Painting Contractor Recommendations?

[abvavgjoe]

Originally Posted by Ryde41

The first time we painted our house the bid was 3800...we repainted the house with a reputable painter and his bid was around 6500.

Ryde, how many sq ft is your house?

Around 5000 sq. ft. . I had an upstairs balcony that needed painting too and that included the fencing that runs along the driveway.

I have 1 estimate so far for $2000 to paint my 2000 sq. ft. home. So,...I'm getting the impression it costs about $1/sq. ft. to paint the exterior?

[Ryde41]

That sounds about right.

[abvavgjoe]

Just got a $1600 estimate from CertaPro Painters.

LaBelle is coming out next Thursday, then I get to pull the trigger.

[Ryde41]

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. I like to hear everyone else's painting experiences.

[Robyn55]

Our painting experiences...

We used Certa Pro to do the interior of our house about 6-7 years ago. The painters were excellent (in general) - but we had a problem with the owner. A young trainee on the job accidentally put down a drop cloth with wet paint (from another job) on our carpet (in a hallway). Our carpet was ruined. I was amazed to find out that our carpet (an expensive wool) was still being produced. And got a $600 estimate for the patch (materials and labor). I told the owner.

Well next day the painters came in - all with long faces. We got to the bottom of what was going on. The owner claimed these painters were independent contractors - and the owner was going to withhold $600 from the money she owed the painters.

We confronted the owner - who had represented in writing that the firm was insured before we signed our contract. Well there was insurance - but it had a $1000 deductible. And the owner insisted on taking the money from the workers.

Well this was the week before Christmas - and there was no way I was going to let these guys go home - especially right before Christmas - light $600. So we ate the cost. We could have sued the owner - but figured it wasn't worth it.

Note that Certa Pro is a franchise outfit - and I suspect there's more than one Certa Pro franchise in the metro area. OTOH - when we called Certa Pro to complain - it basically said it couldn't be held responsible for the actions of its franchise holders (and told us to get lost). Guess we could have sued Certa Pro too.

Anyway - like you might guess - I'll never use a Certa Pro franchise operation again. Note that this was a job that cost in excess of $3000 IIRC. And although we just had a property damage issue - I can't imagine what would have happened if a worker had been injured (because - in retrospect - I suspect the Certa Pro franchise holder didn't do things like buy workers' comp for the "independent contractors" who were working in our house).

We also used LaBelle to do a small job (rust on garage doors) a few years later. It did a good job. I would consider using it for a larger job.

In terms of exterior painting - I'd get very particular when it comes the outside prep that's required - and who has to do it. In my neighborhood - I've observed that houses are often pressure washed before they're painted - and then flaking paint has to be dealt with. Also - if you're dealing with stick construction - I'd make sure that there aren't any areas affected by mold/termites/etc. before painting. Perhaps there are other things to consider too. Note that we have a block house and our stucco has the color impregnated in the stucco. So I'm not sure we'll ever paint the exterior.

Also - I'd be very clear about the quality of the paint that's being used. One bid isn't cheaper than another if the reason for the price difference is the quality of the paint the contractor proposes to use. Robyn

[abvavgjoe]

Wow. I hope the LaBelle estimate is close to CertaPro after that story. Thanks for sharing that info.

[abvavgjoe]

Well, the LaBelle estimate was double CertaPro so I took a chance and had CertaPro paint the house. They did a great job and it only took them 2 1/2 days total. I would definitely use them again.

If anyone needs their house painted, give them a call for an estimate. If you use them, shoot me a PM. I get a $100 referral! The owner's name is Steve Allen. They're at (904)714-8043.

[JagFan27]

Originally Posted by abvavgjoe

Well, the LaBelle estimate was double CertaPro so I took a chance and had CertaPro paint the house. They did a great job and it only took them 2 1/2 days total. I would definitely use them again.

If anyone needs their house painted, give them a call for an estimate. If you use them, shoot me a PM. I get a $100 referral! The owner's name is Steve Allen. They're at (904)714-8043.

So, did they do any caulking? What about doing any clean-up (like old mud dauber nests under the eaves) before they paint?