How do you know what to look for in a painting company?
It’s too easy to make almost any business look good online. You’re ready to start your project, and you know it’s worth it to get quality professional painters. So how do you find them? How do you find a great painter, and not just someone who hired a marketing company to make them look good?
10 tips to finding a professional painting company
First, check their website for these two things
A company’s website is where you learn who they are. But a slick, impressive website is just too easy to make nowadays, with website templates easily available. Anyone can put together a decent website for a couple thousand dollars, especially if they use stock photos. But that won’t tell you much about the painting company itself.
A good painting company’s website should have two things:
- real faces, and
- real project photos
Faces of the actual people who work there
You’ll want to know who you’ll be dealing with, and the website should clearly show you that.
A lot of paint companies use stock photos. Stock photos are easy to buy online, and they use staged settings and professional models. On a painting company website, maybe the “painter” wears a uniform that’s a little too bright and clean, the “homeowners” in the shot are too smiling and polished, the interaction shown (often a handshake) looks just too fake. Here’s a screenshot of my search for a generic “contractor and homeowner stock photo”.
If the painting company’s “about us” page just shows a young couple, they probably bought a franchise and use local subcontractors for their painters. They may be perfectly nice people, but you’re dealing with a small local franchise and not a fully-staffed company.
You should also see photos of the company’s employees and the actual painters. Most paint companies won’t show photos of their painters because they use subcontractors, rather than dedicated employees (more on that below).
On our own website we’ve got photos of ourselves and our staff everywhere, including on our homepage, our “Who We Are” page, and our “Meet the Team” page. Plus we’ve got this little intro video right on our homepage that tells you all about us and what we care about.
We also show you photos of our painters in both our Austin and San Antonio branches, so you’ll know exactly who’ll be coming to your house. And the fun little photo of the painters at the top of this blog? Those are some of our Austin home painters!
Actual project photos
The dead giveaway – stock photos
A lack of real project photos is a dead giveaway that a painting contractor just hired a website developer to come up with something slick that ranks well on Google. Established painters should have plenty of photos of actual projects to show the quality and type of work they do. You want to see real projects they’ve done.
Stock photos look a little too perfect, without the individual personality or style that you’d find in a real family home. You might also see stock photos of painting tools, brushes, or cans of paint that are just too clean, and missing specific paint store labels. And if there are humans in the photo, they’ll have perfectly posed smiles and be in nondescript settings. Here’s a screenshot of a search for “stock photo painted home interior”, to show you what stock photos can look like.
A company might use stock photos because its own portfolio of projects is weak. You might see a large picture of a pretty-but-bland kitchen at the top of their gallery page. That’s the stock photo. But scroll down to the actual project images and they’ll just be snapshots that their subcontractors took on their phone.
We’re proud to say you won’t find a single stock photo on our own website! Every single project in our extensive list of project galleries is our own work.
Read their reviews
Check out the contractor’s reviews on Google, Angie’s List, Houzz, Yelp. You want a “grade” of at least 4.7 on Google. (We rank 4.9.)
See how they handle negative reviews, if any.
Most companies who’ve been in business longer than a few years will get a couple of bad reviews, it’s inevitable. See how the contractor responded to those reviews. Does their response sound credible and reasonable? How did they handle any issues? Did they treat their negative reviewer with respect? You want to choose a painter who has integrity.
What types of projects do they focus on?
Almost every professional painting company will mention “interior”, “exterior”, “residential” and even “commercial” painting on their website. However, most contractors gravitate toward certain types of projects.
You can usually gauge this by their portfolio or gallery page. Make sure the professional painter you want to hire can do your type of project, especially if yours is a high-end home with custom features or delicate antiques. At the very least, you want someone who knows their way around nice things.
This is especially important for kitchen cabinet painting. There’s a high learning curve to painting cabinets well, and a lot of painters just aren’t very good at it. If you need your cabinets painted, make sure you find painters with this area of expertise.
Are their painters actual employees, or just subcontractors?
When people ask us what to look for in a painting company, this is often at the top of the list.
There are two business models in the residential painting industry:
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- companies where the painters are direct employees of the company and don’t work for anyone else, or
- companies that call upon their list of subcontractor paint crews as needed to do a project.
How does this affect you, the homeowner? Quite a bit, actually!
When a painting company has its own in-house employees, their painters are usually:
- better skilled
- more loyal to their employer
- have a vested interested in pleasing both their boss and you, the homeowner
- get better safety training
- use well-maintained, company-provided equipment
Plus they usually enjoy work benefits that mean a great deal to the painters and their families, such as health insurance and paid time off. And because they work exclusively for their employer, they will stay at your project until completed to your satisfaction, and are quick to come back if needed to take care of any touch-ups.
