Painting Contractors in Four Categories Part 1

We receive a lot of phone calls throughout the year asking if we will bid on big commercial projects, rental units, income properties and apartment buildings. We wanted to educate you a little about the type of work we do and do NOT do. Many consumers may think that all paint companies are the same. This is an honest assumption, since many paint companies try to be all things to all people. You will see advertisements that a paint company will do residential, commercial, industrial, income properties, etc.

We believe that painting should be separated into at least four categories: 1) Residential, 2) Commercial, 3) Industrial 4) New Construction. Chism Brothers Painting falls under the Residential category. When you are looking for a painting company, you need to find one that fits your project. This is an important step if you are trying to compare pricing. If a company specializes in multiple categories, his or her pricing will vary quite a bit. Here is a brief description of the three categories:

Residential Painting

Residential should be defined as a paint company that repaints single family homes and new high-end custom homes. Painting homes requires a certain level of attention to detail and preparation standards that are not always as important in the other categories. If you are looking to have your home painted and want a company that is clean, careful, high quality, you need to look for a paint company that only does residential work. Their pricing will sometimes (not always) be higher than those who also do commercial work.

Commercial Painting

A commercial painter is a paint company who paints hospitals, shopping centers, income properties and home owner associations. This type of painting typically requires less attention to detail, because there is a very tight budget and time frame. A shopping center developer wants a good job but wants to get the job done as quickly as possible. They will not worry about the fine details of laser lining the baseboards or saw cutting the stucco and installing 50 year caulking. Commercial painting also takes less training, so the painters typically do not have the experience to work on custom homes. Most commercial projects consist of painting exteriors, basic drywall and pulling the trigger on a paint sprayer in a building. When a company switches from Commercial to Residential, their painters cannot possibly be consistent in their quality standards.

We received a call from a client who wanted a bid on some interior work. She showed me some of her doors and doors frames, and our estimator commented on how what great quality was done by the last painters. She then said that it took them three times to get it right. She mentioned the name of the paint company, and our estimator knew they were large and very well known/trusted commercial painting company. Their specialty was for commercial work, and when they tried their hand at a single family home, it took them three tries to get it right.