Gathering quotes is a smart way to begin a kitchen cabinet painting project, but the process can also be stressful. After getting estimates from several contractors, you may discover that quotes can vary wildly from company to another. As someone who may not be familiar with the industry, you might be wondering what is going on.
Simply put, homeowners tend to get what they pay for when it comes to the finished results of their project. Highly qualified residential painters tend to use high-end paint brands and techniques that lead to the desired finish and guarantee longevity. While you should expect to pay more for quality, this doesn’t mean that you should pay an outlandish price.
In fact, choosing the lowest quote can sometimes lead to shoddy results. Some fly-by-night contractors will give low bar quotes to reel in customers, but then they cut corners elsewhere. The last thing you want for this kind of project is someone using cheap paint or rushing through their work.
At Halls Quality Painting, we aim to give our customers the most return on their home improvement investment by offering transparent quotes that take into account the factors that truly matter. When people ask why we are one of the more affordable cabinet painters in Fernandina Beach FL, we can confidently explain these factors that can all impact why you get such dramatically different quotes among contractors in the area.
What Makes Your Painting Quotes So Different?
After years of working in the industry, we’ve heard just about every quote imaginable. Most of the time, we find that the wild variance among quotes comes down to several factors. Inexperienced contractors, incorrect labor and materials costs along with where you live could all impact the quote contractors give.
Dealing With Dishonest or Inexperienced Contractors
In all honesty, we prefer not to call any contractor bad, but there are some warning signs that you could be working with a less-than-reputable painting company. If you receive an extremely low quote, then the painter might be doing what they can to reel you in. Then, they may ask for more money later.
Being Required to Pay for Supplies
Alternatively, some painters offer low quotes but ask homeowners to buy the paint themselves. Professional cabinet painters should never do this, since we can often get lower costs for paint that we can pass on to our customers. Plus, we have access to high-end brands that aren’t always accessible at your local hardware store.
Over or Underestimating Labor
With cabinet painting, most painting companies calculate the labor based upon man hours. This means that they’ll consider how much painting the average person can do in an hour. Then, they’ll determine how many crew members may need to work on the project, which takes into consideration factors such as the timeline and size of your kitchen.
Man hours are hard to calculate, which means that an inexperienced company might underestimate how long the project will take. This means that you might receive a low quote but still regret choosing the company to handle the job when your kitchen is out of operation for months.
Meanwhile, some companies overestimate the cost to avoid this mishap. The issue with this is that you could be paying more than you should for a project that is done within a day with only one or two painters.
Bonus Point: Compare Less Obvious Factors
The quote is only one aspect of choosing cabinet painters to consider. You might also choose to ask about warranties. A company that stands behind their work and offers guarantees on the project is more likely to take each step seriously.
As you compare quotes and companies, take your time to ask about the paint brands they use. You can also ask to see a portfolio of the company’s finished work or to read some testimonials from past customers. Checking out online reviews can also give you insight into how a company treats their customers throughout every stage of a kitchen cabinet painting project.
Now that you’ve learned more about why quotes may seem so different among painting companies in the Fernandina Beach FL area, it’s important to take your time assessing the ones you get. Our team at Halls Quality Painting is proud to offer free estimates on cabinet painting projects, and we’ll take our time to carefully walk you through each aspect of how we came up with the quote for your home. Reach out for your estimate today to begin planning a project that leaves you satisfied with the finished results.