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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Getting What You Pay For, House Painting in Scranton, PA

By Bentler Painting (Vince Bentler) and Kelly Hopkins


Bentler Painting is a registered home improvement contractor in the 
Scranton, PA area and has been doing business for nearly 20 years.  
In that time, I have learned that not only are there varying degrees of 
skill level in painting contractors, but various "levels" in the way they 
price themselves.

This brings me to my next point.  There is a saying, "You get what you pay for."  When a homeowner selects a painting contractor to perform work at their home, it is important to remember this - there are three types of painting contractors - the low-end, the middle, and the high-end.  

So, which one does the customer pick?  Let's break it down. 

The low-end priced painting contractor mainly focuses on two things: production and materials. 

With "production" what I mean is "cranking out" or "turning over" as many jobs as they can, as quickly as they can.  And, as far as "materials" it means using the cheapest products that they can get their hands on.

For a low-end painting contractor to make a profit, they must use low-quality products and sell a very large amount of jobs.  Think of it as the "Walmart Painting Contractor."

What does all this mean?  Well, it means low-end painting contractors are not quality and customer conscious and do not take the time to perform proper preparations.  Combine that with cheap, inferior materials and it is a recipe for problems.

With low-end painting contractors, the customer loses money and pays more in the long run.  Why?  Because the customer will have to have the work done again in a short amount of time because the job wasn't done right the first time. 

For example, when you buy a cheap pair of sneakers, you do not get much time wearing them before they start to fall apart.  Well, the same concept could be applied to house painting - the paint on your house will be peeling and/or fading in a year or two so after being painted by a low-end painting contractor.  

Next, the middle-end priced painting contractor.  These contractors do substantially better quality work and use quality materials.  They are more experienced in both business and their trade.  Middle-end contractors' prices will definitely be higher than the low-end painters; however, middle-end painters work both effectively and efficiently, so the extra price is a good investment.

Middle-end painting contractors job cost the work correctly and they do the job right the first time.  Their work stands the test of time which is usually reflected in a warranty being included in the contract.  The customer saves money in the long-run in not having the job done over and over again.  Everybody wins.

And lastly, the high-end painting contractors.  These contractors are set-up for those customers who want "the best."  High-end painting contractors do outstanding work, go to the most extreme levels in preparations, use high quality materials, and warrant their work.  These bids generally will come in at highest price.  

Because high-quality paint jobs cost the most, high-end painting contractors usually have a specific target market - quite simply, it's customers who purchase many different types of high-quality products and services for their home on a regular basis.

Lastly, it's important to remember that sometimes customers have more elaborate details within the architecture of the interior and/or exterior of their homes.  If the scope of the exterior painting or interior painting work is extremely involved requiring painters to have very advanced skills, use special equipment, or to have to carry out caution which is above and beyond normal, expected reasonable caution, these painting bids will come in high.  So, in these instances, it would be wise for the homeowner to choose a middle-to-high end painting contractor because these painters will take the proper steps and have the proper skills and expertise to get the job done right.

The word "value" means different things to different people; so, whether it's a high-end, middle-end, or low-end priced painting contractor, the customers ultimately are "getting what they pay for."