Are you looking for a professional painter for your next exterior project?
It is that time of year when people start thinking about having their house painted or painting their window frames, decking, fences, garden walls or garage walls.
But how do you go about finding the best home exterior painter near you?
Why hire exterior painters?
A thorough search for a professional painter is well worth the time and effort. As regardless of whether you are painting brick, rendered walls or stone – it could mean the difference between adoring your newly painted house or exterior wall, and being dissatisfied with it.
Also, selecting the colour scheme for exterior paint is significant – as the wrong colour or shade can make your house look terrible or patchy. This can possibly reduce the value of your house if you are looking to sell it.
Hiring a professional external house painter will minimise the risk of this, as they should test the colours to ensure that there are no deceiving mismatches.
So finding the ideal exterior painters is just as crucial as selecting the perfect shade of paint.
Most exterior painting services across the UK should offer a guarantee for their work and will more likely be quicker at exterior painting and decorating, than if you were to do it yourself.
Hiring an external painter is not a daunting task, here are some tips to follow when looking for professional painters.
Tips For Finding An Exterior Painter
The first port of call for most people is Google. They search for “exterior painters near me” and as quick as a flash, 10 to 15 results are shown.
But which ones are safe to use? and which ones will do a good job?
Before you get to the stage of searching for “outside painters near me” there are a few things to consider:
1. Know Your Budget
You need to first evaluate your financial budget, since this is one of the most important factors to consider. Professional exterior painting services are often not cheap.
The amount of preparation work that needs to be done, the quality of paints and materials that you want to use will all play a role in influencing the final decision you make regarding what you can afford.
Additionally, it is crucial to look for painters and decorators who provide realistic painting services rather than “cheap” ones. Put it another way – you get what you pay for.
Equally, you should protect yourself from tradespeople who inflate their prices and hide behind the guise of offering “luxury exterior painting services” as their brand promise.
A good tactic to take is to look for a professional company that offers services at a price that falls somewhere in the middle of the moderate to expensive price range.
This is why it is important to get quotes from three to five different painting and decorating professionals.
By receiving free painters and decorators quotes, you will be able to get details of how much preparation work is required and how long it will take to perform your exterior house painting project.
2. Look For Referrals / Testimonials
If you are looking to hire a professional company, your family and close friends are your best sources of information.
Speak to them to find out if they have someone who is a good fit to carry out your exterior painting home improvements – ask them who they would recommend.
They will be happy to share their positive experiences, and conversely, they will be equally eager to share their negative ones. Gather a list of highly recommended painters to contact.
You can also read what other people have to say about the exterior house painters that you are considering hiring by looking at review sites and trade directories.
You can view the reviews past customers have left on our own painters & decorator listings here.
Get a complete view of the service offered by them. Look at testimonials from several sources and look out for their average rating, including excellent work and negative reviews.
You will get an idea of a company’s high standard towards customer satisfaction by monitoring their response to customer’s unfavourable comments on their Facebook or Google Business profile.
Remember to check TrustPilot too.
3. Meet The Painter
On-site estimates are standard practice for many exterior house painting companies and master builders. You should steer clear of any decorator that offers you an estimate for the paint job without first seeing your house or commercial properties.
Keep an eye on how they perform their estimate. Are they checking everything from ground level or do they climb ladders to get a closer look at the exterior wall coating higher up your home. Are they studying the condition of the walls, window frames, fence etc.
You will obtain a more accurate free quote if they are paying attention to the smallest detail and not just hurrying through.
A brief walk around of your house looking at external walls or garden fence isn’t enough time for even expert painters to understand how much the job will cost.
4. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions
It would be wise to ask various questions when looking to hire someone to complete your exterior house painting.
You will have the opportunity to delve a little further and find out more about the company and the estimator in general when you decide to meet them in person for the first time.
If they are truly professional and value their customers, they won’t mind you asking questions. We have compiled a list of questions to ask exterior painters in another guide (with answers they should give).
Here are a few top line items to discuss with them:
- Do you do much exterior house painting?
- How many qualified painters (master craftsmen) do you have for this work?
- How long do you think it will take to complete the exterior painting project?
- What other resources (i.e. scaffolding) will be needed to do this job?
- After the exterior property has been painted, do you provide a guarantee to come and address any imperfections or issues?
- What will you do with any leftover paints?
- What are the terms of your warranty and insurance policy?
- What is the best masonry paint brand in your opinion?
5. Get A Contract
Once you have received a painter & decorating estimate that you are happy with, it is time to sign a contract with the exterior painting company.
Ensure the contract includes the contractor’s name, contact address, offices, official website, email, telephone numbers, and any trade license numbers.
There should be no ambiguity in the contract as to what is covered and not covered by the work.
As a supplement to the guarantee offered by paint manufacturers, most respectable professional painters will also offer a written guarantee to correct any flaking, blistering, chipping, or severe fading within a specified period.
As with your written estimate, the terms of your painting contract should be crystal clear. It should contain details such as the timetable, labour costs, material costs, and the amount of preparation required, among other things.
If they said they are fully insured, make sure the details of the insurance company is listed too.
Conclusion
Hiring exterior painters will save you the time and effort of doing your own external painting – and you should receive a quality finish.
Don’t just search for “external painters near me” on Google, then pick the first one.
Do your homework, speak to a few painters and decorators and weigh-up the importance of items such as cost, time schedule, and painting quality.
And remember, after your painting project is over, don’t forget to write a review online to aid future customers like you. If you got an excellent job done for a great price – let others know who did it!
