It’s time for facility projects that need the experience, skills and knowledge of a painting contractor. How to sift through the ranks and choose the best painting contractor for your project? The answer is in their estimates.
Decide early on that you will only entertain 3 or 4 contractor bids. Anything more than that may take far too much time on your part because each one has to be met with separately, with details discussed and the selection process dragging on for a long time. This is not to say that you cannot “window-shop” for more. But the actual contractors you should shortlist should be limited to a few, and after culling them out from your window-shopping spree.
Secure from them a written work estimate, which details what they plan to do for your project. The estimates should be clear without being too technical in its presentation. The importance of this written document to you is that you should be able to understand what the painting contractor intends to do. During discussions of their estimates, ask questions and clarifications. The estimates not only outline the work to be done, and the painting contractor’s time plan. It should also provide price estimates.
This estimation process is critical to manage your requirements. A simple project can be viewed by you and the painting contractor in different ways. You may be driven by cost savings, and the painting contractor may be motivated by personal income generation. But at some point in the process, both of you need to have an intersecting motivation — that is quality work at a price comfortable to you both.
