CBP Joins the La Jolla Historic Society

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

A number of weeks ago, a customer and board member of the La Jolla Historic Society, Dr. Ruth Covall, encouraged our company to partner with the Society. She put us into the right contact, and we soon became a business partner for the La Jolla Historic Society. A number of our clients support their local Society, and we at Chism Painting want to be more involved in our community. We are thrilled to be a new partner and look forward to being more active where we can in this organization to preserve the unique properties of La Jolla.

View Business Directory

Restoration to Begin in Mission Hills

Monday, April 16, 2007

We just received the approval to begin another exterior restoration project in Mission Hills. This home is located on Fort Stockton and is a neighbor of a restoration home we did two years ago. This one will not be as extensive as our first one, but we will be doing a fair amount of work on the windows, fascia and siding. We will begin the project in about 3 weeks. For those interested in our restoration projects for your home, please call our office to learn more about the approximate cost.

 

Review Actual Reports

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Our new search function for Client Reports is up and running and available for you to view. These are actual reports from our clients when we are finished with a project. Please let us know if you wish to contact a client to talk to them about our company. We have removed the names and in some cases, the address, but we can provide that information upon request. View Reports: http://chismbrothers.com/site/reports/

Happy Easter

Friday, April 06, 2007

We wish all of our clients, employees, and site visitors a very happy Easter. For the owners at Chism Brothers, Easter is one of the best times of celebrations where we rejoice in Jesus' resurrection and exaltation. We praise God for blessing us with great employees and loyal customers. We trust that you all will have a safe and enjoyable weekend, fellowshipping with family and friends.

April tends to be a very busy month, so please allow at least 3 weeks to begin any size of a paint job. If you do have a rush project though, please give us a call. We will do what we can. 

A General Rule of Thumb

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

We Can Do It All
On an estimate call yesterday, I was asked if we could change the texture of the current stucco on a home in Tierrasanta. It was an excellent question. The homeowner did not like the thick texture and wanted a smoother look. I asked if other painters were telling her they could do it, and she replied that one of the companies said they can change the stucco. I explained to her something that I thought would be of interest to you.

Hire Specialized Contractors
If a paint company says they can fully restucco your home, install crown moulding, install doors, change windows, do electrical work or remodel your kitchen, think twice before thinking they are the contractor from heaven. Painting is a specialized trade just like installing crown molding, stucco and plastering and remodeling are specialized. It takes many years to become skilled in any trade, and it is hard for a small business to offer quality services “in house” besides their specialized trade. The general rule of thumb is to hire a painter to paint, a window company for your windows and a contractor to remodel your kitchen.

Check Their Work First
My response to the woman in Tierrasanta yesterday is that we can provide a company to do the stucco project and manage it, but we ourselves cannot achieve the look she wants with our crew. It is possible that some companies will offer several different home improvement services, but to achieve the highest quality possible, it is still best to hire individual companies or have a general contractor take care of your home improvement needs. I have seen some pretty sorry projects when an individual said he could “do it all.” Be careful and look at their previous work to see if they really know what they are doing.

March Character & Craftsmanship Meeting

Monday, March 26, 2007

This morning, we had our monthly all shop meeting on Character & Craftsmanship. Each month, we have an employee meeting that discusses better ways we can demonstrate good character and fine craftsmanship.

The Golden Rule
For the character portion of our meeting, we talked about the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” We discussed ways we could understand the needs of our clients and meet or exceed their expectations. We also discussed how to have better communication with our clients and be more professional in our conversations, our preparation and the finish product.

Marking Cabinets
Our craftsmanship discuss this month was on how to mark cabinets. This might sound a little strange to be under a craftsmanship category, but it is amazing how important this can be when painting cabinets. When Chism Brothers paints cabinets, we need to remove all the hardware. If the cabinets are not marked correctly, it is difficult to remember the exact location of each door and drawer. We also came up with a system for each painter to mark the cabinets the same way in case he was not the same painter reinstalling the cabinets.

Chism Brothers Painting is dedicated to making the painting of homes as professional as possible. We are dedicated to training our painters to have great character while training them to be the finest in their trade.

Up and Coming Projects in April

Friday, March 23, 2007

We still have room to fit your project into our schedule for April and May. Below is a brief list of some of the projects we will be working on in April.

Interior Painting for Repeat Customer in Mission Hills (Hickory Street)

Complete Interior Painting for Repeat Customer in Mission Hills (Randolph St.)

