Painting on Your Own Versus Hiring a Professional

Most of us look for ways that we can save money, so when it comes time to paint
your house, you are probably at least considering doing the job yourself. You
know you could always hire someone to do it, if that’s in your budget, but you
also know that doing the work on your own would save you a lot of money.

Let’s weigh the pros and cons of both options to figure out what might be best for
you.

Painting on Your Own
If you do the job yourself, you know what kind of paint will be used and how well
the job will be done. There is no question about your painting skill, because you
know just how experienced or inexperienced you are. You know whether you are
up to doing all that painting or if you will need to pull in some friends or family
members.

Before you start painting on your own, you should get all the supplies you will
need to do the work, such as the paint (make sure you get the right kind),
brushes, rollers, drop cloths, cleaning supplies, painter’s tape and ladders.

You also have to consider the size of the job ahead of you. if you are painting a
large house, then it may not be practical or safe to do the work on our own or
even ask a few friends to help out. It may simply not be feasible to take care of
this job without professional help.

Hiring the Professional
Of course, if you hire someone to do the work for you, then you have to think
about the cost of getting them to complete the work. You have to figure in labor
and supplies for them and their availability to paint the house in your desired
timeframe.

Just finding someone can be difficult, and you may have some trouble finding
someone that you feel you can trust. There are plenty of “professionals” who are
more than willing to take your money but won’t do much work for you. You’ll
have to watch out for those.

There isn’t a set price for professional painting services, though, so you can look
around and compare prices to get a good deal, if you have the time to do so.
You’ll have to weigh the cost savings with the quality of work, and you may end
up going for a more expensive service just because you know they will provide the
kind of results you want.

If you hire a professional, you will probably have more peace of mind about how
well the job is done and about how long the paint should last before needing to
be touched up. You simply have to decide if you can fit this kind of expense into
your budget. A lot of times, how much money you have to work with or how
much free time you have will determine which option you go with.