Hiring Painters vs DIY: Making A Choice

So your home is in need of a new sleek coat of paint, but is it time for you to break out the brush and bucket, or should you leave it to the professionals?

Well, it depends.

While it may seem like a straightforward job—as simple as slathering some paint on your walls—there could be a good deal of work to do depending on the condition of your walls and the quality you would like to achieve.

Hiring a professional is one of the best ways to get the job done as fast as possible if good quality is what you are on the hunt for, but doing it yourself could be lighter on your wallet.

Here are some of the most important questions to ask yourself when contemplating the topic of hiring painters vs DIY.

Do you have multiple floors?

If you are planning to give the exteriors of your home a new paint job, you want to consider the height of your home.

A one-story house is somewhat manageable with a tall ladder, but any higher and it can be unsafe to attempt painting the top floor/s without adequate equipment or professional experience.

High ceilings present a similar issue, as anything you can’t comfortably reach with a stepladder is probably not worth the injury you could end up with.

There is also a much higher chance of making some messy mistakes when trying to paint hard-to-reach areas.

In these instances of choosing between hiring painters vs DIY, hiring a professional seems to be the better option.

Are your walls in poor condition?

Another factor when weighing the pros and cons of hiring painters vs DIY for your interior painting projects is the condition of your walls.

The majority of work that a painter does is often dedicated to preparing the walls before actually painting them.

If your walls are in need of work, i.e. if your paint is peeling or flaking, or if there are lots of cracks or flaws, a professional will know exactly how to fix them up to make sure your walls are in good condition and to ensure the proper adhesion of the paint.

If your walls are already in good condition, however, handling it will be a lot more straightforward and the DIY option may be your preference in such an instance.

Do you need to paint your exterior walls?

If you are looking to paint the exterior walls of your house, you might want to consider hiring painters rather than doing it yourself.

Professional painters will bring the necessary equipment to get the job done efficiently, not to mention the years of experience that will ensure a good quality job is done.

Painting your exterior walls will involve ladders, brushes, sprayers, and scaffolding (if your home has more than one story). These are costs that can end up adding a lot to your budget, to the point where it will only be marginally cheaper to DIY your painting project.

Numerous potential hazards could also keep you from doing the job properly, such as water damage, tricky landscaping, or dangerous angles.

Without the right knowledge, painting your exteriors can take up a lot of your time and can end up looking rather shoddy.

How much of your interiors are you planning to paint?

If you are planning on painting a few rooms in your home, you can probably choose to DIY the project—just ensure you do your research beforehand so you can ensure a quality finish.

Painting all the interiors of your entire home is also possible to do yourself, but it does require a lot of time and effort.

You would have to take the time to research techniques and best practices, move around furniture, wear protective clothing, clean and repair the walls, search for and fix flaws, tape off and tarp off certain areas, and clean everything up at the end.

For those who believe time is money, hiring a professional will likely be a better option, as what can take a professional a few hours can take a homeowner all day.

A professional has expertise and knows the right techniques to get a high-quality job done on a timeline.

So when debating whether to hire painters or DIY, remember that it really depends on how much time you are willing to commit to get the job done right.