Seven Tips for Choosing a Painting Contractor

Hiring a painter is a bigger decision than picking a color. You're letting a crew into your home or onto your roofline for days, and the prep work decides whether the job still looks good in year six. Here are seven things worth checking before you sign anything, using the way we run jobs at Cloudland Paintworks as the worked example.

1. Get the estimate in writing

A verbal number isn't an estimate. A written one spells out which surfaces get painted, what prep is included and what goes on the walls. Our estimates are free, come with no obligation, and are written down before any work starts. When you lay two or three side by side, differences in scope show up fast. If one leaves out scraping or priming and another includes it, you're not comparing the same job, and the lower number isn't really lower. It's also worth asking what happens if the crew finds something unexpected once work begins. Any change to the scope should be explained and written down before it's added.

2. Ask for a walk-around

A contractor who prices a house from the curb is guessing. On exterior work, we walk the house with you, take photos and write notes on what we find: peeling paint, soft wood, a porch ceiling that needs more than a fresh coat. Those photos and notes sit behind the written estimate, so you can see what was found and what the number covers. It also gives you a record to hold onto, which comes in handy when you're planning the next repaint years from now.

3. See how a big job is broken down

A whole-house exterior or a run of interior rooms is easier to judge in pieces. We break big jobs into segments in the written estimate, so each part is described on its own. That makes it far easier to compare against another bid, and to ask a good question about any single line. If a contractor can't explain what a section of the estimate covers, that's worth noticing before you sign.

4. Ask about lead-safe certification

If your home was built before 1978, the old layers may contain lead paint, and sanding or scraping it carelessly spreads dust. Ask any contractor whether the painters on your job are lead-safe certified and what that changes on site. Every painter at Cloudland Paintworks is lead-safe certified, summer interns included. We do the prep and painting the lead-safe way and give you written information about it. Our Lead Paint Safety page goes through the details.

5. Find out how they protect your home

Ask how floors, furniture, windows and shrubs will be covered. Specific answers are a good sign, and a vague promise to be careful tells you nothing. Inside, our crew protects windows, skylights and floors, and helps protect and move larger furniture. Outside, we protect landscaping around the house, even when it requires waders. We ask you to move small or valuable items before we arrive.

6. Look at the paint, not just the price

Ask what products the crew plans to use and why. The cheapest paint can mean repainting sooner, and the priciest isn't always what a surface needs. We won't use the cheapest paint and we won't oversell the most expensive one. Ray Sola, our president, has been in residential painting since 1985 and worked in a local paint store, so he knows paints and stains well. Our painters are also Fine Paints of Europe certified.

7. Judge how they communicate

The first phone call is a preview of the whole job. Does someone call back, show up when they said they would, and explain what they found? Surprises turn up in painting, such as soft wood behind trim, so ask how you'll hear about them. We keep you informed if anything unexpected comes up. One Google reviewer wrote that Ray answered the call himself and was at their house for an estimate the same day.

Putting the list to work

Use these seven as a checklist on every call, ours included. A contractor who's comfortable with the questions will usually answer them without fuss. We've been painting Connecticut homes since 2004, and we serve towns across New Haven County from our shop in North Haven. If you'd like a written estimate for an interior or exterior repaint, the Contact Us page has a booking calendar, and we'll call to confirm your time.