the three estimates, compare them and choose the one that best suits your needs and budget. Don’t be tempted to automatically go for the cheapest proposal, rather choose the one that addresses all your exterior painting needs and offers maximum value for your money.