Frequently asked questions.
GENERAL PAINTING QUESTIONS
-
Yes. We are a licensed Painting Contractor with the state of Florida and we are fully insured. We carry two million dollars of general liability insurance and one million dollars of workers compensation coverage.
-
We only use Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams paints unless otherwise requested by a customer or their designer. Each makes a low, medium and high-end version of their paints. We only use their preferred product lines. We will use any paint you choose such as Farrow & Ball etc, or may have already but our preference is one of the two brands mentioned.
-
Some people repaint their homes when they purchase a new home to change the color and others repaint before they sell their home to enhance appeal. Typically, a house may need to be painted every 4-7 years depending on lifestyles. Homes closer to the shoreline tend to need painting more often due to the effects of salt air.
Other factors that determine the lifespan of your current paint job include the amount of prep work done the last time (sanding, scraping) and the quality of the paint used. If your house is not well insulated and lacks a good moisture barrier then moisture from inside the house could cause peeling. If you have leaky gutters or if your caulking is cracking and separating your paint job will suffer. Siding can shrink, crack or begin to cup and nails can pop if the paint’s weather protection is beginning to fail.
With stain you can see the wood beginning to dry out. Paint can become chalky or faded with direct sun exposure. Cheap paint with minimal pigment can begin to look like different shades depending on sun exposure as well. Stucco should be painted every 5-7 years and if it’s not it can begin to crack and pieces can fall off the house. Many people tend to get into a routine of painting their home every 5-7 years in the same way as you would change the oil on your car – so that they prevent any damage from starting in the first place.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
-
We ask that you contact us at least 2 weeks ahead of time. Because of our scale and the number of crews we have, we can almost always accommodate someone with a firm finish date. We take all proper measures to ensure our clients deadlines are met.
-
An in-person walkthrough is recommended however you don't necessarily have to be home, a quick phone call to answer some basic questions about your requirements (or an email reply to questions) is all that we need to give you an exterior painting quote as we can visit the house.
We need to know certain things like what you want included (house, garage, deck etc.) and if you require a lot of carpentry work or window re-glazing etc.
We also need to know if you are planning a complete color change.
We do have a very easy and fast process to make this as seamless as possible for you.
-
For interior painting, we can’t give you an accurate and binding quote based on just a description. We need to at least see pictures or have a quick Facetime of the rooms and wall surfaces etc.
-
Our goal is to always be as accomodating as possible, we will work with you to find a mutually agreeable time to provide an estimate for you.
-
We offer several paint sample fan decks from companies we work with and we are happy to assist you in your paint selection based on our years of experience.
MAPA also has several designers that we work closely with that we can refer you to.
-
For interior and exterior painting, we will generally need to know what your choices are the day before we start. For exterior painting, if we have a lot of prep work then you can decide even slightly after we get started. For interior painting, when we are doing prep work, we can put some sample colors on the wall for you to see how they look in your home as well.
-
We accept cash, checks, and credit cards. We also offer payment through Venmo and Zelle. It sometimes makes sense to finance if you want to expand your project a bit to get everything painted at the same time, or if you are about to sell your house and just want to increase its curb appeal to sell it faster.
HOW TO PREPARE
-
To prepare for interior painting you can move small items and things that are fragile an personal. You might want to take wall art or mirrors off the wall but only if you can easily handle them yourself.
We will move any heavy objects that we can’t work around and we will cover everything in plastic and tarps etc.
For exterior painting you should move small items, like potted plants, away from the house or you may request for our company to do so. If you have window-based AC units you will want to move them inside your house. We can help you with that if needed. We do ask that you don’t park near your house and that you turn the hose water on for our use.
-
Yes, you can go to work, run errands, etc. We are fully licensed and fully insured. We know it can feel a bit invasive but we are only there to paint and make your house look great.
-
No, even if it’s a very large amount of damage (which we would include in a quote), we do all the repairs so you don’t have to. It’s part of our preparation process.
-
We live in SWFL and there is never a shortage of rain here however, we always watch the forecast. If it does happen to be raining, we come back when its dry, prep that side again and repaint the section effected.
-
No, we put everything we move back where it was, we remove all of our own waste, scrap and materials. Our goal is to make it look like we were never there except for the new, fresh paint of course!
-
We always provide leftover paint at the end of the job that we leave with you if you may need some (interior or exterior) for future touch-ups. However, we do offer a program for our customers on touch-ups. You can ask us about it.
