Remodeling a home isn’t easy. Kitchen remodels are the first and most stressful to accomplish. Homeowners meet with at least three cabinet painters in Denver, if not more, only to find their quotes somewhat confusing. Why are cabinet painting quotes so different between inside house painters?
It’s A Jungle Out There
We here at Panoramic Pro Painting in Denver CO have many years of experience in knowing what goes into a quote. We also know how the economic environment affects our ability to do the job. “You get what you pay for” isn’t always the sign of a bad contractor, although they exist. Here’s what we mean:
- Bad contractors happen.
- Labor costs go up and down.
- Product quality matters.
Bad Contractors
Some contractors who are cabinet painters are bad. They ask you to pay deposits upfront, pay for the paint, and pressure you to do this before they leave. Red flags are red for a reason.
Alternatively, you might have a cabinet painting contractor who is suffering economic woes. He cuts corners where he can, which is why his quote is so low.
Ask if he is licensed and insured, has workers’ comp, and gives warranties on his work. If he’s cutting corners to save money, he might not be a bad contractor – just a struggling one.
Labor
Labor is about man-hours. Just like it takes you eight hours to work at your job, so it is with cabinet painters. It takes time to disassemble the cabinets, paint them, change or reuse the hardware, and reassemble the cabinets.
Labor is also about overhead. You pay the mortgage or rent, utilities, and maintenance. It’s the same with cabinet painting contractors. The reason you’ll see more solo inside house painters is so they can make a profit, however slim, over and above the overhead. Remember they have to pay their workers, too.
Product Quality
There are three types of paint: acrylic, oil, and the new alkyd paints. Alkyd paint is a resin paint that contains no oils, although it has the consistency of oil. It cures like oil paint through the oxidation of the air around it. After five or so days, it has a hard texture and shiny appearance.
Paint isn’t cheap, even when considering the store brand. Cabinet painting contractors will try to use the cheapest but still reasonable quality paint they can get. That will show up on a quote. Keep in mind that if poor-quality materials are used, you’re going to be repainting in the near future.
Tip: Ask your cabinet painters to use paint with a primer included. This, plus using a satin finish to hide imperfections in the wood, helps to control the price of the supplies.
DON’T Forget the Warranty!
An extra or bonus tip deals with warranties. A warranty means that a company stands behind their work and, just as important, their workers. Cabinet painters with no warranty on their work are cutting a rather serious corner to save on overhead. This is why.
Let’s say a cabinet painting contractor with no warranty suffers a mishap while painting on your property. He has to go to the ER. If he has no insurance or workers comp, you could be responsible for the contractor’s medical bills. He could even sue you for anything else he can.
Ask Questions
You can see from this breakdown what goes into a quote. Your responsibility, as the homeowner, is to require lots of paperwork from potential contractors. You need to see licensing and insurance papers, workers comp, warranties, supply lists, labor cost breakdowns, and referrals from satisfied customers.
Those aren’t the only questions you need to ask, though. Do you have in mind a certain color for your cabinets? How about removing them altogether and using shelving? They have to be painted, too.
Do you want special work done, such as painting the body of the cabinet one color and painting the door in a contrasting color? Do you want your upper cabinets full of bright, bold colors and your bottom cabinets a neutral gray or white? Your contractor needs these details for his quote.
Panoramic Pro Painting in Denver CO wants you to have a free estimate. Fill out our form to get the project going. We’ll walk you through the procedure so that you understand every nuance of what you’ll be paying.