Finding a home painting contractor isn’t always black and white. In fact, with the huge number of options you have, it’s probably more complicated than you’d ever think. Of course, you want to be an educated consumer, but how and where exactly do you begin?
Here are five steps to finding a home painting contractor you won’t regret hiring for your project:
1. Exhaust your options.
Perhaps the best thing about hiring a exterior painting woodstock ga contractor is the wide range of options you have. And you can explore them all using many routes, such as asking your friends or relatives for referrals, checking your local Better Business Bureau website, reading online reviews on reputable sites such as Yelp and Angie’s List, and approaching professional house painter associations in your area. The more prospects you have, the greater your chances of finding the right fit for the job.
2. Ask for quotes from three contractors.
While you’ll want to have as many potential exterior painting woodstock ga contractors as possible, three is often a good number to zero in on. Focusing on just one prospect won’t do you good either. With three different contractors, you’ll have just enough room to make reasonable comparisons. And definitely, you can only compare apples-to-apples, which means you need to give each candidate exactly the same project specs and requirements. Otherwise, you'll be wasting your time as well as the contractors.
3. Talk to the contractors.
Online reviews are great, but you can’t rely on them completely when learning more about a painting contractor. You have to actually sit down with them and ask them questions as though they were job applicants at your company. If they’re not happy to do that with you, they may not be any more approachable or willing to help once you've sealed the deal. And that is a big red flag. On the other hand, just because they’re eager to answer questions doesn’t mean they’re automatically right for you. In the end, it boils down to how satisfied you are with their answers.
4. Look for chemistry.
You don’t have to be best friends with the person or people who paint your house, but you do have to get along, at least, as far as your project is concerned. After all, you might have to spend a few days or even weeks together. You don’t want to work with someone who is grumpy or always shuns your ideas every time you offer them. True, they are the experts but you’re still the boss, so find a contractor who will listen to you while maintaining reasonable authority over the task.
5. Ask for references and call them.
Lastly, choose a painting contractor who’s enthusiastic about sharing some of their past clients’ names and contact information. If they seem hesitant or come up with all sorts of excuses, that’s a very bad sign. It probably means they’re hiding something, but the good news is, you don’t even have to find out. The fact that they’re withholding references from you is reason enough to back off and consider other candidates.
