My Painting Contractor Was Bad With Color

by Chris Richardson
(Pasadena, CA)

The first time we had to repaint our house was a complete disaster. We went through the phone book, interviewed several house painters, and selected one that seemed to be fast, and not too expensive.

The problems started as soon as the job started. The painting contractor's men were messy, and our house was a pile of dust, paper trash, scraped and sanded paint, and trash like latex gloves, empty paint cans.

But the worst part didn’t happen until after the primer was done, and the coats of paint started to go up. The colors didn’t even come close to matching our sample. They didn’t check, or even care, and they put us off time and time again. When the project was done, I had to withhold payment until they put on a final coat with the correct color.

As I look back, I’m happy that only took a few months to solve the problem, but it was a huge stress. We were in a hurry to get the job done, and the first time through, the painters were actually fast, and cheap. But in the long run, it needed to be done twice, over a period of four months, and furniture had to be moved again, and then put back when painting was finally done. It was double the bother.

If I did it again, I would work with a designer who understands paint and color, who has the knowledge to tell the painters that things are wrong and need to be re-done. I would also chose a different house painting company – even if they charged more – that could do the job right.

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