Even if you think you'll probably do the job yourself, it's good preparation to seek estimates from professional home painters, whether your painting the exterior or interior of your home. Then you'll have a financial point of comparison and you may benefit from what a home painting contractor has to say about the condition of your home, color choices and types of paint available. Let the painter make his pitch for a professional job before you decide what to do. You can still opt to do it yourself while having learned something worthwhile.
If you're going to do any part of the painting or prep work on your own, you must know that the first step in preparing a surface is washing it. Since dirt can affect the smoothness of a surface area -- and therefore paint's adhesion to it -- use soap to remove any dirt or stains. Make sure there's no soap left on the walls when you're finished; also make sure to remove any gloss with sandpaper and vacuum up the leftover dust.
When determining the total cost of a home exterior paint project, you'll want to include the cost of materials like paint, supplies and other items you might want to cover in addition to the siding. If you know the average cost of these items in addition to your home exterior project cost, you'll have a good plan in place when you start calling for professional estimates. This also gives you the option to purchase or paint some items yourself to save money. Here are some of those cost factors and what you might expect to pay: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b6_WEt9k_Hw
I was taught to paint by a professional and when estimating the amount of paint needed, I always allow for a second coat just to make sure of coverage. We interviewed a painter who tried to tell me I bought poor quality paint without knowing where I purchased it, and stated he would have to buy all new paint. He had not seen the cans and was just guessing so I asked him where I should buy paint from now on. It was the same place I had purchased my paint and he wanted to charge me an extra 20 a gallon more than what I paid for. Needless to say, I have interviewed numerous painters and they are not all honest.
Third: The contractor buys the materials. We get them at a better rate and customers really don't know what they are getting into by being a material racer. Once again, I'm not referring to the guys that paint a bedroom or 2 a week. Tell the homeowner to go grab 50 gallons of paint, $300.00 worth of sundries and related job cost items and I'd be interested to see how it works for them....IT WILL NOT. And if were talking about people getting taken advantage of here, the paint suppliers with no relationship to a homeowner will 100% GOUGE the customer and completely take advantage of them with pricing. Contractors will pay nearly half the price and will still save the customers money marking up paint 10-15%. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6_WEt9k_Hw&feature=kp
Before we start work, we will provide you with a color consultation with Sue Shores, one of the best designers in Kansas City. Her advice will help you decide on the colors that best suit your home and its style. Once you make a final color selection, we will begin the preparatory work for your exterior project. This preparation includes cleaning the exterior of your home, scraping loose paint and identifying wood rot you may wish to replace. By inspecting for damage to your house, we ensure your peace of mind.
Less shiny than semi-gloss, but still capable of some reflection, a satin or eggshell sheen will usually be the best choice for living spaces. Semi-gloss and high gloss are by far the most reflective sheens. Both can be used for trim and furniture, but high gloss is the shiniest option. However, a room may employ high gloss sheen if you are looking for an unusual or modern design choice that will fix attention on one specific surface, like a cabinet or door for instance
One of the most important steps in selecting a painting contractor is reading ratings and reviews. This is the best way to know exactly what to expect from the company, based on what others have posted. From quality of service to timeliness, there’s a lot you can learn about a company before working with them, solely from reading online reviews. And since these reviews are organic (not paid for by the company—hopefully), you can trust that they are honest and truly reflective of the painting contractor’s work.
