Hiring a Contractor

Before hiring a contractor to paint your kitchen or bathroom cabinets, there are some questions you need to ask. There are things you will want to take into consideration. Having your kitchen remodeled, whether it will be complete new kitchen, or painting your cabinets, it is stressful and time-consuming. It can also be very costly.

As a decorative painter, I have experienced a few pitfalls while working on cabinets. Customers, painting contractors, and designers hire me to apply a custom finish on their cabinets after they have approved a sample I have prepared for them. I hire a painting contractor to do the cabinet preparation, and painting for my projects before I apply any decorative paint or glaze. In most cases, I used my painting contractors. I know the quality of their work and their ability to work with me on a tight schedule. Sometimes client insist they use the painting contractor they have used for years or a friend referred them to someone. It always came with some major problems.

Unfortunately, they are putting their trust in them, but they are not always getting the quality of work for the money they are paying. Nothing is always perfect, and there will be some honest mistakes. If you know what to ask the painting contractor or what to look for ahead of time, you can have more confidence in the person you hire to do the work you expect and deserve.

Checklist

Here are the problems I have experienced on the job that can compromise the quality of the work.  This checklist will help you with a few things to consider or ask before you hire someone to paint your cabinets.

• How will they prepare the room before they start the job? Make sure everything in the room will be covered to protect from dust. Rooms need to be closed off appropriately so dust does not travel. And, it will!
• Are all of the imperfections filled correctly and sanded smooth?
• If the cabinets require priming first, make sure a good complete coat of primer covers all of the wood. If it is too thin, the paint does not lay on the wood as well. It will cause flashing (dull spots on the cabinet surface after paint gets applied ).
• Is the dust vacuumed and everything cleaned up before paint will be applied? It is almost impossible to have a dust free environment. However, it will help the painted from getting added dust particles in the paint.
• Will you have your counter tops replaced, new appliances installed, or new lighting put in before or after you paint your cabinets?
• How will your fresh painted cabinets be protected from scratches, nicks and dings while contractors are working? This sometimes get overlooked and some contractors don’t take the extra care needed to be careful with the other contractors work.
• If there is any damage, will the painter fix the problem first then worry about who is billed for it? Will they provide touch-up service for minor fixes?
• If employees will be doing the work, will they be supervised and the work checked throughout the project?

Research 

It is a good rule of thumb to do some research first. References and referrals are the best place to start looking for qualified painting contractors. There is always some truth to the saying, “You get what you pay for.” Or, “Cheaper is not always better.”