Whether you decide to use Aurora Painting or not, we feel it’s important to at least give you a list of all of the things you should look for when hiring a painting contractor in Baltimore, Maryland. This way you can make the right decision and ensure the quality of your finished paint project!
Licensed and insured
Let’s be clear, this is not an indicator of how good a painting company will be. Maryland Home Improvement Commission does not require contractors to prove their skills in their respective fields. As well, the contractor's license allows them to perform all home improvement tasks. This means a contractor who offers painting services may not have much experience in the field of painting. It does however provide you with an extra layer of protection if something does go wrong. So even though this shouldn’t be a final decision maker it is a great place to start. Most contractors in Baltimore will have their license number listed on their website and if not they should gladly share it with anyone who asks for it.
Reviews
Google and Facebook Reviews are a great way to get a good sense of the quality and overall reliability of a painting contractor. If the painter that you’re looking to hire doesn’t quite have the skill you’re looking for you can be sure that your neighbors will say what needs to be said to protect the rest of the community. Unlike when you’re trying out a new local restaurant, hiring a painter will cost you a significant amount of money. If you don’t want to end up paying someone else to fix a bad paint job it would be wise to look through some of the recent reviews of your potential hire.
Some key things to look for in reviews:
Mentions about the quality of the overall paint job and experience working with the contractor.
Professionalism
Efficiency/speed
Cleanliness
Communication
Friendliness
Pictures of Past Projects
Most reputable painters in Baltimore are very proud of their work. Trust me when I say this! We love to put our past projects on our website for everyone to see. This is good news for you because now you have the chance to see if the painter has ever worked on a project like your own.
Something to keep in mind is that residential painters and commercial painters have surprisingly different skillsets. Commercial painters are often very good at getting a lot of work done very quickly but often this comes with the sacrifice of being less detail-oriented. For painters who specialize in residential paint projects, being detail-oriented is a must. This means that when looking over a painter's past projects you will want to make sure they have a lot of experience handling a project like your own. Just because a painting company has been in business for 40 years doesn’t mean that they have 40 years of experience in handling the type of work you will be asking them to perform.
Social Media Posts
You might be wondering if this is the same as the last point but I assure you that it’s not. While it’s true that many painters including myself will often post about our current and past projects we may also make a post about who we are as people and as a company. This is an important step because it allows you to get to know the painter long before you ever even invite them into your house. Paint projects are intimate by nature. We are often in people’s bedrooms and bathrooms which are, of course, the most private areas in a person's house. Before you let just anyone into your home wouldn’t you like to get to know them a little bit? A painting company that turns on the camera to let people peek inside their own life and business proves that they have nothing to hide.
Does The Painter Have A Process?
A Painter with a clearly defined process will be orderly and organized when completing your project. A Painter without a process is just winging it. They will likely take longer than necessary, they will be completely disorganized, and they will cause more problems than they solve. If the painting company you are thinking about hiring doesn’t have a clearly defined process of what you can expect on their website, then you should at least ask them to explain how the project will be handled to you before signing any contracts. If this is a hard question for them to answer you might want to consider another painter.
Core Values
When choosing a painter it's important to see if their core values align with your own, in regards to how the project will be handled. For instance, if you value integrity and want to hire someone who will stand by their work and honor any offered warranties, then you will want to make sure your painter values those things as well. Or if it's important to you that you receive a high-quality paint job, and you would prefer that the painter take a little more time and charge a little more to ensure the quality and longevity of the project it would be a good idea to make sure that the painter you are about to hire doesn’t value being fast and cheap over quality.
This might seem like a side note but I assure you that it is a very important step when hiring a painting contractor. Often issues arrive when the homeowner and contractor don’t see eye to eye. In order to avoid any unnecessary headaches when hiring a painter make sure that you and the painters see eye to eye, before the start of your project, and have more in common than the transaction that you're about to make. Remember you will be the one that has to live with the finished product.
Gut Feeling
Last but not least, go with your gut! Social media posts and hundreds of reviews aren’t everything. Often a new painting company in Baltimore with a handful of good reviews is just as good as an old company with dozens. If you honestly just have a good feeling about a company after going through some of the steps we just covered and getting an estimate then go for it. The only bad choice is going with someone you’re not 100% confident in or comfortable with.
If you live in or around Baltimore Maryland, Aurora Painting would love to help you with your project! Why not get an estimate for your paint project?" You might also be interested in reading about what it costs to paint a room in Baltimore County Maryland. Our other article can help you figure that out. Don't worry, the same pricing principles apply to all parts of Maryland, so if you live in Harford County, Carrol County, or Howard County. Do yourself a favor and check that article out! However, if you're ready to go right now then feel free to schedule a call below!