So many homeowners today undergo the time-consuming and sometimes challenging task of painting their home’s interior to save money. They go into the project under the impression that doing all the work themselves will save them big time. While it’s true that you won’t spend as much on labor costs if you do things this way, it doesn’t always save you money in the end. Below we’ll consider how hiring painters will cost you more in some ways but save you in others. Use this information to help you understand which option is right for you. We’ll also look at where to find residential painting in Queensland briefly so you can start tracking down a pro if you decide to go with that option.
Professionals Cost More
First and foremost, we want to highlight that hiring professional painters will cost you more in the end than doing all the work yourself will. You should be prepared to cover all the labor costs you would avoid by doing the work yourself. Even when you factor in the money saved on things like equipment rentals, and less wasted paint, you’ll still likely spend more money hiring experts than handling everything yourself. If you just want to spend as little money as you possibly can, this is the way for you to go. Just consider that you’ll invest a significant amount of time into the project; you’ll have to handle sourcing the paint and acquiring all the tools and equipment for the project, including ladders, scaffolding, brushes, paint dishes, and more. You’ll also have to deal with a less professional finish when the work is finally complete. As long as you’re okay with all of those things, you can move on to taking on the task yourself.
Consider The Cost of Fixing Painting Mistakes
When painting your home yourself, you’re going to make mistakes. Sometimes you’ll make serious mistakes. If you mess up prep or paint with a poor technique, you could damage your flooring, the trim in your home, and other surfaces you don’t want to be painted. Even if you prep everything perfectly, which isn’t likely, you’ll still likely end up with results that don’t match the professionals. They are professionals for a reason, after all. If you don’t need everything to be perfect, and you’re okay living with some imperfections in your finish, it could still make sense to take on the task yourself.
You Will Use More Paint and Supplies on Your Own
Since you aren’t a pro, you’ll likely use more paint than professionals to do the same job. You’ll go through more supplies, and you’ll spend far more on tools, equipment, and rentals than the professionals do to complete the job. When you factor in all these extra costs, the price difference between you doing the work yourself and hiring professionals becomes smaller. You’ll still save money doing the work yourself, but you might not save as much as you think!
You’ll Spend More Time and Enjoy the Results Less
Finally, you have to consider the time investment you’ll make to do this work. You’re going to be spending days of your time painting. You’ll be climbing up and down, moving things around, prepping, cleaning, and of course, applying paint. There is so much work involved in this process that you may not realize, and you have to decide if days of your time are worth the small savings you’ll achieve in the end. For many people, the answer is no.
Finding and Hiring a Professional
If you decide that hiring a professional is the right option for you, you’ll have to spend a bit of time tracking down the best option for you and your home. Start by talking with loved ones and asking for referrals and examples of work they’ve had done. This is often the fastest way to find great painters. If that doesn’t work, get on local review sites and look at customer reviews and photos to help you pinpoint a few companies you should be looking into. With that information available to you, you can move on to getting estimates, asking about timelines, looking through more samples, and eventually getting a contract from the company you choose to work with. This process takes some time, but when you have the right painter, you can rely on that company again and again and enjoy beautiful results every single time.
Doing the work yourself is a way to lower the cost of your next house painting project, but it’s not the best way to save. It’s often better to hire professionals to do the work and to make up the extra money through more work that you’re familiar with. If you love to paint and want the experience, go ahead and do the work yourself, but don’t think of it as a cost-saving tactic, because it isn’t worth it for just that reason alone.