So you are going to paint a room? Thinking of having some wall coverings installed? Maybe textured wallpaper or grasscloth wallpaper?
Maybe when you did your search, your contractor also will be doing some cabinet touch-ups for you as well? Are you ready, and is your room ready for a contractor? Or maybe you don’t want to learn how to install wallpaper?
This blog is assuming a few things:
- You received other estimates, get 3.
- That the contractor has liability and workman’s comp insurance
- That you were able to find reviews on either Google, Houzz, or someplace such as Angie’s list, better would be if there were reviews on all of them.
- You have a contract in writing with details of the work to be performed
The date has been selected and as you look at your room, are things ready for work to start? Based on the questions below, what do you think? Are you ready?
- Are there any fragile items you do not want anyone to touch, mishandle or just get any dust on?
- Do you have bookshelves that would need a forklift to move out of the way? We normally move furniture that is relatively easy to move but if it loaded with knick-knacks and books we ask that it either be moved before we get there or have it so we can move it.
- Will there be any dust bunnies or dust large animals when furniture is being moved. We use sliders to move furniture out of the way, makes it easy. If there are amounts of dust, animal hair, it really is nice to have that gone before we use our drop cloths. We do wash the drops, but not having them filled with dust/hair etc helps us during the day.
- Are there any pictures on the wall? If so, will they stay where you have them? A good rule that has served our clients well is to take the pictures down and keep the nails on the wall where you want them to stay. If there are other holes we will fill them.
- Do you have any special hookups? By this, I mean a cable box that cannot be unplugged-tag it as such. Maybe an alarm sensor that cannot come off the wall to paint behind-let us know.
- Do your windows have special drapes or rods that need special tools to take them off, maybe you are changing out your curtains and or blinds so holes need to be fixed?
- Light and outlet covers, are they getting painted? I personally do not like them painted. I am not a fan of the look or feel of them, do not think they wash as well, and if they have to get repainted due to chips and scrapes they start to look cheap.
- If you are having wallpaper installed, the installers need the room to be room-ready for a contractor. When I say room, they need a good 8×8 area to use to set up a work table, have needed tools accessible, have the buckets of adhesive easy to reach, buckets of water to clean the walls, tables, and adhesive within reach.
- Air- this sounds odd, but paint, wallpaper primer, cleaners all have odors. They also need some air to dry properly. Closed off non-air circulating rooms will not only get hot to work in but be humid, and the odor from the products being used can be overwhelming to the homeowner, pets, and the contractors working. Being able to open windows, use ceiling fans, just turning on your furnace to circulate air will help everyone involved be more comfortable.
- What about cabinet touch-ups. We do some cleaning on site to remove cleaning products or fingerprints, but if the area to be worked on can free of spilled beverages, food, condiments, animal “stuff”, it makes things so that much smoother.
Armed with all of the above questions answered, you are ready to go and room ready for a contractor! Enjoy the experience knowing you are getting what you want.
If you have any questions or looking to get the wallpaper, cabinet refinishing done in your home, give us a call. We are here to help.
