How to find the best home-painters in your area?
Not all painters or contractors are the same. Each is best suited for certain types of jobs only. So we have tried to answer the above question by first answering various sub-questions mentioned below. Painting projects have various degrees of complexity and requirement, and with increasing complexity the need for good house painters increases for high-quality work in residential painting.
DIY vs painting contractor
In India, DIY culture has not caught up, especially in the house painting services segment. The main reason is the affordability of labor. But things are changing fast with the increasing labor cost. Also, the way Indian houses are built, they do require a certain level of skill in painting. If the walls were plain or made of prefabricated plain sheets, it would have been much easier to paint them. We use brick and concrete, due to which the walls are not plain. Hence painting them needs more work than just the application of paint. This is called wall preparation and it is as important a process as final painting, if not more. Also, waterproofing work requires a certain level of knowledge and skill.
So a professional painter is a choice if you are painting your house for the first time as you would want a good wall preparation exercise to be done. DIY painting skills take time to develop, so start experimenting by watching videos on non-residential non-consumer-facing properties first. As you develop your skills move to paint your bedroom and lastly your living room.
Hiring a local contractor vs going with a professional service provider
What can go wrong in a painting job? In the end, it is difficult to find a fully honest professional. But as a customer one need to understand the risks involved before taking the plunge with a contractor, whoever that may be. We Indians love to get a deal and so would always look at the money aspect in choosing a contractor. Money is an important consideration, but what you need to understand is that — you do not know why a contractor is offering you a particular rate. So consider this:
1. The lower the cost of the paint job the lower the risk. So it may not matter a lot if you are using distempers on your wall. A local painter will be cost-effective vs a professional painter and should be able to provide an acceptable outcome.
2. Exterior Painting Vs Interior Painting — In exterior painting the competition is lower than in interior painting as the painters who do exterior painting are fewer than those who do interior painting. An exterior painter needs to work in outside conditions which may not be very comfortable and also safety measures needs to be taken.
3. Quality paint — The higher the quality of paint you are using the more chances of mixing with thinners / low-quality paint. So when going for good paints like the Asian Paints Royale series, it better not take a chance and hire a professional contractor service rather than a local painter. You can estimate painting cost with online calculators, customizing it to your requirement.
4. Types of paint: Acrylic paint usually has more sheen and so it needs better wall preparation activity.
Always try to understand which contractor/ service provider has more to lose if he does not do a good job. A small contractor can easily shift areas he is serving, but if a contractor is entirely dependent on you / your review/ your society for his next few projects, the chances of him cutting corners/cheating reduces. So if a contractor is already involved in many jobs in your society, then he is a good bet to hire, else hire a professional company that depends on your reviews for getting the next project. Simple.
Turnkey Vs Labor only house painting contract
The Painters & Decorators working at your place are usually from the same pool of resources. We Indians are quite worried about the quality of material used in painting. But as regular consumers, we cannot do much in identifying the spurious material from the original. We may feel that buying material from a shop near you is a good bet, but in most cases — it does not make a difference. What you need is a contractor who is well-aligned with your interest. When you give work on a labor basis, understand this, the contractor has no incentive to finish work in time and/ or save material, etc. The contractor also does not have any incentive in guiding you in purchasing goods / in budget material. When you give a project on a turnkey basis and on a basis of a detailed quotation where everything is listed down, you and the contractor are aligned. The contractor has no incentive in delaying the work or using bad material (as he needs to provide a warranty). So turnkey projects with a warranty are the way to go if you want superior home painting service. The 5–10% additional cost, if any, is worth it for the warranty you get at the end of the work.
Our city specific links for ease of reference:
Painting service in mumbai | Painting service in pune | Painting service in hyderabad | Painting service in chennai
