Every week, someone calls asking for a price over the phone: a three-bedroom house, maybe a square footage, looking for the lowest number. It's a natural instinct — that's exactly how we shop for televisions. But a TV is the same product in every store. A paint job isn't.
“One three-bedroom house does not equal another three-bedroom house.”
The variables that move the price
Across two similar-sounding houses, those variables can add up to tens — in some cases hundreds — of hours of difference in the labor. A phone-quote price can only pretend those hours don't exist.
- How many rooms or elevations, and their size
- The number and type of windows and doors
- How many colors, and how dramatic the changes
- How much furniture and property must be protected
- The quality of paint specified
- Above all: how much surface preparation the job truly needs
Value, not price
The best deal does not necessarily mean the best price. Getting the best deal means getting the best value for the price: preparation done fully, premium materials, careful protection of your home, a written guarantee, and a contractor who will answer the phone in year four.
So compare what each proposal includes before you compare what each proposal costs. The cheapest bid that skips the preparation isn't a deal — it's a down payment on doing the job again.
Ready for a written scope of your own?