by Craig | Feb 14, 2017 | General posts, painting experience
It’s our goal to ensure you have a great painting experience throughout the painting of your Toronto home. Here’s how we ensure a great experience at the end of your project.
Did you miss part 1-3?
Part 1: A Great Painting Experience: The Estimate
Part 2: A Great Painting Experience: The Pre-Job Walk
Part 3: A Great Painting Experience: During the Project
The day before completion
We like to ensure no minor touch ups are missed, so the day before completion we look everything over and mark any touch ups with painters tape, so that none are missed during the last day. Also, we put together a to-do list so that we can ensure that none of the fine details are missed.
If there’s anything you’d like us to address before the end of the job letting us know the day before completion helps us to budget the time for it on the day of completion.
We’ll also review the invoice with you, so you can be prepared with a cheque on the final day. If you’re not available in person, we’ll text or email you this information.
The day of completion
On the day of completion we’ll go through our to-do list and painters tape touch ups.
We do a full clean up of the areas we were working in, including removing our garbage. We’ll leave you any left over paint for future touch ups, labelled by room, of course.
We’ll walk the job and ensure that everything looks great!
We’ll thank you for your business!
We want you to have a great experience from start to end!
We want you to have a great experience from start to finish, so why don’t you start by scheduling a quote? We’d love to Transform Your Home With Lasting Beauty!
by Craig | Feb 14, 2017 | General posts, painting experience
When selecting a Toronto house painter you want a company that provides a great experience. Here’s how we provide a great painting experience during the project.
Did you miss part 1 & 2?
Part 1: A Great Painting Experience: The Estimate
Part 2: A Great Painting Experience: The Pre-Job Walk
At the Start of the Day
We arrive when we promise or we call. Generally we arrive at 8:30 unless we schedule a different time due to your schedule. If we are going to be more than 1 minute late we call, so that you don’t have to wonder where we are.
We check in with you when we arrive. We want to advise you on what we’re planning on accomplishing for the day and we want to make sure that any questions or concerns that you may have are addressed in a timely manner. If you’re not at home, we’ll send you a quick text or email with this information, just to keep you in the loop.
If there’s any way that we can make your painting experience a great one, let us know. We want you to be a raving fan of our services!
At the End of the Day
We also check in with you at the end of the day. We’d like you to know what we’ve accomplished during the day. This also gives us a chance to let you know if there’s any areas that have wet paint and should be avoided. Additionally we can advise you if there’s any areas that are complete so you are able to move 
back in and use. If you are not available we will text or email you this information.
Once again, if there’s any way that we can make your painting experience a great one, let us know. We want you to be a raving fan of our services!
We want you to know what’s going on during the entire process
The reason why we check in with you during the project is that we want you to know what’s going on during the entire painting process so that there are no surprises. Also, we want to deal with concerns as they come up, so that you are comfortable during the duration of the project.
Read More:
Part 4: A Great Painting Experience: At the End of the Project
If this sounds like a great painting experience to you why don’t you schedule a quote? We’d love to Transform Your Home With Lasting Beauty!
by Craig | Feb 14, 2017 | General posts, painting experience, Pricing/Value
When you are looking to find a Toronto house painter you want a painting company that provides a great painting experience. Here’s how we provide a great experience when we come out for an estimate.
First, we offer online booking
Instead of back and forth emails trying to book an appointment you can go to the online booking form on our website and see our schedule and book a time that’s convenient for you. How many emails back and forth has that saved you? If you have a couple of questions and would prefer to reach us by phone or email, feel free to do that as well! Just visit our contact us page for all our contact info.
We show up on time for the estimate
Your time is valuable, and you shouldn’t waste it waiting around for someone to give you an estimate. When you book an appointment for 1:00 we show up at 1:00, not at 12:55 or 1:05. In the unlikely event that something unforeseen happens we always call and let you know.
We take detailed notes
We want to make sure that we don’t miss any of the details, because a good paint job and a great painting experience is all in the little details. In order to capture all the details we take notes and, with your permission, pictures. These notes and pictures can be referenced later by our painters so that they know exactly what you’ve been promised.
We write up a comprehensive proposal
We present you with a fully detailed written proposal so that you can see exactly what you are getting for your hard-earned dollars. We describe all the steps of the project in the proposal from:
- job set-up
- preparation of the surfaces
- priming – which surfaces get primed and with what primer
- painting – what paint goes where and how many coats
- job clean-up
- payment terms
We take the time to review the proposal with you
It’s very important that you know what’s involved with your painting project, so we review the proposal with you. This allows you to ask any questions and get clarification, so that you’re comfortable with the entire process. It’s our goal that you are comfortable with the way we are going to handle your painting project before you agree to move forward.
Read More:
Part 2: A Great Painting Experience: The Pre-Job Walk
Part 3: A Great Painting Experience: During the Project
Part 4: A Great Painting Experience: At the End of the Project
Why don’t you book an estimate now?
We’d be happy to provide you with an estimate for your painting project, why don’t you book one now? CAM Painters will Transform Your Home With Lasting Beauty!
by Craig | Feb 9, 2017 | General posts, painting experience
When you hire a painting contractor for your Toronto home you expect to have a great experience. Here are some steps we go through to make sure that happens.
Did you miss Part 1?
Part 1: A Great Painting Experience: The Estimate
We remove our outdoor shoes when working on your interior project
We don’t want to track dirt all over your home, so we have shoes that we use when we’re inside your home and shoes that we wear outside, so that dirt is not tracked into your home.
