A Tale of Two Painting Companies Near Me
This is a true short story about Speedy-Clean Painting & Pressure Washing and another local painting company. We will not mention the other company by name, but will point out that they are very well known. We will refer to the other painters as company X. Company X showed up well in a Google search, came in with a much lower price, but failed to deliver quality results.
A Great Previous Customer
Being in business for over 30 years has provided us with many repeat Customers. This Customer in particular has hired us many times for multiple properties. In most cases I would just look at the property, then send him a fair price proposal. He would usually call back the next day or so to schedule the job. When I hadn’t heard from him for several days I called to inquire on the paint job. I was hoping to add his job to my schedule and start on it ASAP
A Lower Price Estimate
Unfortunately our Customer told me that another company won the bid because they came in for $1,000 less. I advised him that perhaps we could review the estimates together. We may be able to identify steps they were skipping that we would have provided. They most likely were using lower quality paint, or only one coat. I felt it would be worth looking into, but our Customer jumped on the $1000 “savings”.
I realize no one wants to pay more than they have to, and everyone loves a good deal. I couldn’t take $1,000 off without cutting corners. We never cut corners and always provide premium service and materials. Needless to say; company X got the job! While it may sting a bit, I don’t take it personally. I didn’t actually consider it a loss of a Customer either. We had been doing long term business together for many years, and I know we provide a better product. We also provide many services company X doesn’t, and as mentioned; this Customer has several properties in the area. I moved on with the rest of our schedule, hoping we would again do business with this Customer in the future.
A horrendous Paint Failure
About seven months had passed when I got a call from our Customer. He was very concerned about the paint job he received from company X. He told me that on one side of the house the paint was failing, but the rest of the house appeared to be okay. He said the paint was blistering and peeling, and that there were some large “bubbles” on the wall. He was also able to pull the paint off the house in several areas. I figured it was an adhesion problem. Most likely on the wall that receives the sun the longest, as this was an exterior paint job. I advised him that company X might stand behind their work and fix it free of charge. After all, it was obviously something they had done wrong. He told me he didn’t want them to return since they didn’t do the job right the first time.
I went look at the job again, and saw the mess company X left behind. I let him know that unfortunately the paint was starting to fail in other areas as well. While one wall was far worse than the others, there were problem areas on the rest of the house. I advised we pressure wash and scrape the failing paint off the whole house. Then we would sand, primer and prep the house as it should have been done in the first place. After that we would paint it with a higher quality paint and two coats as we always do. The Customer decided to just paint the wall that had major paint failures at this time. Although it would cost more; he decided to deal with the future paint failures at a later date. Below is a picture of the actual job as we were prepping it for paint on the first day. Most of the paint came right off the house, as it obviously wasn’t prepared for paint properly.
This is the actual house that was experiencing the paint failure. This is after the pressure washing and during the scraping and sanding.
A Higher Price and Lost “Savings”
Our Customer was only trying to save money, as many people do. In the end however it cost far more in the long run. It’s much more difficult to fix a paint job than it is to do it right the first time. You should never cut corners when painting a house. You will not save money by using cheap paint or applying a single coat. Preparation is critical in this industry, and you want to get it right the first time, every time. We were able to fix the wall by doing the job properly. After painting the wall, it looked better than the rest of the house, and will also last longer. Below is a picture of the same wall after we repainted it.
A picture of the house after we painted the wall and replaced some trim.
The Morale of the Story
People always say “you get what you pay for”, but it’s not always true, especially in the painting industry. This Customer was paying for a quality paint job, he just didn’t receive it. Even after our repair work; the rest of the house was still going to have problems over time. Even though company X’s estimate was $1,000 less; it ended up costing far more than the expected savings.
Make it Easy on Yourself…Hit That Easy Button!
There is an easy way to get high quality interior painting or exterior painting in Chico and surrounding areas. Contact SPEEDY-CLEAN Painting & Pressure Washing today! Get it done right the first time, and enjoy excellent service. We’ve been transforming homes since 1995. We love what we do and so will you!
Have Your House Painted…Feel Better! ™
