I live in a condo, the original house was built in 1761 and now has three condominium units. We need to paint and will probably do the same colors (I have paint samples). It may already be too late to line up a painter for this fall but in general I’d like to know - what sort of questions are important to ask when hiring a house painter? I’ve never done this before.
Ask for other things he’s painted and then drive by.
Point out things you might worry about (paint spatters on brick, etc).
Ask for references.
I live in a small English town.
All the local tradesmen I use are top quality. 
They were all recommended by word-of-mouth.
Good luck!
I live in a medium size British town. Finding a tradesman is a nightmare. All I can say is to get a firm quote in writing, not an estimate, and be very specific about what is required. Then do not change anything since that breaks the contract.
References
Insurance
Bonding (where appropriate*)
License (where appropriate*)
- regulations vary by location, sometimes by quite a lot
If you have Angie’s List in your city, I recommend it, you can see unbiased reviews of painters, and the contractors can’t pay to be on the site or to improve the reviews. There is no advertising (which means you have to pay for the service, but I have found it well worth it).
I found three painters on Angie’s List, talked with them about the job and got estimates. Went from there, and was very satisfied.
My house is pretty easy compared to a lot of San Francisco houses (mine is mid-century nothing, no gingerbread or other elaborations) so I didn’t feel the need to look at their work on other houses, the reviews on Angie’s List were enough.
Roddy
Yep. And if all the above are in order, availability and communication skills.
[moderating]
Thread moved from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.
[/moderating]
Definitely get references. If they’re on Angie’s List you can rely on those. Do not rely on a drive-by of some other house.
You could also ask the guy where he buys his paint, and ask the paint store what they’ve heard about him and whether he has a good reputation.
Beware, some painters switch to using cheap paint. The paint store would probably know about it.
p.s. – Since it’s such an old house – Also try to find out if he’s had experience with old houses. I’m assuming yours probably needs some scraping, maybe some minor repairs, etc.
Ask what brand paint and type of caulking he will be using. Check paint reviews online for quality, as not all paint is created equal. If he’s using something like Behr from Home Depot or most other paints available at box stores, tell him that you want him to use a better quality (again, research paint reviews online). Be aware that not all caulks work for all applications. Exterior latex caulking is fine for most applications, but for Hardiplank or other cementitious siding, you need to use an elastomeric caulk that will stay in place for more than five years. Also, silicone caulking will not stick to concrete.
One thing I’ve had to do before was to get approved by the local historical society. If your house or neighbourhood falls under that type of regulation, check with the society for recommendations.
Interviewing the painter isn’t the most important thing. As just about everyone else in this thread has pointed out, you basically want to interview people for whom he’s done work in the past. That will tell you everthing you need to know. The painter can bullshit you about quality of paint and cost and time and everything, but he can’t bullshit people who’ve been living with his work for a couple of years.
Thanks to everyone for your advice. I think joining Angie’s List might be just the ticket. When I lived closer to Boston I was a member but let it lapse when I moved North to Salem, MA. Angie’s List has worked great for me in the past - I hope they have enough service providers in this area to make it worth it.
In addition to everything else already mentioned about references, etc., I would ask:
-
Who will actually be doing the painting? If I use ‘Army of Housepainters, Inc.’, they may have specific teams of guys who do the work, some of which are great and some of which are sub-contracted to fly-by-night groups of inexperienced guys. When you get the recommendations and they are good, ask who the specific painters were on the team that painted that house. If all the great reviews are for painters A, B, and C from the company, you won’t get the same quality if D, E, and F who started last week do the work.
-
I would also ask HOW MANY painters will show up to do the job and how quickly will they do it. Some painters do a great job, but may work in a small team and take a week, whereas others may show up with a team of ten guys and do it all in one day. Remember, the longer they take to do the job, the more time you’ll be getting nauseous from the annoying paint fumes.
-
Ask how much prep work do you have to do versus how much they do. Some places will move all your furniture for you and then move it back. Others will expect you to do it, or there will be some partial prep you have to do. Make sure you understand who is doing all that moving, unplugging, and covering as part of the price so every quote you get is an apples to apples comparison. Otherwise you will find yourself doing a lot of prep work yourself because the cheap bid you accepted didn’t include moving and prep like you thought, and it can be a colossal pain in the ass when you are talking about full bookshelves, dressers, entertainment units, computer desks with a ton of electronics on them, etc.
-
Make sure they will work with your schedule. The area’s greatest painters (especially if they are in high demand) may be in the business of creating a backlog of work, so if you have a specific timeline in mind, make sure they can meet it. Often you may have a specific week when you are going to stay out of the house because of the fumes, so you need it done at a specific time. Make sure they are available at that time.
Worst episode of the Daily Show ever.
The only thing I’d add is to ask if they’re going to clean up the mess that scraping loose paint always produces.
Communication skills are important too. Some years ago I interviewed a house painter we were considering. I told him we wanted the house repainted in the same color it already was (a light blue). To my astonishment, he sternly said, “No. I don’t like blue houses. I’ll do white or grey, but not blue.” I was speechless. Needless to say, we didn’t hire him. I still see him around town occasionally and, incredibly, he’s still in the house-painting business.