Complete Upper Level Painting Project for Repeat Customer in Del Mar (We completed the downstairs in December and are back for phase 2)

Interior Color Change on a New Home in Carmel Valley (New Client)

Painting and Restoration Work (Phase 2) for Repeat Client in Point Loma (Armada Terrace)

Painting of large Interior Paneled Doors and French Doors (Phase 2) for Repeat Client in Fairbanks/Carmel Valley area

Repainting of Interior Walls and Trim in La Jolla (Repeat Client)

Repainting of Existing and New (interior/exterior) Metal Railings and Light Fixtures for Repeat Client (Neptune Place)

Oil Base & Mildew

One of the most common problems that many homeowners are not aware of is that mildew is attracted to most oil base paints. Oil base use to be the number 1 product of choice for all exterior projects, but in recent years, more paint stores and contractors are discouraging their clients from using oil base paint. The oils always look the nicest when used by a professional, but they just breakdown quickly and attract mildew. The best thing for a home’s exterior or bathroom areas is to switch to a mildew resistant paint and/or acrylic products. All water-base (acrylic) paints do not attract mildew.

There are several things that can be done if you have a mildew problem:

Clean The Surface

Clean the surfaces with a mixture of bleach and water. If you are concerned about delicate landscaping, you can probably purchase a biodegradable mildew remover from your local hardware store. However, Bleach and Water still work the best. To avoid damaging your plants, you can quickly rinse them with water. Sometimes, little or now scrubbing is needed on the painted surface.

Sand the Surface

If the surfaces are smooth or have an oil enamel, clean them first and then give them a very good sanding before applying any top coats.

Sealers & Top Coats

There are a number of excellent top coats or sealers to help prevent mildew from returning. There is a clear sealer called Mildew Sealer available in San Diego that helps seal any mildew problem (even if you could not remove all the mildew first). The second product of choice is called, Perma-White from Zinsser. We have had great success using the Perma-White product and highly recommend giving it a try. This product acts as a sealer and a top coat. It can even be painted directly over an oil base finish whereas most other acrylic paints need a primer.

If you are not a Do It Yourself homeowner and have questions about your mildew issues, please for assistance.

Pricing for Exterior Restoration

Monday, March 19, 2007

Restoring a home can be quite a challenge and expense. We often get calls regarding restoration of exteriors and occasionally interiors. We have extensive knowledge in the repainting and restoration of old homes in San Diego. In the past 1 1/2 years, we have worked on 3 restoration projects on houses built in the early 1900’s. Each project was unique and somewhat costly with beautiful results. If you are planning on staying in your old home for many years or if you enjoy preserving the value of your home, restoration may be for you. In this article, we wanted to give you some general ideas on pricing if you are thinking of restoring your exterior.

Chism Brothers Painting does not typically do restoration projects for a fixed price. There isn’t a reliable way to give you a fixed cost on such projects. However, we do put in a lot of work before we start to give you a very good idea of what you should spend. For example, the home pictured here: Mission Restoraton was estimated in two separate ways: Time & Material for the major preparation and a Fixed Cost to finish the home. We had given the homeowner a “good faith” estimate on what he would probably have to spend for the exterior of his home. In the end, a home of that size with wood replacement, re-glazing, stripping bad areas, primers and top coats, cost nearly $50,000. We did a smaller project in South Park that we put a “not to exceed” price on the estimate. We did the entire project “Time & Materials” but had a good idea of how far to take the prep. On the South Park project, the homeowner could have easily spent $50,000 on their early 1911 home as well, but we found ways that would keep the cost down. Instead of replacing quantities of wood, we used epoxy and special wood fillers to restore the look. In certain areas of the home, we sanded to a sound surface instead of a full stripping. Anytime a painting company strips paint down to a sound surface, the cost is very expensive.

Chism Brothers loves to restore homes. It is important to be forthright about your budget with our estimator. He can easily give you some general pricing on what you might need to spend. He will also listen to your concerns and goals of the home and give you his recommendations if you are unclear on what you “need” to spend. If you have an old home and need help finding painters, a window repair specialist or a skilled carpenter, please give our office a call or send us an

A Short History of Chism Painting

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

2007 marks the 25th year of Mike and Pat Chism starting their own painting business. The Chism Brothers grew up in San Diego learning the skills and techniques of painting from their father.

The Chism brother’s father, Milt Chism, began his career of painting in San Diego during the 1930’s. His first job in San Diego was painting the old radio towers over by Chollas Lake. The tallest towers were close to 600 feet tall, and Milt got the job because he was not afraid to climb to the top. After the depression fully ended, Milt joined the San Diego Police department during World War II for 10 years and then returned to painting homes! You just can’t keep those Chism’s from doing what they love and are good at. Milt was a hard-working quality painter in town and trained his sons, Mike and Pat Chism, how to do a quality paint job on every home. He also taught them how to have good character and do the right thing.

When Milt Chism’s health began to weaken, Mike and Pat were forced to continue their careers working for another painter in town named Otto Welp. Otto had an office next to Dewhurst & Associates in La Jolla and was known for being a high end painting contractor. In the early 1980’s, Otto passed away due to cancer, and Mike and Pat decided to start their own business--Chism Brothers Painting.