Subcontractors, however, are required by law to work for more than one painting company.
This means their loyalty is divided. They might split their time between your home and someone else’s, especially on large projects that take more than a week to complete. They also:
- vary greatly in experience and training
- make do with their own tools, which may not be upgraded often
- rarely get any safety training, which would pull them away from paying gigs
- are less likely to stay and resolve any problems if they’ve already started another job
- are on their own if they get injured or have issues with a customer
.It costs a painting company extra for their painters to be actual employees, since they have to withhold taxes, ensure safety compliance, train thoroughly, process payroll, and often provide benefits. This is why so many painting contractors out there (including most painting franchises) take the gamble and use “subs” instead.
As you might guess, we’re proud that our painters are in-house employees with benefits, and we’re very invested in their success. When you’re trying to find a great painter, be sure to ask whether they use subs or employees!
Do they have both Workman’s Compensation and general liability insurance?
I can’t imagine not having either of these insurances, and a good painting company will have both.
“Workers’ comp” covers the painters from any injuries they receive while working, and liability insurance covers basically everything else, from broken mirrors to spilled paint. Both are critical! Don’t just ask, “Are you insured?”, make sure the contractor has both. Otherwise, you run the risk of a painter suing you for an injury he sustained at your home if he doesn’t have workers’ comp and feels he has no other recourse to pay his bills.
For Texas residents: 49 states require businesses to carry workers’ compensation insurance, with Texas being the sole exception. If a Texas painter gets injured at your home and doesn’t have workers’ comp, he’ll be coming after you, so be aware.
Is the painting company licensed?
If you’re in Texas, this is a bit of a trick question. Unlike most other states, Texas doesn’t require licensing for builders or contractors, which can be a scary thought, to be honest.
If you’re in a state where licensing is required, only hire licensed contractors. An unlicensed, “under the table” painter may be cheaper, but the gamble isn’t worth it.
Since this isn’t something you can screen for in Texas, be sure you evaluate your potential painting contractors thoroughly. Choose wisely!
Are the painters background-checked?
After all, these guys will be working in your home! It’s rare for subcontractors to go through background checks, but we background-check all our painters before hiring them. Peace of mind is important!
Does the contractor offer any warranties?
Reputable painting companies stand by their work.
Industry standards vary greatly here. At Paper Moon Painting, we offer a three-year warranty on all workmanship, in addition to the manufacturers’ warranties on the actual paint. Plus we go the extra step of coming back to your home once a year for one hour, on us, to touch up any interior walls that we’ve painted that we can reach without needing a ladder. Warranties are rarely needed, but it’s good to know they’re there.
How established is the company?
This can come down to how long they’ve been in business, but not always. The bottom line is, do they have a reputation to protect? Do they have ties to the local community? Bonus points if they work closely for interior designers, like we do, since designers are the industry’s most knowledgable critics and will hire only the best painters for their clients’ projects.
Visit our several portfolio galleries and check out the high proportion of our projects that are done for interior designers!
And finally, cost.
Most of us are on a budget, but price should never be the only – or even the most important – factor.
You want to hire a painting company with knowledge, skill, and good customer service. They should also stand by their work, be properly insured, and make sure their employees are safe, healthy, and properly trained. This is not likely to be the contractor with the lowest bid.
Since painting is less technically demanding, than, say plumbing or electrical work, it’s easy to find painters out there with inadequate experience or poor business practices. Painting contractors operate on very tight profit margins, so those painters often get work by being the cheapest bidder. You don’t want to choose a company that skimps on materials, cuts corners on safety, or brings un-vetted or un-trained subs into your home. The best companies often have to charge a little more to keep great painters, maintain good equipment, provide thorough training, and get the job done right.
Here’s a quick TL;DR summary:
10 tips to find a great painting company
- Look for faces of the actual company owners, staff and painters on their website, as well as their own actual project photos.
- Check out their online reviews, especially how they respond to any negative reviews.
- Are they a good fit for your project? See if their portfolio shows the kind of work you’re looking for.
- Verify that their painters are dedicated in-house employees, not subcontractors.
- Make sure they are fully insured with both workers’ compensation and general liability insurance.
- If you’re in a state that requires it, make sure they’re licensed.
- Ask if their painters are background-checked.
- See if they offer any warranties.
- Are they well-established? You want a reputable company who has been around a while.
- Cost. Ironically, the cheapest painter is probably not the best choice.
Hope this helps you know what to look for in a painting company!
