What to look for in a contractor

Most painting projects are a big spend. For a 1,500 square foot 2 story house, the average cost for the consumer is over $4,000 – not chump change. When you are making a decision on who to trust to deliver a high quality project on budget and do a great job of communicating, what should you look for to make sure the contractor is legitimate and will do a good job? Keep on reading for some useful tips.

Estimates – Any decent contractor will always provide a written estimate that clearly spells out the scope of work and the time the project will take. An arbitrary number written on the back of a business card or a piece of paper is not a written estimate. If the estimate is not detailed and easy to understand, the chances are that the contractors work ethic and attention to detail are similar.

If the contractor takes a long time to provide the estimate (anymore than 24 hours is a very long time), be wary of how long they will take to complete work. If they delay on actually getting your business, how do you think they will approach the work when they know they have the job and have taken a deposit from you? Unless there are extenuating circumstances (needing to price out materials, needing to research an abnormal situation on a job site), we generally provide a written estimate on the spot after we speak with you, walk the job site, and take measurements of the work area(s)

Ask yourself if you can picture the contractor dealing with an unexpected issue (these come up frequently in home improvement projects) or paying attention to the little details that make the difference between a mediocre paint job and a high quality paint job. The way a contractor approaches the estimate is a great indication of how they will approach your job.

One last thought on pricing – the old adage you get what you pay for is generally true in the construction trades. If a contractors price is much lower than other estimates or seems too good to be true, be very cautious.

Deposits/Payments – Every contractor needs to take a deposit for 2 reasons. The first is cash flow. A decent contractor has a lot of work lined up, and needs the deposit to purchase materials to start the job. On a painting job, we normally ask for a 20% deposit. That is the last payment we take until after we complete the job and do the final walkthrough with the client. Any request for a deposit of larger than 25% should be a big red flag. There is rarely a reason the contractor needs this money up front. You are taking a big risk if you make an upfront payment of that size, and a sizable amount of money should be held until the job is 100% completed to the owners satisfaction.

On commercial jobs of significant size (say $100,000 and up), the payment process works differently. There is generally a down payment and progress payments made as milestones are completed through the project. These milestones are agreed upon before the job commences. A part of each payment (somewhere between 5% – 10%) is held back as “retainage” which provides the client an additional level of comfort the contractor is legitimate and will work the job to completion. Retainage is released to the contractor when the final payment is made at completion of the job.

Communication – Can the contractor answer basic questions in a clear and easy to understand way when you ask them? Does the contractor generally answer their phone or return missed calls quickly? When they set up their initial appointment, were they on time or did they call or text to say they would be late? All of these are tell tale signs to how the contractor handles communication on a day to day basis.

The big take away here is to pay attention to these things and listen to your instincts. They are usually not wrong. You should have open, straightforward, and timely communication with your contractor. If anything gives you pause during that process, you should keep asking questions until you either feel better or decide to move on.

Or, you could just call us and feel good right off the bat!