In the late 90’s, Mike’s oldest daughter, Emily, became the full-time office manager. She helped the company systematize the way we did things. She helped create our employee manual, organized safety and management meetings, and did many other things to maintain our professionalism.

In the summer of 2000, Mike’s son, David Chism, joined the brothers full time. Mike began to teach him the skills of estimating painting projects, and soon, David became the full-time estimator for the company. He later began to manage and oversee the business and develop the overall “corporate” image of Chism Brothers. He helped create the current logo, designs for the trucks & job signs, website, community sponsorships and customer service program.

The Chism Family is still very much a family run business. We enjoy what we do, and we hope you can experience our way of painting homes and the service we provide to our customers. We do make mistakes, but you can count on us to do the right thing! We have grown considerablely since our doors opened in 1982. We attribute our growth to God’s rich blessings, our customers’ loyalty and the great employees we have working for us.

New Real Client Reports

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Amazon.com made the customer reviews and rating system very popular a number of years ago. Now, many websites are having people review products and companies with the 5 Star Rating System. Though not all of these rating systems are 100% accurate, they can definitely help consumers when deciding on who to go with or what to buy.

Chism Brothers Painting has recently installed our very own 5 Star Rating System. We have included our actual customer report cards online. These are a scanned copy of what each customer fills out at the end of each job. We are in the process of getting them all up online, which takes time. We have currently uploaded La Jolla, Del Mar, Pacific Beach and Mission Hills. We hope to be completely done with this project in 2 weeks.

We are not perfect, but we strive to bring the best possible service to our clients including you. Therefore, you may not always see 5 stars on a report. Our goal is to always get a 5! Please visit our Client Report Page: http://chismbrothers.com/index.php/site/reports/

I Need Help With Colors!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

World of Difference
One of the main reason people decide to paint their home is to change colors. While some people have a knack for colors, few people enjoy the process of painstakingly researching and choosing colors by themselves. Most homeowners either do not like to make the final decision on what colors to use, are scared that they will choose the wrong color, or are frustrated with the whole color process. Color can make a world of difference in your home. Recently, we updated a condo in Spring Valley that just had white walls. Mrs. Gordon had a general sense of the colors she had in mind but needed some more ideas. In the office, I suggested a deep reddish purple color for the open closet wall as an accent. When we finished the project, the office looked outstanding, as did the other small accents of color we selected for the home.

Help With Colors
People hire Chism Brothers Painting to not only get a quality paint job but to help make the entire painting experience painless and even fun! We at Chism Brothers Painting know our colors. However, we do not spend the time to study the moods, styles and color trends as a professional colorist or designer. Therefore, Chism Brothers has quality color designers ready to assist you in choosing the best color options for your home.

Do It Yourself
Recently, the Paint Quality Institute published an Article called, “The World of Color” that explains in more detail how to properly prepare for painting and the use of color in your home. If you want to educate yourself more on colors or select colors on your own, please Read the Full Article Here: World of Color

Housewarming Gift Ideas & Tips

Thursday, March 01, 2007

If you have a neighbor that just moved in or if you just plan on stopping by a friend’s home to say hello, we found an article that might give you a few helpful tips and ideas.

The most helpful part of this short article is the note about things you should avoid!

Housewarming Ideas

Three Concerns About Remodeling Your Home

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

A local construction company I know in San Diego, Dunnwell Construction, recently posted a great guide for homeowners called, “3 Concerns About Remodeling Your Home.” What are the three concerns?

1) Get What You Want

2) Pay a Fair Price

3) Complete the Job on Schedule

Hiring a remodeling contractor or any service professionnal is not an easy task. It requires hard work. Chuck Dunnigan, owner of Dunnwell Construction, breaksdown the three points above in more detail in his article. I think you will find his insight helpful. The three bid concept does not always work. To learn more why: Read The Article and view Chuck’s site.

Character & Craftsmanship: February Meeting

Monday, February 26, 2007

This morning, we had our monthly Character & Craftsmanship meeting with all of our employees. We break our meeting into two categories. The first part of the meeting is about Character, and the second category is about Craftsmanship.

For our character training, we talked about the importance of friendliness. One of the key points was about learning to smile. A smile goes a long way. A person who has a smile on their face gives the impression that he or she is approachable and friendly.

For the craftsmanship portion of our meeting we reviewed all of our epoxy products. Chism Brothers has replaced most exterior fillers with epoxy, because it is the best type of filler to use. We believe that all of our painters should have an extensive knowledge of products, which will ensure a quality finish and lasting results. We ended the meeting with a safety talk on the importance of using respirators. Knowing how to properly test and use a respirator can help create a healthy environment for all of our painting staff.

Note: Chism Brothers Painting has a foreman meeting once a month and an all shop meeting each month to ensure consistency and professionalism at all times.