Here is a story common among Toronto homeowners. It has been captured in the account of two fictional painters, Billy and Bobby. Join us as the story unfolds…
A Tale of 2 painters
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
In a land far away there lived 2 painters. Billy and Bobby.
Billy the Painter
Billy was a good painter and wanted to do a good job for his customers. One day Sue gave him a call, she needed someone to paint her condo and heard about Billy and his business from a friend.
They met and Sue showed him the project. “Now Billy, I really want a top notch job done, and I really need it done during the 2nd week of March, you can do that for me, can’t you?”
Billy really needed the work, even though he had Mrs. Jones’ job for the beginning of March he figured he could be finished in time to start Sue’s job, if he rushed.
March rolled around and Billy was swamped! He had not anticipated that the Mrs. Jones’ job would take as long as it did. Finally he got up enough courage to call Sue the Saturday before he was supposed to start and tell her that he wouldn’t be able to make it on Monday. In fact, he wouldn’t be able to start until the week following.
“What?” Sue retorted “when I talked to you initially you promised me the 2nd week of March. I had scheduled for the kids and the dog to be out of the house, we’ve even started to move the furniture”
“How about if I was to start in the middle of the week instead of the following week” Billy didn’t want to let Sue down.
“Fine” said Sue “but don’t let me down, okay?”
“I won’t let you down” replied Billy
On Wednesday of that week Billy showed up to Sue’s job. He told Mrs. Jones that he caught a bad cold. “That will buy me a couple of days,” he thought.
In order to make the schedule work he would have to work quickly on Sue’s job.
“Maybe I can save time on some of the prep work” he reasoned to himself. “Sue probably won’t even notice”
Because of this, Billy made great progress on Sue’s job. Near the end of the first day he was well over halfway done.
Sue came home later that day and she was not impressed! Sure, the nail holes had been filled, as requested, but the wall themselves still had divots and lumps and bumps. It just wasn’t the professional job that she was expecting.
“Billy,” she said in a stern tone “I’m not happy with the job. I think you need to smoothen the walls and repaint them. I simply can’t have them looking like this, I expect a better job than this”
Sue proceeded to point out all the areas on the wall that she was not happy with.
“Oh no” thought Billy “she’s being so picky! This is ridiculous, I won’t be able to finish her job in time”
As a result, Billy ended up taking 4 days to finish Sue’s job. Sue never was completely happy with the work, but she figured it was okay and she paid Billy, mainly just to have it over and done with.
She also made sure to tell her friend who referred Billy what a bad experience she had. That friend, consequently, never referred Billy to anyone else.
The story doesn’t end there, because Billy was delayed in finishing Mrs. Jones’ job too. So Billy ended up with Mrs. Jones being upset at him too.
Let’s hear about Bobby….
Bobby was a good painter and wanted to do a good job for his customers. One day Ann gave him a call, she needed someone to paint her condo and heard about Bobby and his business from a friend.
They met and Ann showed him the project. “Now Bobby, I really want a top notch job done, and I really need it done during the 2nd week of March, you can do that for me, can’t you?”
Now Bobby had Mrs. Smith scheduled for the beginning of March. Since he always allowed extra time in his schedule for unforeseen circumstances, he didn’t want to promise Ann the 2nd week of March.
“Ann,” he said “I just can’t promise you the 2nd week of March”
Bobby was willing to lose the job rather than promise something he couldn’t deliver.
Ann, however, was willing to be flexible and they settled on the 3rd week of March.
A week before Bobby was set to start he emailed Ann, just to remind her that he was on schedule and to give her a handy list of things that would ensure the paint job would go as smoothly as possible.
The 3rd week of March came along and Bobby and his crew showed up at Ann’s condo. Bobby had gone through exactly what Ann wanted at the time of the estimate and those expectations were clearly noted for his crew in their project management system.
Bobby’s crew was organized. They knew the level of prep that was expected and they went to work to make sure it was all done correctly.
When Ann came home, the crew leader had left a note detailing what was done, and what was planned for the next day.
She was impressed! She liked the care that they took ensuring that everything was covered and the meticulous prep work.
Bobby was always telling his crew “it’s easier to do it right the first time, than to have to go back and do it again” and it showed!
