Summer Web Theme

If you are wondering why this summer you see a little bit of artwork on our home page: sun, umbrella, sandals and a beach ball, don't be too alarmed. We just like keeping our site and company updated at all times. We are constantly updating our site with fresh content. We are an active paint company here in San Diego and make it a point to always look the best and be the best in the paint industry. When you hire Chism Brothers Painting for your painting needs, you will always get fresh ideas, good color choices and fantastic customer service! We love what we do, and hope to serve you soon too!

By the way, the sandals and beach ball are a little hidden on the home page. Can you find them? 

A Few Tips on Hiring a Professional Painter in San Diego in Today’s Market

Before hiring a painter for your next paint project, ask yourself this one question: "What kind of painting company do I want to hire?" Now I know what you are thinking. "Ah...I want a good one!" Was I right? Well, of course you want a painting company to do a good job for you but finding a "good one" in this market is not as easy as you may think. Lets dig a little deeper and determine the specific type of paint contractor that is right for you! 

I like to put painting contractors in three categories: A true professional, a paint company who has employees and does a decent job, and, what I would call "a bucket and brush" painter.

Bucket and Brush Painter 

You've all seen a bucket and a brush painter more than once in your life. In fact, you will typically see him (or her) most days except Mondays! He will typically show up in a rust-infested hatchback sedan, leave when he feels like it and get the job done when there is no surf or the rent is due. When he decides to begin painting, he will then hire a cheap helper or his roommate to help apply paint, sometimes for the first time. He will then charge you 1/3 to 1/2 of a true professional and promise you astounding results. When you are finished with this type of painter, you will typically be calling for one of the two other types of painters to clean up the mess he left for you, free of charge!

Decent Painter, but Not Real Professional 

The second type of painter is typically good at what he does but may not be real professional. He sometimes will arrive late, be hard to get a hold of by phone or email and take a little longer to do the job. However, his pricing typically sounds good to most homeowners. This type of paint contractor also does not listen to your specific needs very well. Instead, he will paint your house the way he thinks it should be done, without any of your concerns taken into consideration. I was recently doing an estimate for a couple who took me around their home and shared with me a number of their concerns and asked me to breakdown the estimate cost into individual items. When I asked about their experience with the other painters bidding the job, they both unloaded on me the things I just mentioned above. It was not rocket science to do what they were asking. They were receiving estimates from painters who worked in their very own neighborhood but were not professional. After explaining in detail what they wanted to the other contractors, they did the complete opposite. The bid the job and presented the estimate as a lump sum. If only they would listen, take careful notes, show up on time, use the right products, etc. those guys would have had a good shot and winning their business. They would have done a decent job but the owners just did not feel comfortable that the painters would do a quality job when they could not follow such simple guidelines.

A True Professional 

The final type of paint contractors are called "True Professionals." Although you sometimes have to pay a little more to get a professional painting contractor, you will not have the frustrations that come with the paint companies mentioned above. A true professional runs a quality business. They strive for customer satisfaction, return calls promptly, listen carefully to your concerns, are kept up to date on the best products to use and use craftsmen painters to complete your project. Professionals painters will make the typically painting experience a positive one from the first initial contact to the finish product. 

San Diego Painting Experts Paint Schedule for July

Chism Brothers Painting is finally seeing the painting schedule fill up to a comfortable level. We are currently booking work for the middle to end of July, which is the busiest we've been all year! We are excited to see customers begin to call on a more regular basis and start their home painting projects once again. The last year has been a challenge for all San Diegans, and we know there might be more difficult months ahead. We do appreciate the work and are always available if you ever need any painting services, advice or help with budgeting.

Thank you, San Diego for your continued support and trust in using Chism Brothers Painting as your preferred paint company! 

Benjamin Moore Paint Colors and the iPhone

Benjamin Moore is one of the best paint companies who markets to consumers quite well! They have also done a very good job in recent years marketing their brand to us paint contractors. Just when I thought they could not get much better, they came out with an incredible iPhone App called "ben." A contractor or homeowner can take a photo of their house, find the right color match and even find complimentary colors! Once you are done finding the right colors, your iPhone will help you locate the nearest Benjamin Moore retail store.

To learn more, visit the Benjamin Moore Website. 

