Important factors to consider when deciding to complete home interior painting

Why paint a house in 2022?

So it's time to repaint the entire house, or a portion of it, or a single room…who knows; either way it's time to freshen things up! You may be moving, downsizing, upsizing, investing or simply re-decorating; sooner or later it's time to paint your house. Regardless of what's in style or what's trending on social media, a good repaint never fails to brighten up a space.

Why should you paint your house? Well, for starters a home is the largest investment many people have and keeping the interior and exterior surfaces coated properly has many benefits. It looks good and also provides protection to many different substrates, woods, sheetrock and other surfaces. 

When moving to a new home, it never hurts to repaint or stage your current home before it's listed. A simple repaint and stage can increase the retail value of your home and draw in more potential buyers while showing. 

Perhaps you’re renovating and your contractor prefers if clients source their painters and decorators? Many contractors offer painting services, but many do not. It never hurts to hire a professional painting company or professional decorating company to do all of the fine finishing work during and after a renovation.

There are many more reasons why people paint a home, but overall a new paint job makes the home look spectacular. 



Have you made a budget?

So you’ve decided to paint the interior of your home, and perhaps you’ve also decided the amount of painting required surpasses your physical ability and professional capability…it's time to hire a professional. 

Making a budget helps but if you don't know where to start you’re basically left guessing. It's recommended to get on the phone and call some professional paint companies and ask how they price projects and what their working hours and timeline are. After a few phone calls you should be able to gauge how most companies will price on an hourly/daily/weekly basis and go from there. 

Be Realistic! Good painting isn't cheap and cheap painting isn't good. This goes for all skilled trade work. Expect to pay more than your “best friend's brother-in law” to have a professional paint company come into your home and complete the entire job properly, cleanly and on schedule. It helps to know what work like this may cost, and the best way to do that is make some phone calls, do not skip this or you may get some shocks while pricing and comparing, this industry is not regulated and the gulf of pricing between professionals and part timers can leave many scratching their heads.

How painters may price their work and products.

Every trade prices differently, and every professional paint company prices vary from service to service. It doesn't hurt to ask when you are making phone calls how they price their services and if they have a warranty or guarantee included. Some companies will price an estimate based on square footage, some may price per day and others per hour, it's up to you as the consumer to understand your budget, be realistic and hire the right professional painter to properly complete the work. 

It's always important to have some form of written estimate and contract outlining the scope of work involved and if they are, or are not supplying paint and materials. Many professional painters will use higher end paint products or speciality paint products and may include it in their costing. Always be clear with your paint contractor who is supplying the paint. Perhaps you, as the consumer , can buy paint somewhere for a good price and would like someone to paint your home with it. That's fine, but make it clear so there is no confusion with pricing and contractual agreements. 

Cash, Cheque, Transfer or Credit Card? All professional paint companies accept different and varying forms of payment, this is also a good piece of information to have before deciding which professional painter you are going to hire. If you’re looking to pay with a credit card, be ready to pay the fees that banks infringe upon small businesses, most companies prefer e-transfers or cheques. Cash is accepted by all trades people, but buyer beware when transacting in the cash realm.

Deciding what's a yes and a no.

This step may come before the budget stage, but either way a long list of rooms and areas to paint means a larger bill. If you have the money to spend on interior decorating and professional painting, that's fine, but for many you will be working within a set budget. When working with a budget it's important to know when and where to draw the line. I want to paint the entrance foyer and hallway , do I really need to paint the staircase? In this case, the entrance foyer may cost X amount, which is within budget, but the staircase (as a separate unit) may cost XX more to paint. Think of each separate item or area as a unit, and realize that all of these units add up. They add up time and therefore money to the overestimate or bill. 

Again, be realistic. You need to decide for yourself which areas may and may not need to be painted. Sometimes it's an obvious yes, all of the walls need repainting, but do I need to paint each ceiling in each room? This is where a professional can help, most painters will do free estimates, and if you’re looking to work with a professional painter they should provide you with some expertise and wisdom they’ve accumulated in the trade. Most professional painters can help clients make better informed decisions on what to paint and what not to paint on their project.

Time Equals Money

The age old equation; time=money. So you’ve decided on everything you want to have painted, and you’re getting estimates from different companies. Some say one thing, some say another. This is where intuition comes in handy, or in the case of a referral, trust. Either way, painting takes time. If someone is boasting they can paint an entire house very quickly, buyer beware. The greater the size of the project, the greater time it takes to complete. If it's a fast repaint or ‘refresh’ you’re looking for, communicate that to the painter so he knows to use a different application method. Not every job needs to be finely finished to perfection, nor is every job a quick refresh for staging. You need to consider what's involved in the project and set a realistic budget and begin getting estimates from that point.