When Bobby and his crew finished Ann’s condo she was so pleased. She thanked Bobby and each of his crew members and happily paid Bobby for the work performed.
She also made sure to tell her friend that referred Bobby to her what a wonderful job he had done. That friend was pleased and resolved to refer Bobby to even more people.
So it really was the best of times and the worst of times. It was the best of times for Bobby and the worst of times for Billy, even though they both had the same circumstances.
THE END
There’s a few lessons we can learn from this fictional account:
First, Billy “over-promised” which meant that he “under-delivered”. He promised more than he was able to deliver which got him in trouble as one missed promise caused another.
Bobby, on the other hand, “under-promised” and “over-delivered”. He was willing to lose business, rather than get himself into the cycle of missed promises.
Also, Bobby had excellent communication with his customer. He was sure to let Ann know that everything was on schedule, and he did so far enough in advance that if there were any changes, they’d be easier to adjust for. During the job, communication was maintained with Ann, so that she knew what was going on and how the project was progressing.
So, if you’d like a quote from a “Bobby painter”, rather than a “Billy painter”, schedule one now. CAM Painters will Transform your home with lasting beauty!
Many people like the look of old stained and varnished wood, especially in older Toronto homes. But what happens when some of it is damaged and needs to be replaced? Can the new wood be made to look like the old existing stained and varnished wood? Yes it can!
Here’s the process that we used to match new wood to old
We matched the stain at the paint store
We got a sample of the old wood and a sample of the new wood and took it to the paint store for matching. Patience is key with this process. Our paint store requires 48 hrs for a stain match.
We sanded the trim
In order to ensure that the stain is absorbed evenly into the wood we gave the entire surface a light sand. This opens up the grain and allows the stain to penetrate evenly into the surface.
Please note that we were staining oak, which is a very dense, hard wood. Because oak is such a dense wood conditioner is not needed, however when dealing with softer wood, such as pine, a wood conditioner is necessary. Wood conditioner is a clear base coat that evens out stain absorption.
We stained the trim
The stain that we chose was a rubbing stain, meaning that it is rubbed into the surface with a rag, rather than brushed on the surface.
When working with stain it’s better to apply two thin coats rather than one thick coat. If the stain is applied to thick it can dry blotchy, which we want to minimize, of course.
This particular wood took 3 coats to get to the colour of the existing old wood.
We varnished the wood
The stain needs a minimum of 24 hours before it can be varnished. This allows for proper drying of the stain before the final step of varnishing. We matched the gloss level of the existing varnish, which in this case was a semi-gloss.
The first coat of varnish absorbed in to the wood and resulted in an uneven sheen. So we ended up applying 2 coats which gave us a nice, even result.
In conclusion
We managed to get a fairly good result, with the new wood trim matching the old wood trim as close as could be expected. So If you’d like to keep the look of natural wood, but want repaired areas to look like existing areas, why don’t you have CAM Painters give you a quote? We’d be happy to Transform Your Home With Lasting Beauty!
At CAM Painters, we just helped a customer undergo a recent railing transformation. This customer had railings, posts, and stringers that were varnished and they wanted to update the look. They decided to go with a two-tone look – white spindles and darker handrails and posts. I’ll go through all the steps we did, along with the materials used.
Before
Before
First off let’s take a look at the materials list that was needed for the railing project:
Toronto Home Railing Project: Materials
Drop sheets
Plastic film
220 grit sandpaper
Tack cloths
White-pigmented shellac based primer
Brushes
Mini – roller cages and sleeves
Roller trays
The customer was having the carpet replaced as well, so here was the process that they used:
Toronto Home Railing Project: Carpet Replacement
The carpet was removed
They had us into paint when there was no carpet
The new carpet was installed
We came back and did a half hour of touch-ups
Toronto Home Railing Project: Painting
Step 1: We sanded the surface
Paint doesn’t stick as well to glossy surfaces which are prevalent with railings, so we gave everything a quick sand with a fine 220 grit sandpaper. This opens up the top layer of the varnish and allows the primer to penetrate deeper into the surface and create a better bond.