Painting of Scripps Green Hospital Daycare Center

La Jolla Historical Society Carriage House Project Finish

After finishing up the volunteer painting project for the La Jolla Historical Society, Executive Director, John Bolthouse had this to say about us:

"Chism Brothers Painting is one of La Jolla’s truly outstanding businesses. When the opportunity to assist the La Jolla Historical Society with restoring the exterior of one of our historic structures was presented to them, Chism Brothers immediately understood the historical and architectural significance of this 1894 building. They paid extraordinary attention to detail in its rejuvenation and carefully consulted with us throughout the process. What resulted from their work far exceeded our expectations. Not only is the structure now visually stunning – it is a fine example of the highest standard of painting talent and expertise our community has come to expect in a Chism Brothers project. A marvelous contribution to the preservation of La Jolla’s heritage!

To view a few of the before and after photos, please visit our PORTFOLIO of Carriage House.

San Diego Paint Company on Twitter?

Several months ago, we joined the bandwagon of Facebook and thought that it was time to jump onto Twitter as well. If you are unfamiliar with what "Twitter" is, it is basically an website that allows individuals and companies to post a brief update of what they are doing or offering. For example, Apple Computers can post a "Tweet" that says, "New Financial iPhone App available..." The updates are short and sweet with a typical blog or url to click on to read more. 

We'll be posting a few "tweets" about products we are using, employees, jobs in San Diego, company news, etc.

So, follow us on Twitter today! 

The Best La Jolla House Painters in Town

Mike Chism, owner of Chism Brothers Painting and John Peek, Peek Bros. just finished painting a historic property in downtown La Jolla, next door to the La Jolla Historical Society. The project was completed free of charge due to the lack of funds of the Historical Society. It is known as the "Cottage House."

We will be posting some before and after pictures on our Portfolio in the coming weeks, so please check back soon. Those of you who live in La Jolla, drive or walk by the Cottage House and see how grand an old house can look! The completely restored the exterior and interior of this little home.  

Painting in Mission Hills

Chism Brothers Painting continues to provide house painting services to the community in Mission Hills. This is the community that our owner, Mike Chism, grew up in, so he is very familiar with the clientele and the style of homes. We have painted several dozen homes in the couple years alone. That might not sound like a lot but the size of the projects and quality that our clients expected made each job take time. Every home we do in Mission Hills is done right. If you want painting done the right way by some of the most skilled and qualified painters in San Diego, you will really enjoy the experience working with Chism Brothers. 

We just sold two more exterior projects in Mission Hills recently, so you should see our trucks in and around the area. If you wish to know where we are working, send us an email for more information.  

Painter For a Day & KPBS

Chism Brothers has been an active sponsor of KPBS San Diego since 2006. For our KPBS customers we've changed our ad spots at the beginning of 2009 to introduce them to a more affordable solution in tough times that we call a "Painter For a Day." Homeowners in San Diego are being more conservative when it comes to home repairs and home maintenance. Large painting projects are not top priority for most of you right now as well, but we also realize, you have to do something to keep your home looking good. Keeping your surfaces from cracking and peeling with a fresh coat of paint will save you money in the long run, and it can be accomplished with our Painter For a Day program.

What is a Painter For a Day and how does it benefit you? We developed this program over 10 years ago because we knew our clients needed small projects done and did not want to rely on the unreliable handyman to do it. They wanted their project done without even thinking about it and done well. So, we began to hire out one of our master painters for an entire day to accomplish just about anything related to paint. We would send our painter to a client's home first thing in the morning with all the equipment and a company vehicle ready to begin work. Our Chism customers loved our painter so much, they began hiring him for 3 days to even several weeks at a time! The cost was a flat fee for labor, and the customer just had to provide us with a basic list of painting items. We'd take care of the rest!

So, if you need a bedroom painted, an entry door refinished, window sills and doors repainted, or need us to recommend a few ways to keep your home looking sharp, consider trying out our services. Hiring a Chism Brother's Painter For a Day is the best way to get to know our company and see if you love the service and results. To sign up or to learn more, view our Painter For a Day page. 

Fresh Paint on Walls Makes an Affordable Way to Update Your Home

The San Diegion Union Tribune recently wrote an article entitled "Home Stretch" which gave homeowner's practical ways to spruce up their home without breaking the bank. People are spending more time in their homes these days and are tired of looking at their dull walls and decor. Even if the home was decorated & painted professionally, design trends change every year. So, if you are looking for a few ways to add color to your home or make a few decorating changes, please read the whole article HERE

By the way, we are always here to help with your design and painting needs. We work with some of San Diego's best Interior Designers and have the most skilled painters working for us too.  

