What actually happens when we paint your house.
No vague promises. Here is the whole job, start to finish, including the parts most painters would rather you did not ask about.
Start with a free estimate
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The estimate
I come to the house. Not a salesman, and not a video call. Walking the property is the only way to price it honestly, because the things that decide the number are the things you cannot see in a photo: how the stucco has weathered on the west wall, whether the fascia is sound, how many coats the current color is going to need.
Expect me to be there thirty to sixty minutes for a typical home. I measure, I check the surfaces, and I ask what is actually bothering you, because sometimes the answer is one room and a front door rather than the whole house.
You get back: a written, itemised, fixed-price quote inside 24 hours. Every line separated out, so you can remove something if the number is higher than you hoped. The price does not move unless you change the scope.
Color, and getting it right before we start
Color consultation is included. Desert light is unusually harsh and unusually warm, and a color that looked right on a chip in the store will read completely differently on a west-facing wall at four in the afternoon.
So we sample on your actual house, and you look at it at the times of day you are usually home. It costs a day and it prevents the single most expensive mistake in painting, which is finishing a job and disliking the color.
If your community requires architectural approval, this is also when we prepare and submit that. See how we handle HOA submittals.
Prep. The part that decides everything.
This is where jobs are won or lost, and it is the step a cheap quote is quietly leaving out. Paint does not fail because of the paint. It fails because of what was underneath it.
Inside: furniture moved to the center and covered, floors masked, hardware and switch plates removed rather than painted around, holes and dents filled and sanded flush, water stains sealed so they do not bleed through.
Outside: pressure wash, scrape everything failing, sand the edges so there is no ridge where old paint stopped, patch stucco cracks properly, re-caulk failed joints, prime every bare and repaired surface.
If we find something we did not price for, you hear about it that day with a number, before any work continues.
Paint
Two coats. Sherwin-Williams systems specified for what this climate actually does to a building: UV, heat cycling, and monsoon moisture arriving all at once in August.
Interiors get low-odour product so the house stays liveable while we work. Cabinets are sprayed, not brushed, because a brushed cabinet door always looks like a brushed cabinet door. Exteriors get the coating matched to the surface rather than one product used everywhere.
Every day we are there: we start when we said we would, we tidy at the end of the day rather than leaving the site mid-job, and the house is locked and secure before we leave.
The walkthrough, then you pay
We walk the job together before any final payment. You look at every wall, in daylight, and you point at anything you are not happy with. We fix it there and then.
Only after that walkthrough is the balance due. You are never in the position of having paid in full and then noticing something.
Then the written 5-year workmanship warranty starts. If something fails, you call the same number and you get the same person. And if you pass our name to a neighbor afterwards, our $100 referral program pays you for the introduction.
How long it takes, and what it costs
Every house is different, but these are realistic ranges rather than optimistic ones.
| Job | Typical time on site | See pricing |
|---|---|---|
| One or two interior rooms | 1 to 2 days | Interior costs |
| Whole-home interior | 3 to 6 days | Interior costs |
| Kitchen cabinets | 3 to 5 days | Cabinet costs |
| Exterior repaint, single storey | 3 to 5 days | Exterior costs |
| Exterior repaint, two storey | 4 to 7 days | Exterior costs |
Add time if the exterior needs significant stucco repair, or if your HOA approval is still in progress.
What you need to do
Very little, but these three things help.
Take down what is precious
We move and cover furniture. Photographs, mirrors and anything irreplaceable are better off you handling personally.
Tell us about pets and schedules
Doors open and close all day on an exterior job. If you have a dog, or somebody sleeping days, say so and we work around it.
Be reachable on day one
Color and finish decisions get confirmed on the first morning. Ten minutes of your time then saves a repaint later.
Nothing else
Masking, moving, covering, cleanup and hauling the old paint away are ours. You do not need to prep anything.
Common questions about the process
Do I need to be home while you work?
No. Plenty of our customers give us access and go to work. We lock up each day. What we do ask is that you are reachable on the first morning to confirm colors and finishes.
How much mess is there?
Less than you expect from a well-prepped job. Floors are masked, furniture is covered, and we clean at the end of every day rather than only at the end of the job. Sanding dust is the main thing and it is contained to the room being worked on.
What if the weather turns?
Exterior work stops. Painting stucco in the wrong conditions is how you get a job that fails in a year. If monsoon season pushes us a day, we tell you the same morning rather than pushing on and hoping.
When do I pay?
A deposit to book, then the balance after the final walkthrough, once you have inspected the work. Never the full amount up front.
What if I want to change something mid-job?
That is fine, and it happens often. We price the change in writing before doing it, so the final invoice never contains a number you have not already agreed.
Start with the free estimate
Written, itemised, fixed price inside 24 hours. No pressure and no obligation.
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