Most of us have found ourselves needing to get some painting done, but were undecided if we should tackle the project ourselves, or call in a professional painting company. Painting is not a complicated endeavor, but really good painting takes practice, experience, and the right tools.

Today we will offer some criteria that may be useful in making your decision. We will help shed some light on the advantages of doing something yourself, versus hiring a pro. In most instances, the decision will come down to quality, ability, and price.

How Do I Decide If I Should Hire a Professional Painting Company?

Generally, you will want to make a few decisions prior to this one, as it will simplify the process. First, you need to decide how critical the project is. Are guests arriving soon, or do you have months to make your decision? Hiring a painting company will usually be much faster, especially if the project is large. However, if you wait to book your appointment until the busy season, you might find the wait frustrating.

Let’s say you have a few months to get your project done. Now you need to decide if your time and effort is worth what you will save financially by doing the work yourself. Don’t forget to add additional time to the project if you will not have the appropriate tools like ladders, walkboards, and paint sprayers.

Now let’s assume you have done the math and determined that you will save 1800.00 by doing the project yourself. A project that large is going to take awhile, so you’ll need to dedicate the appropriate time and energy to the project. Depending on the project, it might be possible to do it on a weekend, or over a vacation.

Let’s say you decide you do have the time, so the real question is would you pay yourself 1800.00 to paint your home? Remember, to be fair you must also be able to finish the work in the same amount of time or faster or the project will become more expensive for you. If you don’t own scaffolding or whatever tools you’ll need, you’ll have to add that cost in too.

Once you’ve done the math, you might find you are only saving a small percentage of the project cost doing the work yourself. Plus, we aren’t assuming you can make more money at your job than you can save on your painting project. If so, the decision to hire a pro becomes a little simpler.

What Am I Paying For With a Painting Company?

At first glance, we might not give a painting company its due respect because we think the work is something we can do ourselves. Painting isn’t brain surgery, so we tend to hire professional paint companies out of convenience. However, painting professionals will not just perform the work faster than you can. They will have the training that keeps them and you safe.

Unless you climb ladders and traverse walkboards daily, you can assume that pro painters will be more adept than you will be with these tools. Inexperience can lead to mistakes, and mistakes can lead to accidents. The pros have all the necessary safety gear and the training to use it. This keeps both of you safer and keeps dangerous jobs for those prepared to do them.

Perhaps the single most benefit from hiring a pro painter is the quality. Pros spend years honing their skills to make them better, faster, and safer. You’ll usually get a free consultation with these companies as well, so you get to pick the brains of experts for free. Often they can prevent you from making an expensive mistake, but their services are often offered at no charge.

If You Can, Hire a Painting Company

Obviously financial constraints can force us to do some projects ourselves. But, when you combine the quality, safety, labor, and speed a professional paint company provides, doing the work yourself becomes pretty hard to justify.

However, many creatives just want the experience of trying painting for the first time, or just want to learn something new. If this is the case, definitely go for it. Painting is a very rewarding and satisfying home improvement project. The pros know this too, which is why they do it for a living.