Step 2: We primed
We wanted to ensure that we had the most durable paint system that we could get, so priming was essential. Primer bonds to the railings surface and allows the finish coat to bond to it. An aggressive primer is needed to stick to a varnished surface because the varnish is so hard and glossy, so we chose white-pigmented shellac. Shellac bonds better than latex-based primers and even oil-based primers too, so it was the best choice in this case.
When multiple colours are used I like to put a marked up picture in our project management app for quick reference, so that all my guys know what colour goes where. It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and I think this is an instance that proves that saying right!
The new carpet was installed, and the carpet installers did a wonderful job. However, even though they were very careful, a little damage was done to some of the spindles and posts. So after they finished, we came back and looked over the entire project and touched up the areas which required touching up.
Not all Toronto home painting contractors are created equal, some are better equipped to handle larger projects than others. Interior painting on Toronto homes that are larger than 4000 square feet can be difficult. Here are some questions you should ask your painting contractor before undergoing the project. One being the concern of your possessions and furniture getting damaged by paint, you can look into the hiring of a company such as JIT Removals and Storage or similar, to remove and store your items while we paint!
Interior Painting Question 1: How many experienced interior painters do you have working for you?
Larger projects can drag on if not enough painters are working on it. If your interior painting contractor is a solo-prenuer or has only one employee it could take a month or two to paint your home.
At CAM Painters we currently have 4 experienced interior painters. For smaller projects, we run 2 crews of 2 painters and for larger projects, we combine the crews and run 1 crew of 4 painters. This gives us the flexibility to take on both large and small projects and get them done in a timely fashion.
Interior Painting Question 3: Can you show me some of the larger projects you’ve worked on?
Ask if you can see pictures of a larger project that your painting contractor has worked on. Ask for references for some larger homes that they have painted, contact those people and ask how their experience was.
An interior painting contractor that doesn’t have experience with larger projects won’t be able to produce those, and that will weed them out of the bidding process.
If you’d like a quote for your larger Toronto home, please schedule a quote. CAM Painters would be happy to Transform Your Home With Lasting Beauty!
If you’re looking to buy a property, perhaps with renovation (including painting) in mind, you can find great listings for home in Toronto at homeads.
When hiring Toronto home painters you want to select someone who will make you house look great–after all, it’s likely your most valuable asset and you want it to look it’s best. Here are a few things to keep in mind so that you have the best painting experience possible…
Toronto Home Painters Tip 1: You Generally Get What You Pay For
When calculating out how much to charge for your painting project a painter generally estimates the number of hours the project will take and then multiplies it by their charge rate. Paint and supplies are then added on to this figure to arrive at the price they give you, the potential client.
When one painting contractor is charging you less than another painting contractor here is generally what’s happened:
They are figuring that the job can be done in fewer hours
Their charge rate is lower, which generally means their labour rates are lower. A painting contractor using painters in the $20-$25/hr range is usually going to offer a higher quality job than a painting contractor using painters in the $15-$20/hr range.
They are figuring less for paint and supplies, which generally means a lower quality paint is being used.
Therefore, choosing the lowest priced painting contractor is not necessarily the best decision, because compromises have to be made to be the cheapest price.
Toronto Home Painters Tip 2: Proper Prep Work is Necessary
It takes time to properly set up a paint job. Floors must be covered and protected, furniture has to be covered with plastic, switch plate covers must be removed. All these things take time, but they are well worth it! Your house and its contents are valuable to you and as the saying goes “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
Also, properly prepping ceilings, walls and trim by filling nail holes and other surface imperfections result in a better looking finished product. Using primers, when necessary results in a more durable paint job and a better looking end result.
Toronto Home Painters Tip 3: It’s Worth it to Spend a Little Extra Money On Quality Paint and Primers
A higher quality paint can be twice as expensive as a lesser quality paint. What do you get for that extra cost?
First, a higher quality paint from a reputable supplier covers better than the lower quality paint, which means that you get a better-looking result with fewer coats of paint, which saves labour cost.
Next, higher quality paints are generally more durable than their cheaper counterparts. You will save money by having to paint less often.
For most painting projects paint and supplies only make up 10-20% of the total cost of the project, so you’re far better to spend a little extra on the paint to save it on the labour cost both now and in the future.
Keep these 3 things in mind when choosing a painting contractor and why not schedule a quote with CAM Painters? We’d be happy to Transform your home with lasting beauty!
