THESE ARE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE HIRING A PAINTER TO PAINT YOUR HOME
IF YOUR HOME WAS BUILT BEFORE 1978
A new law went into effent in April 2010 that requires any painter working on your home to be an EPA Certified Lead Renovator. This law requires the work to be done in a
certain manner to protect you.
Orb Painting meets the requirements of this new law so there is no chance of you being fined for noncompliance.
PICKING THE PAINTER
Most painters started working for a paint contractor and decided after a few years to work for themself. This is great! It is what America is all about. This problem is that most
never learn about paint. They do the same thing on every job because it worked once before. They paint for 30 years and never understand what they are doing. There
are numerous opportunities for a contractor to educate himself about surface preparation, primers, & paint. Unfortunately few seek to learn why certain products are better
in a given situation. This results in over 70% of the jobs not being prepared or primed properly. Without the best base even the finest top coat will fail.
Don't be content with a painter who is happy because the job looked good when he finished.
Orb Painting's job inspector has completed & taught several courses in preventing paint problems & proper surface preparation. He continues to work as a consultant with
several national manufacturers to improve painting methods.
PRODUCT QUALITY
The difference between cheap paint & the best is staggering. The best exterior paint can last four times as long as cheap paint. Inside walls do not get dirty as easy with
good quality & can be cleaned. With top quality, your home looks better years longer - in or out. A national study shows that only 12% of the paint jobs get the best quality.
Be sure your home is in this 12%.
Attention should also be paid to the quality of other items. Caulking can be bought from 89 cents to 5 dollars per tube. The cheapest looks as good as the expensive caulk when
the job is finished but the cracks reappear three months after the painter is gone. Use the best paint, primers, spackling paste, & caulk. Your house will look better & last longer.
Orb Painting always uses the best quality for your job.
INSURANCE
Your contractor should always have two kinds of insurance, general liability & workman's comp insurance.
General liability insurance protects you if there is damage to your property.
Workman's comp insurance protects you if one of the painters gets hurt while on your property. Without this insurance the property owner is liable if a worker gets hurt.
Some painters will tell you they have an exemption from the state. This wavier exempts them from buying the insurance buy DOES NOT exempt you from liability.
Insist on BOTH types of insurance.
Orb Painting has both general liability & workman's comp insurance.
CONTRACT
Most of the problems on jobs are misunderstandings between honest people. Some are a dishonest person trying to take advantage of another person.
Having a contract for your paint job eliminates the chance of a misunderstanding and protects you from dishonesty.
The contract should include:
The date
What is to be painted
The quality of paint
The approximate time to do the job
The price
The signatures of both the homeowner & the painter
Orb Painting will give you a written contract to protect you.
PAYMENT
First, never ever pay for work before a job is done. I know of painters who have fifty reasons to collect all or part of the job before starting.
"I need to buy the paint" If their credit is good they can charge at the paint store or use Visa. If their credit is bad you don't want them painting your house.
"My baby is sick & I need to buy medicine" One contractor I know was still using this when his daughter was 30 years old & he regularly walked off with peoples money.
You can hear many other excuses to collect early but DO NOT PAY IN ADVANCE.
If a job is going to take several weeks it is okay to pay partial payments at the end of each week but you should never pay for more work than has been done.
This should be spelled out in your contract.
Orb Painting never collects for work that has not been done.