How To Find Your Cleveland House Painters
If you are planning a house painting project, you'll be looking for a Cleveland house painting company to handle the project. Sometimes when you hire a contractor for the first time, you don't know what to expect or how to choose the contractor.
Every homeowner expects quality work that turns out well. But how can you tell if the Cleveland house painter you call is qualified to give you the results you expect? Well, you don't have to wait until the results are in place to find out a few things about the painting contractor.
The thing about poor quality workmanship is you never know whether it was because of ignorance, lack of skill, or simply not caring. Either way, there are some leading questions you can ask a painting contractor up front that will give you some idea of their skill level and attitude.
Here are some things you should be asking and looking for in a Cleveland house painter.
Preparation and Painting Processes
Ask the painting contractor how they handle the exterior painting process in general. Just tell them you want to know what to expect as far as procedure goes and then let them talk. Don't lead with specific questions. If they don't tell you most of the following, keep trying other contractors.
On exterior painting:
- Initial pressure washing to remove grime. This ensures a clean surface for the painting products to adhere to
- Covering and shielding landscape and exposed areas in work area
- Scraping or removal of peeling paint and decaying or loose caulking
- Caulking cracks and joints
- Taping off windows and doors
- Fixing window glaze and putty
- Priming new and exposed wood areas
- Priming all other areas to be painted
- Hand painting where needed
On interior painting:
- Covering everything not to be painted for protection in work area
- Taping off non-removable fixtures and other areas
- Covering light fixtures & chandeliers with plastic
- Removing switch and outlet plates
- Drywall repair
- Sanding wood areas if not smooth
- Filling trim & joints with sealant for smooth effect
- Filling nail holes, patching imperfections, or patching nail pops
- Priming all areas to be painted
- Hand painting trimwork
Do They Do Other Painting Services?
When looking for a Cleveland painter, you'll want to be sure they are experienced at performing a wide variety of services. For instance, if your old deck needs to be stained and refinished, can they do it? Or if the aluminum siding needs refinishing, do they know how? Can they paint stucco or brick? Can they stain cedar shake siding? Are they able to refinish cabinetry? Do they remove wallpaper?
Every paint job will entail a large variety of tasks that requires a different skill set to accomplish successfully. The wider variety of services they offer, the more you can be sure of their experience. If a painter knows how to paint or refinish any surface including wood, metal, stucco, plaster, and brick, you can count on them to take care of your house painting project successfully.
Quality Paints & Sealants
Every paint or waterproofing job will only last as good as the product used. Quality paints and sealants are going to last many more years. You'll also have better coverage with fewer coats and a longer lasting, more vivid color. Ask them about the paint and sealant brands they prefer to use and then do some checking to see if they are known to be quality products.
Painting Warranties, Guarantees, & Fees
Also be sure to ask the Cleveland house painter about warranties, satisfaction guarantees, fees for estimates, worksite cleanup, project supervision, and paint quality. It's possible you will find some that want to charge for every little service like providing you an estimate. Ask away and don't be shy! You'll want to know everything up front. If they talk about all these things when you ask about processes, you can pretty well be sure they know what they are doing. It never hurts to ask for references so you can call them as well.
