Five Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Painter in Boulder County This Winter

If you are getting bids for a paint job in Boulder, Longmont, Lafayette or Louisville this winter, you are going to hear a lot of confident numbers from a lot of confident people. I have been painting professionally since 2001, and I can tell you that the number on the bid tells you almost nothing about how the job will go. The answers to five questions tell you nearly everything. Here they are, with what a good answer sounds like.

Who buys the paint, and how do I know it is the grade on the estimate?

This is the first thing I would ask, because it is where the oldest trick in this trade lives. A painter quotes a premium product, then puts a cheaper paint into the premium cans on site. From the driveway, you cannot tell. The way you protect yourself is to hire someone who will show you the label and who takes the material cost on himself. On my jobs, I buy the paint directly, in the grade written on your estimate, and you are welcome to look at the cans any time you like.

Are the crews in-house, or day-of subcontractors?

Ask it exactly that way, because "we have a great team" is not an answer. Plenty of painting companies in Boulder County are one salesperson and a rotating list of subcontractors who get a text the night before. The crew that shows up has never worked together, has never worked for the person who wrote your estimate, and has no reason to care about the walk-through at the end.

Our crews are in-house. My three lead painters have more than 25 years with the company combined, and there are no day-of subcontractors. That is deliberate. Paint quality is a habit, not a technique, and habits form when the same people do the work together year after year. When I write your estimate, I already know the guys who will be in your house.

What exactly is your policy on cleanup, noise and protecting my property?

Most of what homeowners worry about is not the paint. It is the crew. Will the floors be covered. Will the shrubs under the windows survive. Will there be a radio going all day. Will the place be a mess every evening.

A good answer is specific. Floors covered and furniture draped before the first can is opened. Landscaping masked or worked around on exteriors. No loud music, no smoking, no drinking on the property. Site cleaned at the end of every day, not just the last one. If the painter cannot give you that list without thinking, he does not have a policy, he has a hope.

Does the owner do a separate final inspection?

A crew walk-through at the end of the job is normal. The question is whether anyone who is not on that crew looks at the work before you pay. On my jobs the crew walks the house with you, and then I come and do a separate walk-through with you. Two walk-throughs is a policy, not a favor. On those walks I usually point out things the homeowner did not even notice, because after this many years I know exactly where to look. Anything less than right gets fixed before the invoice.

What does the warranty cover, in writing?

Ask for it in writing and ask what it covers. Ours is a 5-year limited warranty on craftsmanship, written on the estimate, covering cracking, peeling, or uneven coverage due to workmanship. If a wall fails because of how we applied the paint, we come back and make it right. Verbal warranties are worth exactly what you paid for them.

While you are at it, ask about insurance. We are insured, and a certificate of insurance is available on request before you sign anything. Colorado does not license residential painting contractors, so insurance is the credential that matters here, and any painter should be willing to send you one.

Why these five questions matter more in winter

Winter in Boulder and Larimer counties is interior season. Exterior work in late fall depends on surface temperature and dry conditions. We schedule around weather windows and pause when conditions are not right. That means the painters you talk to between now and spring are mostly bidding interior work, and interior work is where a rushed crew does the most damage you will live with every day: roller marks on the hallway wall, trim that was not sanded, a second coat that went on while the first was still wet.

Two coats means two separate applications with full dry time between them. Not a wet-on-wet cross-hatch pass that gets called two coats and wears through in a couple of years. Ask any painter you are considering how they define two coats. The answer will tell you whether they are going to be around in year four when you have a question.

What I would do with the answers

Write them down next to each bid. A painter who answers all five directly, with specifics, is telling you how the job will actually go. A painter who gets vague on crews or warranty is telling you something too. The price difference between those two bids is usually smaller than people expect, and the difference in how the house looks in three years is not.

If you want to put those questions to me, call (720) 290-3513 or send a message through the contact page. We work out of Berthoud and serve Boulder, Longmont, Fort Collins, Lafayette, Louisville and the surrounding Boulder and Larimer county communities. I will come look at the actual house, and the estimate you get will match the conversation we had on your driveway.