Finding good painters near you can be challenging. How do you know if they’ll do the whole job? Are they insured? Do they have a good reputation? Here are a few ways you can be sure you’re finding a good local painter.
Get a Referral
The first step to finding a good painter is to speak to people you know who have had their house painted. Nothing will work better for your peace of mind than knowing that someone you trust has had a positive experience with a particular local painter. This is especially true if you can view the work yourself. You may want to ask your family and friends who have recently had their house painted if you can come to look at the house. If the house looks good and they had a positive experience with the painter, you can contact them to get a quote for your home.
There are many people in your lives who likely have a handyman, painter, or other craftsmen that they have had either very good or very bad experiences with, so it is best to tap into that experience before you go off searching for local painters for yourself.
Check the Internet
Sometimes it can be hard to find someone you trust who has their house painted recently. You may also have the problem where people have had their house painted but are not willing to recommend the person that they worked with. Thankfully, there are other ways for you to find trusted professionals in your area.
If you search the internet, you will find a number of different websites that assist homeowners in finding the professionals that will best suit their project. There are sites like Angie’s List, which help homeowners by only using verified reviews from other homeowners. Sites that are similar to this model are sites like Houzz which allows you to search for professionals according to your needs and your location. Others, like Yelp, work more generally for businesses to create pages where satisfied customers can leave reviews. There are even sites like Thumbtack, where local professionals can upload profiles with their credentials and schedules so you can hire them right from the platform.
Of course, you also utilize social media. Platforms like Facebook are great for recommendations from a wider circle than the people that you speak to regularly. You may also utilize apps like Nextdoor, which allow you to speak to your neighbors about their experiences with local professionals.
Something important to keep in mind is that a company will not always have perfect reviews. No company can please everyone, and it is normal for one or two unsatisfied customers to post a review stating their experience. What you want to look out for is consistency. If all of their reviews lean negative or if there is something in particular that reviews keep mentioning, perhaps it is better to go with someone else.
It can be a pain to sift through reviews like this but it is worth it when you find reviews that actually go into detail about the company. Some reviewers will go as far as to post photos of the job the painters did for proof of their positive (or negative) experience. Others will detail names, times, or specific issues that arose as they dealt with the painters. Very often, when a company excels at solving problems as they arise, their reviews will be a reflection of their ingenuity.
Walk (or Drive) Around
Maybe you’re not the kind of person who likes going on the internet for reviews. Perhaps you have doubts about the local painters that you’ve looked at and would like some live proof of a job well done. Something that you can always do is walk around–or drive around–your neighborhood to see if there are any houses being painted. Many companies will post a sign somewhere on the property when they are painting a house. If not, you can always go up to one of the painters and ask them about their company. From there, you can cross-verify the companies that you are impressed with through word-of-mouth or a quick internet search.
One of the Best Local Painters
Have Paint Brush, Will Travel is a local painter that is dedicated to providing quality service every time. If you are interested in learning more about what we do and how we can give your home the refresh you’ve been looking for, contact us today.
