5 Reasons Not to DIY Paint

You are ready to update your home with a fresh coat of paint, and now you are weighing your options between do-it-yourself (DIY) and hiring a professional. Consider these 5 reasons we suggest that you do not DIY.

1. Safety

Not commonly recognized as a dangerous task, DIY painting actually has many risks involved. Outdoor surfaces, such as grass, are typically uneven which can cause the ladder to wobble. And while painting the trim of your home’s exterior may seem like an easy straight-forward task, have you considered how you will color-match the paint on the chimney? What about your home's interior entryway with vaulted ceilings? It takes coordination and a steady-hand to climb up a ladder with a paint roller and paint tray in hand.

Instead: Our painters literally spend hours each day painting homes at the top of ladder or on stilts.

2. Cost

Have you ever considered what is the true cost of DIY painting? First, you need to gather your supplies: paint, primer, brushes, rollers, tarp, tape, ladder and cleaning supplies. Next, you need to schedule at least a full weekend to remove items from the wall, push furniture to the middle of the room, cover everything with the tarp, tape the trim, prime the walls, and only then can you start the painting. Larger projects will require even more time and prep. All this could lead to headaches, so add headache medicine to that shopping list.

Instead: Five Star Painting will give you one cost upfront that includes the labor, time and materials required to complete your job. The only tool you need is a phone or computer to schedule your FREE ESTIMATE.

3. Comfort

If you have ever asked a DIY-er how their shoulders or hands felt the day after they painted their home, they’ll respond with something like “I haven’t used those muscles in a while!” That’s because painting requires repetitive action with enough force to apply the paint evenly and thoroughly on the wall’s surface. Painting the ceiling? There’s a neck-crick waiting to happen. Not to speak of paint drips in the eye (real life story behind that one!)

Instead: Our painters' shoulders are accustomed to repetitive motions at weird angles.

4. Color

Have you ever picked out your own paint color in one of the big box home improvement stores, applied it to your wall at home, then thought, “That’s not the color I thought I was buying”? This is because paint colors can look completely different in different lighting and at various times of day. For example, a paint that looks red in the store could look pinkish in a room with a lot of natural light.

Instead: Five Star Painting has the experience and resources to help you choose the best paint colors for your space.

5. Quality

Imagine you meticulously lined your trim with painter’s tape before you started painting, but somehow when you finished painting and removed the tape, you notice paint dripped behind the tape and across your trim. Or you patched a small nail hole and wanted to paint over the spot with just a dab of the same color, only to discover when it dried that you did not use the right color or the sheen does not match because of the age of the paint.

Instead: Professional painters, like Five Star Painting, use painting techniques to avoid paint drips while achieving straight lines. Plus, we paint corner to corner to ensure a consistent paint color and sheen on your wall.

Not yet convinced DIY is not for you? Give us a chance to show you our professional differences. Contact Five Star Painting^® today!