By EA Paint & Light Carpentry6 min read
At a glance
- Typical timeAverage
- An evening of checks and calls
- Verify
- Business record, insurance from agent
- Estimates
- Two or three, written and itemized
- Red flag
- Most of the payment upfront
Times are rough averages for planning only. Every house is different — size, condition, repairs and weather all change it. Your written estimate gives the actual schedule for your job.
How do you choose a good painting contractor?
Check that the business is registered with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, get a certificate of insurance sent by the agent, and ask for lead-safe credentials on pre-1978 homes. Then compare written, itemized estimates, ask who will do the work and how rot is priced, and call references from nearby jobs.
Start with what you can verify yourself
A painter can tell you anything on the phone. The useful checks are the ones you can make without taking anyone’s word for it, and most take only a few minutes.
Look up the company on the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth corporate database. If it is a corporation or LLC, it should appear there with its name, its entity number, the date it was organized and whether it is in good standing. Make sure the name on the estimate matches the name on the record. The same check applies to every contractor, including us — search for EA Paint & Light Carpentry, Inc.
Massachusetts has a Home Improvement Contractor registration program; ask whether it applies to your job and check any registration number on mass.gov.
Insurance: ask for the certificate, from the agent
Ask for a certificate of insurance showing general liability and workers’ compensation, and ask that it be sent to you directly by the contractor’s insurance agent, with you listed as the certificate holder. A certificate that comes from the agent is current; a photocopy from a truck may not be.
Liability insurance covers damage to your property. Workers’ compensation covers people hurt on the job, and painting involves ladders and roofs. Massachusetts generally requires employers to carry it. If a contractor says they do not need it because they have no employees, ask who will actually be on your ladders.
Lead-safe work on older Massachusetts homes
Federal rules require lead-safe work practices for paid renovation and painting that disturbs paint in most homes built before 1978, and Massachusetts runs its own lead-safe renovation program through the Department of Labor Standards. Rather than relying on a contractor’s description, ask for their lead-safe renovation credentials and how they contain dust, scrape and clean up each day.
This matters around here. In Westborough and Boylston, for example, 57% of homes were built before 1980, and in Worcester it is 77%. If your house is older, assume the paint may contain lead until it has been tested.
Tip: Ask how the work area will be contained and cleaned up each day. A contractor who works lead-safe can describe it in specifics.
The estimate: written, itemized and specific
A good estimate is written after someone has walked the house and says what will be done, not only what it costs. Without a written scope, you have no way to compare bids or to hold anyone to what was promised.
Rot deserves its own line. On many older houses, some of the trim is soft under the paint, and the most common source of disputes on a painting job is what happens when a painter finds it. The better estimates name the pieces already known to need repair and price them, and say how anything found later will be priced and approved before the work is done. That way a surprise is a decision you make, not a bill you receive.
- Which surfaces and rooms are included, and which are not
- The preparation: washing, scraping, sanding, priming, caulking
- The paint products by name and the number of coats
- Carpentry and rot repair listed by item, with a price or a unit price
- How surprises are handled: a written change order before extra work starts
- Start date, expected length and cleanup
Questions to ask before you sign
Ask every contractor the same questions, and compare the answers as carefully as the prices.
Who will do the work?
- A good answer
- Names the crew or subcontractors
- A warning sign
- Vague, or nobody you will meet
How is rot handled and priced?
- A good answer
- Itemized, with change orders in writing
- A warning sign
- “We will see when we get there”
Can I see your insurance?
- A good answer
- Certificate sent by the agent
- A warning sign
- A photo of an old card
Is this a lead-safe job?
- A good answer
- Explains containment and credentials
- A warning sign
- Says it does not matter
Can I call local references?
- A good answer
- Recent jobs in or near your town
- A warning sign
- None, or only out-of-state
What is the payment schedule?
- A good answer
- Modest deposit, balance on completion
- A warning sign
- Most or all of it upfront
References, payment and who shows up
References are most useful when they are recent and local. A painter who has worked on houses like yours, in your town or the next one, has dealt with the same weather and housing stock. Ask the reference whether the job started and finished when promised, whether the crew cleaned up, and how surprises were handled. If you can, drive by and look at the trim up close.
For payment, a common pattern is a deposit at signing, sometimes a progress payment on a larger job, and the balance when the work is complete and you have walked it together. Be wary of any contractor who wants most of the money before the work starts.
Ask, too, who will actually be at your house. Some companies send the same people who gave the estimate; others use subcontracted crews. Either can work well, but you should know which, who is in charge on site day to day, and whether the subcontractors are covered by insurance. The person who walked your house and wrote the scope should be reachable while the job is under way.
Red flags to walk away from
Most bad experiences with painters were visible before the contract was signed, in how the estimate was written and how the questions were answered. Any one of these is a reason to slow down; several together are a reason to keep looking:
- No written estimate, or a single number with no description of the work
- Pressure to sign today to get a special price
- Cash only, or payment requested to a personal name rather than the business
- A large payment due before any work starts
- No certificate of insurance, or reluctance to have the agent send one
- No business record you can find, or a name that does not match the paperwork
- Door-to-door offers using leftover paint from a job nearby
- A price far below the others with no explanation of what is left out
Getting estimates that are worth comparing
Get two or three estimates, give every contractor the same information, and ask each to walk the whole house, including the trim you suspect is soft. Compare scope before totals: the lowest bid is often the one that left out priming or rot repair. Then choose the contractor whose answers you could verify, and whose estimate tells you exactly what you are paying for. A free, written estimate from any painter should make that comparison possible.
Before you sign, read the contract once more against the estimate. The scope, the products, the price, the payment schedule, the start date and how changes are approved should all be written down, and both of you should have a signed copy. If something you discussed on the walk-around is not on the paper, ask for it to be added.
Talk to a local crew
EA Paint & Light Carpentry is a painting and light carpentry company based in Northborough, MA. If you would like the house looked at, call (508) 466-5846 or request a free written estimate. Related services: Interior Painting, Exterior Painting, Light Carpentry & Wood Repair.
