If it’s about time to have the house painted, you are most likely wondering the obvious: find a professional painter or do the job yourself? Let’s be honest here. Both options have their pros and cons. There’s no such thing as a perfect solution.
Think about the variables too. It has to do with the skills of the painters too. It has to do with how much a painting company will charge you. It’s all related to your own DIY painting skills as well. Also, how big or small your house is. And whether you opt only for an interior painting service or want the exterior walls refreshed too.
Have you realized what we’ve just put on the table? In two words, a lot!!! Anything from your spare time available and skills to your budget and the local painting contractors plays a role in your decision. So, let us not waste any more time. Let’s see the considerations, the pros and cons, the concerns about DIY painting vs professional painting service. Only then, can you decide.
The home painting procedure
While not a rocket science, the home painting procedure includes many steps – inspecting the surface, drywall repairs, cleaning, caulking, sanding, priming, and painting. And although all such steps seem to be simple, they are not. Why? Not all surfaces are the same. If you plan a DIY painting job, you need to be sure you know details about the material, which paints to use, how much paint to apply, how to fix drywall – the works.
With a professional home painting contractor on the job, you don’t worry about any of it. The contractors take over and do what needs to be done. Of course, the consideration here is to find painters that do know the job, have the experience to deliver excellent results, and are committed to take any step needed in order to perfectly smooth and finish the walls.
The house painting results
If you want an exterior painting service as well, things get tougher. If you want special textures for the interior, the job is not as easy as applying a white acrylic paint. So, you really need to question your skills before you take over yourself. The whole point of this project is to refresh the interior and exterior of your house, to improve its appearance, to address damage and drywall problems.
The considerations at this point are your safety when working on tall ladders or removing popcorn ceilings. Painting the exterior is particularly hard and may become dangerous. Same thing inside the house, especially when you paint ceilings or if the rooms are tall.
The advantage of hiring a painting company is that you don’t take risks either with your safety or the results. As long as you find a pro team, good painters, it’s far more preferable to leave the job to them. It’s convenient too. Painting takes some time, if you DIY – time you most likely don’t have. And as you see your weekends going away and the job still unfinished, you will get tired, hurry to finish, making a small or big mess.
The painting cost
Perhaps, the strongest incentive for DIY painting projects is the money. It’s the cost of hiring painting contractors vs DIY. No doubt. If you paint the home alone, you will only pay for the paints & tools. If you hire a company, you need a larger budget.
So, it all comes back to whether you have some painting skills or not. If you are really apt for the job or not. Because if you are not absolutely sure about your capacities and skills, hiring pro painters might end up costing you less. How come?
If your experience as a DIY painter is limited, you may make mistakes when choosing the products or mixing the coatings. The result might not be good, forcing you to find a pro, after all – hence, doing the job yourself + paying a painter. What’s the point, you’d be asking yourself then but it’d be too late!
The verdict?
Clearly, assigning the house painting service to a pro team is in your best interest – any way you see it, unless you are a very experienced handyman and the job is not very demanding either. And so, the only thing you need to do is find the painters. And that’s definitely a DIY task.