360renos - Home Improvement & Decor

How to make your home stand out when selling

We can help your house sell quickly and at a good price -- even in a slow market.

It takes a lot more than sparkling windows, scented candles and chocolate-chip cookies to sell a home in today's market.

Improvements should be made so that the property shows well, is consistent with the neighborhood and does not involve capital investments.

Beyond any doubt, the best investment you can make is new paint. Painting can make a room or an exterior façade look brand-new, and totally transform the look and feel of a room or the entire residence. It is always wise to be somewhat restrained when choosing colors for a home-staging paint project. Avoid choosing colors that are too individual or flashy and favor neutral colors and schemes. This does not mean painting everything white, however.

Use subtle color schemes to accentuate the home's strengths and minimize weaknesses. Dark colors, for example, tend to make a room feel smaller, while lighter colors and pastels can make a room feel bigger.

There is another benefit to painting as well: the process of preparing the interior or exterior surfaces of a home for painting automatically allows us to go over the entire area receiving paint in great detail, and this can often expose items or areas requiring repair. It seems you always discover where the caulking has let go, where the wall is dinged.

It is always preferable that we discover and deal with these items before the real estate agent (or worse, the prospective buyer) points them out to you!

Dave - 360renos




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Saturday, January 9, 2010

How to Find a Good Interior Home Painter

Ok, now you have come to the conclusion to hire a painting contractor or at least to get a couple of quotes for your painting project. The cost of house painting can besubstantial and a quality job even more. Get the most out of your paint job by choosing your painter correctly.

In order to help you find that perfect painter I have put together some ideas. Starting with your personal sources and ending with the internet sources. An on-line contractor referral network offer free price quotes on a variety of construction services.

Trusted Sources

The best place to start is with your friends, family and co-workers. This is how we, 360renos, acquire most of our customers. Word of mouth advertising always starts with satisfied customers.

Therefore, start asking questions;

1. Are you happy with the quality provided by the painting contractor?

Everybody has their own ideas of quality, so you should take a look at their house and judge for yourself. Pay attention to cut-in areas around doors, windows and trim. Are the lines straight and was caulking applied. Interior or exterior doesn’t matter; proper surface preparation always leads to better, more pleasing results.

2. Did the painting contractor protect non painted surfaces or areas?

For exteriors this includes concrete, roofing and plantings. For interiors moving and protecting furniture is a major concern but don't forget about the flooring.

3. Were they courteous and pleasant?

This is a very important consideration. The entire experience, from beginning to end, needs to be as stress free as possible. Plus if the house painter enjoys their job, the quality and attention to details will be better. The customers attitude can and will affect the entire paint job.

4. Did the painting company start and finish in a timely fashion?

Arriving at a reasonable time every morning reinforces a schedule. Remember, with an exterior the weather always dictates the schedule.

If asking friends, family or co-workers doesn’t produce any leads there are other avenues that can help.

Local Paint Store

First and foremost is your local paint store, not the home improvement center. Most professional painters purchase their products from a local supplier, a paint store and we buy ours from Randall's Paint here in Orleans.

Here they have built a reputation, either good or bad, based on the quality of products purchased over time and timely payment if a store credit account is used.

· Purchasing products of the highest quality indicates a true concern for the well being of your home.

· If a painting contractor primarily purchases from a single source, for years, a reputation has been built with this supplier.

· On time payment is always a good indicator of paint jobs finished and customers that have paid for the service.

Talk to the person behind the countertop and ask some questions. Describe your project and ask for any recommendations. Chances are they will know someone that is trustworthy.

On Line

Internet sourcing is becoming more popular every year. A free Contractor Network such as Bid My Reno allows you to enter your job details and select the services you require. Now you can easily select painting contractors and view their profiles for more information. Contacting contractors is also very easy, a simple click of the button.

Now all that you need to do is schedule a time to meet and get a price quote. This type of sourcing is very easy and can help you find qualified local painting contractors.


Dave - 360renos

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