Work is busy watch out
Ryan Amato
Commercial Painting and Epoxy Estimator @ Lehigh Valley Epoxy Coatings | Paint Coatings, Anti-Microbial Coatings
Beware of the painting estimate
One thing about the contracting business right now is there is plenty of work for everyone which is a great thing or is it?
When you have a surplus of work it means pricing can sometimes go down which could be a good thing for a homeowner but guess what it also means a few bad things which we will list below.
- A surplus of work means lack of qualified painters, with young people not going into the trades as much, as usual, it had become a market of unqualified labor.
- Anyone is starting a painting company and can have work, but the bad thing is they are not experienced at business and when you have an issue down the road will they still be in business to correct it?
- Those companies are driving down pricing which again pays for the experienced painters leaving room for unqualified labor to create issues throughout the area
- Those companies are giving estimates that are incorrect, impossible to do a project correctly and changing the industry pricing for the entire area for the time being.
Remember the lowest price usually does not mean the same type of work as the other companies, when you go shopping for a car and look at a BMW and then go to a base model from Ford you cannot expect to get the same quality car, why do you think this is different when working with contractors?
Someone made homeowners believe a contractor is a commodity and we can simply shop from one to the next by simply choosing the lowest price. if someone is choosing the lowest priced contractor I would be leery of working with that client
Of course, I am generalizing here, not every new contractor is bad and not every contractor who has been around is good.
Here are some tips when having an estimate done.
- Be home at the estimate to discuss your expectations
- Develop good communication with the estimator
- Be open and honest on what you need and want
- If your simply shopping prices, let them know up front, they may not want to be a party in that and we can all save some time
- Let them know what is most important to you
- Have you had any issues with contractors in the past?
Simply being open and honest can save a whole lot of issues and missed expectations down the road, no one wants a bad job and no contractor wants to work for a "difficult" client who really is one where the expectations weren't discussed or met