If your apartment complex is in need of a new coat of paint, it can be difficult to find the right commercial painting services contractor for the job. Exterior apartment complex painting can be a huge project, and you’ll want the right professional painting company on the job. Here are our best tips for hiring the best contractor to paint the exterior of your apartment complex.
Exterior Apartment Complex Painting: Hire The Best Contractor
It can feel daunting to find the right contractor to tackle your exterior apartment complex painting project. We’ve compiled a checklist of things to look for, questions to ask and qualities to observe in your paint contractor. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, we think it’s a pretty good start and will help you quickly narrow the field down to two or three reputable candidates. Read on to learn more!
- Ask for references
One of the best ways to find a great contractor for your project is to ask for references. Perhaps your company has other apartment complexes in town or across the country who can recommend a contractor. Or maybe you’re networked well with other owners, landlords and management companies. Call them and ask for who they might recommend. You can also check out potential contractors’ online reviews, or even drive by a complex you know they’ve painted. This can all be good information to help you qualify (or disqualify) a contractor.
- Make sure they are fully insured
This should be an easy one to verify. Make sure your paint contractor is fully insured. This will not only give you peace of mind on your project, you’ll know this isn’t a company that cuts corners on anything.
- Payments
A reputable contractor will likely set up a reasonable draw program that allows you to pay as certain portions of the project are completed. You should never work with a company that wants payment in full up front.
- Prep process
A good contractor will have a prep work plan in place, which should include power washing (which should be thorough and completed quickly), seamless repair and replacement of rotted wood and thorough prep work.
Prep work might also include their plan for how to alert your tenants to the project. For example, do they let you know when tenants should clear their decks and patios, move their cars from the parking lot, or when painting will take place around their entrance? This should all be discussed in your planning timeline, and your contractor should keep you aware of this process throughout the project.
- Pace and work ethic
Since exterior apartment complex painting can be a huge project, potentially spanning days (at minimum) and weeks, you should observe your contractor’s pace and work ethic. Do they show up every day, weather permitting, with zero no-shows? Do they work at a good pace, taking full advantage of daylight hours? Are they polite and courteous to staff and residents? All these answers will point to whether or not you’re working with a great contractor.
- Quality Assurance
A reputable painting contractor will not only want to guarantee their own work, they’ll want to be sure you’re happy with it, too. The foreman and project manager should walk each completed building with your onsite manager. This will give you both an opportunity to “sign off” and approve of the quality of work onsite. It will also give you the opportunity to verify whether the thickness of the paint is correct (is one coat enough? Do you need two? Three?), if there are any needed touch ups, and if the quality is consistent from building to building.
Never work with a contractor who doesn’t check in with you about the project and simply sends you the bill. When you check on the project together, you will always be on the same page and both parties will be satisfied with the completed project.
- Clean Up
A reputable contractor will clean up throughout the project on both an hourly and daily basis, and overall at the end of the project. Observe how they keep their area or section as they’re painting. Do they keep things neat and out of the way of residents? Do they clean up as they move from section to section? Do they put away all tools and supplies and clean up all trash at the end of the day?
What about the end of your project? Did they leave anything behind? Is the paint finish drip free and overspray free? Do residents report that workers were kind and courteous throughout the project?
All of the answers to these questions will help you find and work with the best contractor for your exterior apartment painting project. A great contractor will satisfy each of these points, plus offer other things, like color consultations or even free quotes for your project. They’ll be open and honest about timelines, cost and potential logistical issues for your project.
Above all, they will be concerned not just for the quality of your project, but also making sure that your residents experience as little disruption to their day to day activities as possible. They’ll do everything they can to ensure that things look great, but also that the process is a positive one for you and your property managers and your residents.
Find the Best Contractor for Exterior Apartment Complex Painting
Our professional paint experts are ready to help you paint the exterior of your apartment complex. We offer free consultations, strive to understand your timeline and constraints, are fully ensured and we work quickly so you and your residents can return to daily life as soon as possible. Contact us today for a free quote.