We’ll introduce you to the entire painting crew
We want you to be comfortable with our crew when they are working in and around your home, so we’ll introduce you to everyone. Feel free to ask any of the workers on your project any questions that you have, we’re all here to make sure you have a great painting experience
We’ll review the scope of work with you and work out the sequencing of the job
We want you to know where we will be working and how long we’ll be in each area. We don’t want there to be any surprises, you will know each day what area of the house we’ll be in.
We’ll discuss some logistics
We want to know which washroom you’d prefer us to use, where you’d prefer us to store our equipment at the end of the day, and if there’s a utility sink we can use to access water.
We’ll discuss the finer points of the project
We’ll ask which picture hooks, screws and other hardware such as towel bars, etc. you’d like removed and which will be staying. We’ll address any pre-existing conditions, such as existing paint drips or other existing damage.
We want you to have the best painting experience possible
The best way to do that is to make sure that all your expectations are met. A pre-job walk through is one of the ways to ensure that we are clear on your expectations.
Read More:
Part 3: A Great Painting Experience: During the Project
Part 4: A Great Painting Experience: At the End of the Project
So to have a great painting experience why don’t you schedule a quote with CAM Painters? We’ll Transform Your Home With Lasting Beauty!
by Craig | Jan 23, 2017 | DIY, drywall repair
Homes expand, contract, and shift with time, especially given how widely the temperature can vary season to season in Toronto. Because of this shifting drywall seams can crack over time. Cold weather can also lead to pipes bursting, causing water damage to drywall and you may need to go to somewhere like Apollo Plumbing (check it out here) to find a plumber to fix it. However, minor damage can be repaired with some DIY, so here’s what to do:
Supplies List:
- Dropsheets
- Flexible putty knives 1″, 6″, and 10″ or 12″
- Mud pan
- Drywall tape – I prefer FibaFuse
- Drywall screws
- Stud finder
- Durabond 90 or 45
- Sheetrock 45
- Sandpaper & sanding block
- Brush, roller, tray etc. for repainting after the crack is patched
Old drywall tape removed, drywall seam exposed
Step 1: Remove the old drywall tape
If the tape is exposed you’ll just have to grab it and slowly pull. As you pull the layer of plaster on top will crumble and the drywall tape should come out in one long piece. If the tape isn’t exposed take a putty knife and dig until you expose the tape, then you’ll be able to pull it out of the wall or ceiling. As you pull out the old drywall tape it will make a channel, which you can use to embed your new drywall tape into. So make sure the channel is wide enough to fit the drywall tape you’re planning on using.
Step 2: Inspect for water damage
Once the tape has been removed it’s a good idea to make sure that there’s no water damage underneath. If the water damage is minor, you may want to find some information on drying drywall after water damage and with that, you should be able to solve it yourself. Although, you may also want to call a plumber who can find the source of the water, unless you can do so yourself. If the water damage is more severe, you should probably find a company which offers residential water damage restoration services and have them fix it for you.
Step 3: Stabilize the crack with drywall screws
the crack is stabilized with screws
Use your stud finder to find the studs underneath the wall and then screw into the stud on either side of the crack as shown. This will help stabilize the crack so that the drywall doesn’t shift as much.
Pro tip: when screwing the screws into the drywall make sure you sink the head of the screw into the paper on the surface of the drywall, but not so deep that you tear the paper. Make sure that the screws are of good quality as this is more likely to prevent the seam from cracking again. You can browse all sorts of screws from Tradefix Direct.
Step 4: Embed the drywall tape
When repairing cracks I prefer to use FibaFuse tape instead of regular mesh tape or paper tape. FibaFuse I have found to be the most durable, and when making a repair to an area that’s cracked I want to make sure that the crack won’t come back.
FibaFuse is embedded
Pro tip: FibaFuse is a fiberglass tape, so it’s best to use gloves when handling it.
When you mix your Durabond you want the consistency to be a little thinner than peanut butter. Fill the channel with Durabond and embed the tape, smoothing afterward with a drywall knife to eliminate any air pockets underneath.
Scrape off any excess Durabond before it dries because it is hard to sand once dry. Let the Durabond dry before the next step.
tape is skim coated
Step 5: Skim coat the tape
For this step we use Sheetrock, either the powder or the pre-mix, because it is much easier to sand later. Use your large putty knife and coat over both the tape, screws and an area 4-6″ on either side. Make sure to do one long final pass to keep things as smooth as possible.
Step 6: Repeat step 5
Step 7: Sand the area
Go over the area with sandpaper and sand it smooth. It’s helpful to run your hand on the surface, you will feel ridges in the plaster that you might not see.
Step 8: Prime the area, re-inspect & touch up, if necessary
Primed and ready for paint!
Prime the area and once it’s dry re-inspect it to make sure it’s nice and smooth. If there are any dents or pock marks fill with Sheetrock.
Step 9: Sand touch ups and paint
Once the touch ups are dry, sand and apply 2 coats of paint.
Step 10: Clean up
Always be sure to clean up after yourself!
If your walls are cracked and in need of attention, why don’t you schedule an estimate? CAM Painters would love to Transform Your Home With Lasting Beauty!
We like to ensure no minor touch ups are missed, so the day before completion we look everything over and mark any touch ups with painters tape, so that none are missed during the last day. Also, we put together a to-do list so that we can ensure that none of the fine details are missed.
