Tips on Hiring Your Next Contractor

Choosing the right contractor for any project around your home or business can be an overwhelming task. One reason is because of all the options that are available to today’s consumers. Whether you are getting a new roof or remodeling the kitchen, you definitely want to filter through the options and choose a reputable contractor that you can trust and that you will feel comfortable with having in or around your home or business. A second reason is that you know that if you choose the “wrong” contractor you will regret the experience of having work done on your home. It will lead to headaches. It will for sure be an experience that you will soon want to forget.

Here are six tips that will aid you in hiring that next contractor for any project:

1. Hire an Insured Contractor – This is no different than driving your vehicle without having insurance. Bottom line, it’s dangerous for both you and the contractor. Who will be liable if damage occurs? Accidents do happen and the risk is by no means worth it.

2. Get Some References – An honest, trustworthy contractor should have some past clients that he has worked for. Ask to see a list of testimonials or references. This will ensure you are hiring someone with a proven reputation.

3. Get a Detailed, Written Estimate – A detailed written or typed estimate will save headaches and misunderstandings. Make sure you understand every detail of the estimate and contract. Simply getting a price over the phone or handed to you on the back of a business card is ludicrous.

4. Ask About Experience – Don’t be afraid to ask the contractor some questions about their experience in their particular trade and more specifically the type of work you are having done. You don’t want your project to be the experimental project.

5. Product Options – Ask the contractor about the products he is going to use on your project. Which ones does he have experience using? Which ones are best for your project? These are simple questions that an experienced, knowledgeable contractor won’t hesitate to answer.

6. Compare Apples to Apples – This is the last and most important tip. When getting multiple quotes, which is always a good idea, compare the companies equally. Compare the details of the estimate. Not all estimates are equal and just like many other things in life, you get what you pay for!

Hiring someone to work on your home or business is an investment. Making a mistake and hiring the wrong contractor can cause headaches and unneeded stress. Hiring the right contractor can make the project an enjoyable experience that you will never forget.

Capital City Airport Welcome Center

We are going to introduce a new category to our blog called “Projects At a Glance”. We will post tidbits about current and sometimes past projects that may be of interest. So, here we introduce to you our first “Projects At a Glance” post.

This project took place at the Capital City Airport several months ago. The project involved basically taking the old gift shop area, which is right in the center of the airport, and revamping it into a room that would be shared by the welcome center and a travel agency.

The first step was to remove the majority of the slat walls, rehang and finish some new drywall.

The drywall was severely damaged upon the tear down of the slat walls, so repair was not the best option. Installing new drywall took about the same amount of effort and in the end gave us a fresh “canvas” to paint.

Not all the walls received new drywall. Two slat walls remained intact for the welcome center side. The headers and casings around the glass doors and a few of the columns had old, painted wallpaper that was removed, the walls were cleaned, and surfaces patched in preparation for painting. Just as stated in another blog post found here, preparation is key to making any project look beautiful. We definitely had no shortage of patching on this project.

The next step involved priming the walls with a latex primer. Two coats of a Sherwin Williams Pre-Catalyzed epoxy were applied to the walls for the finish coat. This product was chosen to give the wall surface a tough commercial grade finish that would hold up to the traffic that a heavily used facility like the airport would receive.

The slat walls that were to remain were primed with an extremely tough bonding primer and received the same finish coat product as the drywall. The mauve colored door was updated to a satin black finish. Last, but not least, black vinyl base was installed to match the black door.

As you can tell from the pictures, the newly renovated Welcome Center/Travel Agency project looks distinctively more updated. The new colors, the removal of the wallpaper, the new ceiling, and especially the black on the door and base, portray the area as a more modern looking room.

So, next time you are traveling through the Capital City Airport, take a peek into the new Welcome Center Area.

To learn more about Southern Michigan Painting, you can visit us at our About page. Feel free to contact us about any of your upcoming painting projects. We offer Free Consultations for every project.