When it comes to a well painted home, professional painters are your best partner. Regardless of when you are painting your home, you want to ensure the job is done properly with a high-quality, long-lasting finish. When it comes to hiring a contractor, here are some things you should be aware of as a homeowner to protect yourself.

1. Meet the Contractors

It might seem obvious, but there are many situations where people will hire painters based entirely on reviews posted online or talking on the phone without actually meeting them in person, or during the COVID pandemic, virtually. Most painting contractors have strict COVID processes in place allowing them to meet with homeowners in person or virtually and protect everyone involved. It’s really for the best that you meet with the painting contractor that is going to be painting your home so that you can be sure you know who it is that will be engaged in the project.

2. Estimates Should Always Be In Writing

You may know exactly how much your painting project is going to cost you based on what painters tell you, but you want to have that estimate in writing. Should anything go wrong during your project and you and your painter have a disagreement on price, you can always go back to what you have in writing.

3. Check The References

If you have a few painters you are considering for your project, ask each of them for references and contact each one of them. It’s important that you as a homeowner contact the references directly to get a feel for what type of business they operate. If they have a number of highly satisfied references, you’re likely to have a similar experience.

4. Ask for Credentials

You should always carefully consider the credentials of the painters that you are looking to hire for your interior or exterior painting project. It’s great that your painter belongs to credentialed organizations, but there is more to being a great painter than just being part of those organizations.

Ask for proof of insurance from your contractor and check reputable sites like the Better Business Bureau so that you can see if that company has any complaints against them from former customers.

5. Get the Paint that You Want

Sometimes when you are working with a painter, they will try to talk you into a particular paint due to discounts and promotions they receive from a specific supplier and are more biased towards that specific paint than the best fit for your home. Ultimately, you are the one who is going to be living in the home with the selected paints and the decision lies with you to select the paint you want to use. A reputable painting contractor will have a variety of paint options available and will help recommend paints that best suit your needs.

6. Be careful of Lead Paint

If your home was built prior to 1975, there is a possibility that lead paint was used with it at some point. If that is the case, you need to inform your painting contractors of this so they can take all the necessary precautions.

7. Never Pay The Entire Project Up Front

While you should put forth a percentage of the total amount of the cost, you should only pay the full amount of the project after it’s been completed and you are satisfied with the job that has been done.