Hiring a Painter--Ay Yi Yi--S. NH--(long) (house paint, ceiling, colors)

[WoodyWW]

Painter 1: Last summer I had a painter that I think did an excellent job (interior) in the new-to-me (1960's) house I had bought. But very quirky, never knew when she was going to show up, which was OK, b/c I was still living mainly at "the old house". And some other things; she got really bugged when I wanted her to help me pick between 2 paint colors, refused. Very fair price tho, & it ended well.

Painter 2: Got an estimate this past May from a semi-local painter, that was on a list of "recommended vendors" from the R.E. firm I bought the house thru. And the R.E. agent said a lot of her clients liked her & her prices. (And no, I don't think they get "kickbacks" or anything).

But the painter, who's about my age maybe (60's), seemed a little nutty, but kind of strict, wanted 1/2 payment up-front. 1/2 payment being about $950. What if she doesn't show up again (altho I think that's unlikely)? And she kept going on & on about "paint cans in landfills"--she's concerned that her clients throw away leftover paint, which I told her I don't do, I keep it for touch-ups, painting a closet, whatever, but that didn't assuage her. But total price, for a lot of interior painting, including paint, around $1900.

She said 4 or 5 days of painting, seems reasonable, but I'm at home a lot. I felt a bit uneasy having her in house that long, just personality-wise. So I told her I wasn't quite ready yet to do the painting in June, but I'd contact her when I was, & she was quite gracious about it.

Painter 3: Guy with 2 great Yelp reviews. Had an appt'. a week or 2 ago for him to come for an estimate. A Sat., he didn't show, I called him, he said his basement was flooding (no rain in the area tho). Said he'd come on Mon., never showed. So he's out.

Painter 4: Local guy with 4 great Yelp reviews. Had an appt'. a week or 2 ago for him to come for an estimate. At least emailed me to say he couldn't make it, but he could come today. Emailed him back, said fine. He never showed. I emailed him again, claimed he never got my email, but he'd come on Fri.

Back to Painter 1: I kind of waited on her all this summer to at least come over & give me an estimate. Her price was so fair last time, good painting job, & she has a kind of "laid back" personality--I feel totally OK having her in my house. Came over, estimate of $2525, not including paint, for the same job Painter 2 wanted $1900 for, including paint.

I'm sure some would say; who cares if you find a workman annoying? Sure, for a few hours, but 4-5 days? I "really like my space". Anyway, I emailed Painter 2 today to see if she could still fit me in her schedule; haven't heard back.

I think I need to go with the "laid back", more expensive painter (Painter 1), & just end the madness. She might charge less than the estimate, based on her hours; she did that last time. She can start next week. I really didn't intend for this to turn into such a time-wasting & frustrating procedure--I don't know if anyone else can relate?

Happy Wed., Woody

[bigdogmom13]

I can totally relate. I needed landscaping done this spring; called 3 or 4 places and only one guy returned my call. He came out to estimate, I hired him, then he took FOREVER to get the work done. And it was a rather sloppy job.

Tried to find a handyman to do a little repair on the siding on my house, that was ridiculous too. One guy came out, gave me an estimate; we set up a time then he never showed. When I called him he said he was delayed and would be over later... Then never showed up. Again.


On a positive note, I just had the whole interior of my house painted (including trim). I hired a friend's husband; he painted the exterior of my house a couple of years ago and did a great job. So this time he came out, gave me an estimate and it was about what I thought it would cost so I hired him without bothering to get any other estimates. Too much of a hassle. He and his crew (two other guys) were a pleasure to have in the house for the 6 days it took; they're really nice guys. They did a decent job (not perfect, but decent), offered opinions on color, moved stuff around, and did a thorough cleanup. The house looks so good now and I'm a happy camper - or will be as soon as I get all the pictures back on the walls (my project for today and tomorrow).

[TheotherMarie]

I wanted some basic landscaping done, just to get the yard cleaned up. I only called one guy that was recommended by some people in the neighborhood. It took him 3 tries just to get me the estimate. "I couldn't come today, but I'll get there tomorrow."
Finally got an incredibly high estimate, and I decided not to use him because it was so hard to just get the darned estimate.
Turns out, he only lives down the street from me. I found out because I walk my dogs right by his house almost every day.
Seriously??

