Selecting Historic House Painters in Mt. Airy & Chestnut Hill Philly | Better HouseKeeper

Historic houses need to be cherished because they hold significance in neighborhoods like Chestnut Hill or Mt, Airy.

However, the primary issue with these homes is that they need a lot of maintenance and work to bring them back to their former elegance. This means that the woodwork and furniture need extra care, especially if it shows some signs of damages. Fortunately, there are expert painters in Philly that can help you restore the home and the furniture to their best looks. If you are looking for tips on how to select exceptional house painters for historic homes, then you are on the right page. With the right team, you can save time, money, and effort when painting your house for a newer and fresher look.

How to Look for the Right Painting Contractors

1. Search Online

If you don’t know anyone locally in Mt. Airy, what you can do is search the internet for qualified contractors. These people should have painted many historic houses in the area, and the feedback from their previous clients should be excellent. What you need to look for are the following:

-It’s best if you check for detailed reviews about the work done in a specific historic home or building in the area. The detailed feedback will help you determine if the person who wrote it had experienced the contractors’ service. Thorough descriptions will give you an idea of how the company operates and the service that you can expect from them.

-You shouldn’t need to rely on a single site when looking for house painters in Chestnut Hill. Check multiple sites and see if the company has overall provided a consistent experience for their clients.

-You may want to check the previous years’ feedback, like the ones posted at the top may have been manipulated just to look good. The comments may come from clients who were often motivated to give insight into their good or bad experience while working with the company to restore their historic homes.

-If you see negative feedback, you may want to check further about the things that went wrong. Others may not leave specific details, but if you consistently see happy clients, then this is a good indication that they are the ones that you’re looking for.

-If companies are not visible online, you may want to consider this as a red flag. They may be the fly-by-night types that don’t have any insurance, bonds, or warranties for the work that they have done.

-Don’t usually take the recommendations of brokerage sites at face value. This is because the referrals will help them make money, and they may not have appropriately checked the credentials of the painters before recommending them to their clients. You can read more about finding contractors online when you click this link.

Visit the Company Website

You may want to glean some more insights through the website of companies. What you need to look for are the following:

-A portfolio of past projects that they have done on a historical or ancestral home can give you an idea about the quality of their services and what they can do for you. The images of different projects should show the before and after of an area and the detailed close-ups of the work they are doing.

Ensure that the crew is wearing the proper gear or setting safety precautions to complete the project. For older homes that may require extra care, the right equipment should be in place and safety protocols for the workers. Most of the time, ancient houses may contain lead paint that is not safe for the people working in them, and the right company should know how to practice safety precautions when dealing with these kinds of things.

-Pay attention to the crew page where the bio of the contractors is generally displayed. You can find what their working site looks like or their offices as well in this section. This way, you’ll be able to gauge the level of experience of the workers, and you’ll get an idea about the people who will be showing at your home in Philly.

-There’s a blog section that is an excellent indicator if the contractors take pride in their work or business. Learn more about blogs on this page. Look for original posts where the owners are showing you the jobs they have completed regarding historic houses.

-Look for awards from your local council or if they are affiliated with known paint companies in your area. This way, you’re confident that they can provide you with more information about handling lead when repainting the house’s interiors.

Google The Owner

-What you want to see is someone who has a clean record and who has never been involved in any lawsuits filed by their previous clients. Search for proven track record from their past projects, announcements from the local paper at Mt. Airy, professional affiliates, or even a quick interview done by trade magazines to ensure that the company is legitimate.

2. The Interview Process

You should vet at least three or more candidates with excellent reputations and have proven that they can do an excellent job from their past projects. Once you’ve begun to narrow down the contractors’ list, you may want to look for their contact numbers and set a convenient schedule for an interview.

Communicate what you want to happen and see if they can make additional suggestions that will improve the look of your historic home in Philly. You need to narrow down the list to those you’ve found to be the right fit for your project. If your research has found out that there were only two qualified contractors, interview those two and don’t add another one. It’s always possible to go back and call more contractors to help paint the house later if you decide to do so.

Indications that a Company is Reputable

-Look for their craft and see if they love their work. If they are talking about the chemistry of paint and their love for colors, this may mean that they are proud of their work.

-If they are interested in walking around and suggesting some changes, you know that they are the ones. They will do what you want to see, ask detailed questions about your overall expectations, and they will spend more time inside the property to know more about the things that you want to happen.

-Some of the legitimate ones will make proper recommendations that are only specific to your home. They can find some things to improve that many homeowners may have overlooked. It’s also possible to point out a few significant problems that needed fixing before painting. They will do the preliminary things like setting up their tools, cleaning everything, removing the older paint, and choosing the best brands that will significantly improve the historic home’s overall look.

Detailed Proposals are What You Need

For a big house, the jobs can vary according to the size of the property. The bids vary and getting lower bids may mean that the materials may be compromised and there are no proper safety protocols in place for the contractors. You can know more about safety tips on this page. Meanwhile, it’s unwise to spend thousands of dollars because some companies may be too far from your area in Chestnut Hill, or they are simply not interested in doing business. You have to choose a company that will give you a reasonable price while ensuring you that they will do an excellent job in your home.

-Hiring the right companies may mean that you need a detailed description of the work that they will perform and the amount of the materials that they’re going to use. They may include porches, windows, trims, sidings, floors, railings, and more when repainting the house.

-Don’t hesitate to ask for the rates so that you can budget accordingly. You may want to know if the contractors will work per hour and if how many cans of paint are needed to complete the project.

Besides doing background research and getting quotes from contractors around you, you may also want to ask for their insurance information and compare proposals. This way, you’ll know that you are getting the best ones out there, and they can provide you with high-quality paint jobs and finishes that your historic home deserves.