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Need a Quote For Home Painting
NJ Area?
How To Understand Contractor Quotes For House Painting
 NJ painting quotes can vary a lot, but here's a simple way to understand them:Cheap, Fast, Good - you can have any two, but you can't have all three! That's just how the law of business works in reality.
And that is why there are no different price levels, only different levels of service.
Cheap and Fast - but it won't be good:
If you choose this option, you must be willing to sacrifice quality.
Because in order to do the job fast and cheap, and still make some profit, the painter has but one choice, and that is to cut corners everywhere:
- on surface preparation
(by skipping thorough scraping and sanding, caulking, priming, spackling, cleaning the surfaces, etc.);
- on materials
(by using the cheapest paints and sundries);
- on details
(by doing a production work vs custom work);
- on maintenance
(by not offering a guarantee or not honoring it, because he simply cannot afford to come back and correct mistakes, or he will lose money).
Cheap and Good - but it won't be fast:
If you choose this option, you'd better have a lot of patience, because you can only get such a deal either from a one man show painter, who will work on you house for what will seem like an eternity, or a desperate contractor, who will beat any price, overbook himself and then take forever to start on your project.
And in both cases, you can expect your painter/contractor to come for work at different times each day, or not come at all, as they are trying to juggle several projects simultaneously.
Fast and Good - but it won't be cheap:
Quality has its price.
It costs a contractor a lot more to do the job great, and fast:
- Quality materials are more expensive, but they will last longer and look better;
- Proper surface preparation takes time and requires specialized equipment and skills, but it will determine the end result;
- Professional workers are costly to staff, but they have the experience necessary to do the job right the first time.
"You get what you pay for" - this old adage still holds true for any product or service, including house painting. NJ painting contractors' quotes become less of a mystery when you look at them from this perspective.
"There is hardly anything in the world
that someone cannot make
a little worse and sell a little cheaper,
and the people who consider price alone
are that person's lawful prey.
It is unwise to pay too much,
but it is also unwise to pay too little.
When you pay too much,
you lose a little money, that is all.
When you pay too little,
you sometimes lose everything because
the thing you bought is incapable of doing
the thing you bought it to do.
The common law of business balance
prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...
It can't be done.
If you deal with the lowest bidder
it is well to add something for the risk you run.
And if you do that you will have enough
to pay for something better."
John Ruskin, 1819 – 1900
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