There is so little work ethic anymore.

[bigdogmom13]

Originally Posted by TheotherMarie

There is so little work ethic anymore.

Agreed.

[TrapperL]

around $1900.

So you don't have a written estimate, just a verbal guesstimate that might just turn out to be $2500 or even more now. Even with a written estimate, most are good for 30 days only and you're well past that. I wouldn't expect the same numbers but if you call her and she's willing to do the work for that- great. But my money is on that won't be the numbers when she actually bids the job.

[annabanana123]

I would only go with a painter who does the actual estimate that you agree to. For ours we wound up going with a middle quote from a painter that a friend referred. They did great work and fixed any issues we had. The guy did take a few tries to come for the estimate so I was leery but it worked out well.

I'd do two things: 1) get a written estimate from both 1&2 and 2) go with your gut.

[WoodyWW]

Thanks for all the replies. Actually, Painter 2 gave me a fixed price, written (by e-mail). I said "around $1900" b/c I didn't look up the actual price, it might have been $1950. But I e-mailed her yesterday, no reply yet, that ship may have sailed.

Painter 1, that did the painting for me last summer, her final charge when she was done was less than her estimate. She figures it by the hours she actually puts in. And this time she sent me a "quick, informal, estimate". Broken down by the 4 areas I want painted, for each.

I can see how people would be suspicious of that--I usually would. But she did the painting in this house for the former owner; how I knew about her. And a couple of my neighbors, who were crazy about her. And I can have just one hall-way painted if I want. Or 1 bedroom, whatever. It's very flexible.

And I trust her in my house, etc. She's like a "know quantity", & I think fair.

Now there's the "Eggshell, or Matte" minor dilemma. For Halls, & 1 Bedroom.

Oh: I'm so happy today: Had a bunch of fallen-down trees in my back yard, from the "outback" forest region beyond my property line. And a whole bunch of dead or questionable bushes, & 2 standing trees. Also more tree trimming, etc. Found these local tree guys in my NH town, did it all for $900! Great guys, total pros, & my backyard looks way more than $900 better.

Life in S. NH isn't that bad (ask me again in January).......

[annabanana123]

Will you be home to supervise? I would go with the person you trust especially if you'll have to leave them at home at any point. The painter we went with in my above post eventually came out and measured each room and broke it down by room and by painting ceilings and moldings or not. He gave an estimate and came in under it. Great guy, great crew, great work. We've since used them two other times with great results. There's something to be said for going with the known. Also we found when we hired him the subsequent times his responses were much faster.

[WoodyWW]

Originally Posted by annabanana123

Will you be home to supervise? I would go with the person you trust especially if you'll have to leave them at home at any point. The painter we went with in my above post eventually came out and measured each room and broke it down by room and by painting ceilings and moldings or not. He gave an estimate and came in under it. Great guy, great crew, great work. We've since used them two other times with great results. There's something to be said for going with the known. Also we found when we hired him the subsequent times his responses were much faster.

So, the plot thickens: Painter 4; the Local guy with 4 great Yelp reviews, came yesterday for an estimate. Seemed like a real straight ahead, normal, very polite guy. His (written) quote: $1325, inc. paint (and wants a $500 deposit, I'm assuming that's when the work starts). However his quote is a little vague (he didn't detail the # of doors to be painted, etc). Can do the work late Nov. I put a call into him to ask a few questions about details.

I know there's a kind of meme on these forums to "never go with the lowest bid", but I've done that many times & it worked out.

Also, I'm getting tired of Painter 1's (that did the painting for me last summer) BS. She told me in early June that she could start late Aug. Sporadic in answering emails, problems just getting her over for an estimate. Emailed her last week, asked when she could start, no answer yet. Then there was last summer when she refused to help me pick between 2 colors for one of the bdrms. I was tearing my hair out with a difficult sale of my old house, moving to this one, packing, picking a mover, just wanted a bit of color help.

Oh, & to annabanana123, yeah, I'll be around most of the time, might have to go out occasionally while painters are here.

Oh, you know the tree guys I hired last week, the guy's "written estimate" was the $ # written on the back of his business card. Another, more major, tree outfit that gave me a quote: incredibly detailed, down to every single bush, etc. Was several hundred $$ more.

Thanks again to all.