How to Clean Your Interior Walls

The problem most folks have with trying to keep their walls clean from dirt and smudges is that after 6 months or longer, it becomes harder and harder to keep the walls clean! It seems that when you go to wipe down your walls, you find that after you finish, little "halos" appear that don't go away. You then pull out your leftover paint from 6 years ago and touch up the walls finding out that the paint doesn't match anymore!

If you've experienced frustration with wiping down your painted surfaces only to find that you can't keep them clean, you probably need to use a different type of paint. There are several quality products that have excellent clean up on the market today. The first is Sherwin-Williams Duration Home. You can pick up a gallon for about $50 (retail). The second quality product is Benjamin Moore Aura. Aura cost about $60 retail. Both products have a Matte finish, which looks the best and is VERY washable. If you use either product, you can rest assured that your walls will be cleaner and last a lot longer than anything else you can find at Home Depot or Lowes. To clean your walls with these paints, you just need warm to hot water, no detergent needed!

If you don't want to tackle touching up your walls, we'd be glad to help! Try our Painter For a Day service anytime!

House Painting Experts in San Diego

If there is one thing that Chism Brothers Painting does well, it is the painting of fine house and homes in San Diego. We don't specialize in painting big buildings offices or even industrial parks. We've always made sure to hire people who enjoy painting and help sharpen their skills into becoming excellent painters. In order to be one of the most respected painting contractors in San Diego, we've had to walk away from certain projects that don't required skilled painters and separate ourselves from paint companies who wish to do "middle of the road" painting work. We've stuck with house painting, because it is what we are good at enjoy the most.

Even in tough times, Chism Brothers Painting is committed to keeping our employees painting with the highest quality paint and standards. We won't cut our quality or our prep. Please keep this in mind when you are evaluating contractors to paint your house. Our estimates and consultations are always free of charge too. 

La Jolla Historical Society Volunteer Work by Chism and Peek

We have some excited news to report. Early in 2008, our estimator, David Chism, started working with the board members of the La Jolla Historical Society about a few painting projects. Chism Brothers Painting is a corporate sponsor of the society and does help with small projects at no charge. David helped put together a bid to restore the exterior of the little cottage next to the main office. $10,000 of restoration work is quite a lot for a non-profit to bite off. So, moving ahead to 2009, nothing had been done to the cottage due to the high cost. Along came John Peek, owner of Peek Brothers Painting and Mike Chism, our owner! The two owners, not their employees, decided to donate their own time to paint the cottage at no cost. The work will begin Saturday, March 21st until completed. If you live in La Jolla, CA, stop by and say high to John and Mike Chism. You won't see them in business casual this Friday but in their painter's whites. It is amazing to see the two top house painting owners of San Diego working together on a project as friends.

This brings me to my final point. I wanted to point out that Chism Brothers Painting and Peek Brothers have the best reputation for high quality and customer service for the coastal areas of San Diego. There are hundreds and thousands of painters in San Diego, but only two run companies in San Diego like John and Mike. These two owners have done more for the painting industry nationwide than you will ever know. They have helped start a residential council for paint contractors (http://www.PDCAResidentialForum.org) and helped in the founding of a national business consulting and networking group for residential contractors. John and Mike have both given many hours of free (behind the scenes) donations of paint and labor to their churches and the community in which they live. If price is not your number one concern in selecting a house painter for you, consider Chism Brothers Painting. You won't have to manage or worry about a thing. It is our promise. They way Mike Chism runs his company is impeccable. If you are not convinced after meeting with our owner, talk to John Peek too. Someday, I hope Peek and Chism will stop being competitors and join forces!   

Have You Seen Our Cabinet Finishing Portfolio Lately?

One of the things Chism Brothers Painting excels at is the staining and painting of custom cabinets. Painting cabinets is not all that easy if you want the finish product to look really good. It takes lots of patience in the removing of the hardware, doors and drawers. It takes extra care in the sanding and cleaning process. The type of spray equipment used is also important. The spray technician also has to have years of experience to make sure he sprays and finishes the woodwork well.

When looking for a painting contractor to work on cabinets for you, make sure you see a few samples of the finish product. You'd be surprised at how many companies claim to specialize in cabinetry finishes. Here are just a few samples of some of the work we've done in the recent years: View Cabinet Finishes