Did you know that painting contractors have the highest rate of customer complaints amongst the trades?

1) License Number: This question is important, if the contractor is not licensed it is ILLEGAL for them to do work on your home for any amount over $500 labor and materials. The California State Licensing Board states that, “Unlicensed contractors pose a risk to your financial security because they expose you to significant financial harm in the event of injury or property damage. Few unlicensed contractors have bonding or workers' compensation insurance. Visit the contractor state license board website at: www.cslb.ca.gov click on free consumer information and enter their license number or call 800) 321-CSLB.

2) Workman’s compensation policy number, expiration date, phone number, do you subcontract the work? It is important that they have workman’s compensation. Call their workman’s compensation company and check how many employees are covered by their policy. SharpLine Painting has found that many contractors have multiple crews and are only claiming one or two employees on their workman’s compensation and thus if one of the other employees gets injured the workman’s compensation will do nothing to protect the homeowner’s assets.

3) Liability Insurance carrier, policy number, expiration date, phone number: Important that they are still covered by this policy. It is also wise to check if they have any major claims against it and the nature of those claims.

4) How many crews do you have, how long has the head of each crew been with you? SharpLine Painting has heard too many complaints about contractors, even if they had great referrals. The reason is that the homeowner would not get the same crew that had done fantastic jobs previously. This is a major reason that “Painting contractors have the highest rate of customer complaints amongst the trades.”1 Attrition in the painting business is large; most company’s employee retention is under one year. It is very important that the actual crew that you get has a proven track record, regardless of how long the company has been in business.

5) How many painters do you have on each crew? This is one of the most important questions. Customers complain that there are no good contractors and in the same breath communicate that they are looking for the work to be done cheap. In contracting the statement “you get what you pay for” is true ninety-five percent of the time. This question in combination with question 7 gets to the heart of that question. An average sized home, 1600 sq. ft., with average prep should take a crew of three, four to five days to paint, a total of 12-15 man days. Any less time than this will create a cheaper price, and an inferior job with much less quality. Moreover, instead of painting every 10-15 years, you will have to paint every 2-3 years.

6) How is a crew structured, what are your foreman’s names?
(example: 1 foreman, 1 assistant)
Ultimately, the foreman is in charge of the time taken to make sure that the job is done right and that no paint is applied before the home is prepped. The average foreman is paid between $20-$35/hour. The average assistant is paid $10-$25/hour. The average laborer is paid $7-$15/hour. Prep, scraping, sanding, and priming is not rocket science, however it is the most important part of the job. The best crew structure is 1 foreman, 1 assistant, and 1 laborer. With payroll tax, workman’s compensation, liability insurance, overhead, and company profit the average legitimate quality painting company will receive between $32-$42 per hour that they are on your job. Does that seem like a lot? Would you work for less than $15/hour, that’s what the labor cost is for a company charging $35/hour. If you wouldn’t work for less than $15/hour would you trust someone that would accept less to work on your most valuable asset? If they are not getting more than $10 it is because they lack the talent or skills to do so, if they had the ability to get more they would. Is that really someone you want working on your home?

7) How many days will this project take you? The owner of California Select worked as a consultant to the construction industry and found that many companies would get jobs purely by doing them quicker. Doing a job quick and being efficient are two different things. The best companies are the most efficient, however will not necessarily be the quickest. Find out how many men are on a crew and how many days will it take that crew. You now know that the industry average is $32-$42/hour and that the average home takes 12-15 man days. Therefore if your job will take 12 man days and the average rate is $35/hour you will pay as follows. Ex. 12 man days 15 man days
x 8 hours/day x 8 hours/day
96 hours 120 hours
x $35/hour x $45/hour
$3360 $5400
+ $500 average materials + $500 average materials
$3860 Ex. $5900
The average home will cost between $3860 and $5900 depending on prep, color changes, window types and other factors that determine how long the contractor will spend to complete the job to the level of quality that they choose. If the contractor says that it will take a three man crew five days and he is charging less than $4200 (120 hours* $35/hour) check that all of his employees are covered by workman’s compensation and on his current crews quality.

8) Which crew will be painting my home? It is important to get the same crew that painted the homes that the referrals have come from, in addition this corresponds with experience and track record. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how long the company has been in business if they have new employees every six months. According to the California State Licensing Board, “contractors may not have the expertise and qualifications to do the job right the first time. You could end up having to hire a licensed, reputable contractor to correct the work-and paying for the job twice.”

9) Name and address of the homes they will be working on in the next two weeks. It is important to go by and see how clean they keep a job site and talk to the homeowner during and after the project to see if they are happy. Every painting company has a few happy clients that they can give as referrals, is the average homeowner happy?

10) Name and address of three homes that they painted over two years ago. The true test of a paint job is if it stands the test of time. Anyone can make a house look good when they leave, but how long does it last. If the job is not done right, particularly the prep it will fail within the first two years. Would you prefer to pay $4200 to paint your house every 10 years or $2800 to paint your home every two? If they are claiming that their employees have been with them for over two years they should have no problem finding these homes and clients address, and phone number. It is important to call them and ask them if they were happy and drive by and see how durable the finish is.

Ask yourself if their bid is detailed. Do they reference materials used? Prep work done? Sealants used? If they pass this 10 question test and have a detailed contract you have found a solid contractor!!!!

Pitfall: A recent trend is for contractors that don’t meet the criteria listed above to offer long warranties so that you “know you’re safe”, most of the time the warranty that they offer is the warranty on the back of the paint can. Therefore, if your home fails they will tell you to call the maker of the paint. Nine times out of ten the paint manufacturer comes out and tells you the paint was applied wrong and that the house was not prepped correctly. Even if they find that it is a material failure they will only hand you a can of paint ($10-$25). Make sure that the warranty is on labor and materials and they have at least been in business for a longer period than their warranty. A simple way to determine how long they’ve actually been in business is their license number numbers greater than 780000 were not in business before 2000.