Molto Bene (quality) work vs. Scadente (Italian for poor quality) work

Whether someone is painting to put a house on the market to sell, or painting to protect and enhance the looks of their property, most people wisely get more than one estimate. 

But what should they be looking for when comparing estimates?  When someone says they do quality work, what does this involve or should it involve? What if one is selling the house, wouldn’t a “cheapo” job suffice?

Why Paint? The basic reason for painting is to protect the surfaces of your home.  After that, to enhance the looks of your home, to please you, your neighbors etc. While aesthetics are usually the first thing people notice, the preparation, application and quality of materials used will determine how long it will look nice. It’s a fact that a paint job increases the value of the property many times over the cost of the actual paint job. Whether you are buying or selling or holding onto a home, painting is one of the better investments one can make.  

Why Quality? Having quality work done comes down to the fact that the painter should be spending the proper amount of man hours and material to make your house look its best and have it continue to look that way. A good example is a well-painted Victorian house.  They look terrific – whole books are dedicated to these paint jobs. Multi-colored trim, all wood smooth and even, colors coordinated. We’ve all seen these types of houses. On the flip side I have seen a Victorian house that had just been “painted”. They had only scraped the loose paint off and painted right over the gouges with minimal preparation. Truth is, the house looked better before it was painted, as the new lighter color made the older chipped siding more conspicuous. This would be “Scadente”.

What is a quality paint job?

Prep wise: 

	A quality painter will work with client to get color sampling done before starting the paint process, to ensure the colors will be pleasing.
	Pressure washing the house to remove all loose material.
	Scrubbing areas that have mold and mildew with bleach to kill it off. (And adding a mildewcide to the paint as needed to keep it from returning)
	Scraping and sanding. Using a sander to sand and smooth edges on wood surfaces.
	Priming, filling with patch and priming again as needed
	Removing loose material on stucco surfaces and patching out stucco areas as needed with stucco patch, and filling hairline cracks with elastomeric material to keep them from returning
	Sanding and patching windows and trim, and reglazing windows as needed on older frames.
	Caulking liberally on all seams of the house.
	Sanding doorsills, and either paint or restain
	On an older house with shutters and wood garage doors ensuring the back sides of wooden shutters and garage doors are at least primed as this is a source of moisture entering, which causes the exposed surfaces to break down. All surfaces should be sealed.

Priming/Painting: 

	Using a proper primer for the surfaces as needed, (i.e., if the surface has oil paint use an oil primer).
	Painting 2 coats (not one) on all surfaces. (Why? The first coat usually soaks in; the second gives an even surface. Also, there is the factor of millage (thickness of material on a surface). If you were buying tires which tire would you expect to last longer -- a one ply or two ply tire?)
	Proper choice of paint.  It should be 100% acrylic. For the body of house, it should be flat or low sheen. For trim and heavy wear items, some degree of gloss for better protection.
	Painting trim items such as mailbox, lights, fences, and walkways to enhance the overall job

The above should give you an idea of what a quality paint job is and why you might want one. Based on this, you can check these things against both the expensive guy and the cheapo guy to see who does what and make your choice.

Very important, always check references, and wherever possible go look at some work, both recently done and a few years old. That will tell you what you can expect.

-- Kevin

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