Hiring professional painters is a great investment for your home. Aside from ensuring that you’ll end up with a beautiful-looking paint job, you’re also ensuring that you’ll get high-quality results that will last for a long time, saving you money in the long run. Making a DIY project out of painting your home’s interiors might seem like a fun idea at first, but when you factor in the costs of materials and equipment you have to buy, the uncertainty of the results, and the time and effort it will take, you’ll realise just how big of a job it really is.

Home renovations are all the rage, as people are mostly reluctant to leave their current homes just to upgrade to larger and much nicer spaces. A big part of these renovations is the paint job. In fact, it’s the most affordable upgrade a homeowner can make that delivers a substantial impact in terms of improving aesthetics and raising the value of one’s home.

In this short feature, we’ll fill you in on some of the questions you need to be asking yourself when preparing your home for professional painting.

How much do painters cost?

Painters rely on a number of factors to determine a quotation price, the main one being the size of the room or house, including the number of levels and ease of access. From there, the contractor can determine the type and amount of paint required, the kind and number of tools to be used, the amount of scaffolding to prepare, and other special equipment needed. In addition to those, the walls are also inspected to determine how much prep work is needed before the actual painting can begin.

Where can I find painters for interior and exterior house painting?

While there are quite a number of professional painters, it’s best to check out their credentials. Are they accredited or certified by a recognised organisation in their field? Are they insured? Do they offer any workmanship warranty? These are important questions to ask, especially if you are planning on hiring them to paint your entire house. Don’t immediately hire the first company that you find on Google; read reviews, ask for referrals, and inspect your prospective contractor’s past projects, if possible.

When to call a professional to complete the project for you?

If you’ve started painting your home as a DIY project and found that working on it during weekends would mean having to wait several months to complete the job, maybe it’s time to call the professionals. And if by sheer determination you actually finished what you set out to do, but the paint started to peel off just a week later, then it’s definitely time to let the pros handle the job.

But what if you’ve already hired the contractor of your choice, signed the contract, paid the deposit, and agreed on the timeline? What do you have to do next to prepare your home for a professional paint job? Here’s a short list to help you get started.

• Move all the furniture away from the walls. If you can keep them in your garage or another area that won’t be painted, then do so to protect them from paint spatters. However, don’t worry about large items that are hard to take out from the room. Simply leave them at the center of the room and protect them with drop cloths.
• Remove any wall hangings, including the nails if you don’t plan on keeping them in the same position. However, don’t remove the nails if you want to keep them. Otherwise, the painters may inadvertently spackle the holes.
• Remove the curtains and blinds from your windows, as well as the rugs from your floor. Your contractor will use plastic sheets and drop cloths to protect your carpet, wood, tile, or stone floors.
• Lastly, make sure that there’s a clear path for painters to pass through into your house to avoid accidents that could cause paint to splash on your furniture and floors.

Having your home professionally painted is a worthy investment, indeed. You won’t just get a house that looks fresh and new, you’ll also be improving its value, which is fantastic in the event that you decide to sell it to another homebuyer. So, put some thought into hiring painting professionals that care about their work just as much as you care about your home.