News

• LEAD PAINT will be the hot word after April, 2010 when new EPA rules go into effect on how homeowners and contractors have to deal with lead. We have taken seminars to be up on the latest; we don't want you and us to be liable for a $32,000 EPA fine.

•  Recent seminar updated us on what products are available for stripping paint, especially lead based paint.
• A Paint Manufacturer's meeting indicated their strong support for the PDCA, and the professionalism of the membership therein.
• A recent seminar with a ladder company emphasized how dangerous these tools can be, and the proper use and respect for them.
• A recent trade show  exhibited some new products entering the industry to  better serve our clients. 
• An educational session pointed out the reason you have to sand exterior peeled areas, in order to get the correct coverage/thickness of paint  over the edges of the peeled area.

Avoid!!!!

• Painters who are not registered with the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs; they are breaking the law.  If they break the law, they will have no problem breaking their agreement with you!  Make sure they have the 11 digit registration # like the one we display.
• Power washers who don't use hot water.  Two jobs last year were for houses painted within the last 5 years, and the paint was peeling because improper wash/no wash.  A good paint job over a bad paint job begets a bad paint job; that's what happened here. Much of the bad paint job had to be stripped to get to the old dirt there under. Eliminating the dirt, we put a beautiful color on the walls that will now last well over a decade.
• Painters who tell you the name brand paint they say they will use, but use that company's "contractor" (read:  poor) grade paint, which lasts only 5 years, on average.  We have repainted over half a dozen of these in the past year.
• Painters who don't pay their bills.  One reference to check (of the at least three you should check before hiring any contractor):  the paint store from which they buy paint.  There are many painters who don't keep current with their supplier; they will also short you, then, where they can.

Bruce's Blog

• With the economy bottoming out, we are working for many clients who have learned the hard way that in the long run, they wished they had hired as professional a company as Painting Solutions, Inc. Some of what we have seen:
• Joe, a resident of the development in which the contractor was working, hired clandestinely one of the employees off the books. Long story short, that employee took the three days labor charges before he started the job, stole a large amount of money from a neighbor, then (obviously) never returned. Hire only legitimate, registered contractors with references and a long history, and do not pay up front for any contractor’s services.
• Another client wishes she had hired us first as the painting contractor (one of the franchises) spewed lead paint chips all over the yard and cut off a large branch of a 20-year old star maple that was highlighting the run-down front porch of which we rebuilt and painted to its original elegance.
• In a house worth three-quarter of a million dollars, this client hired us after the lesser “splash and dash” painting company left obvious white small spots on the wall that he painted red, and did not paint behind the sconces' globes.
• A young Voorhees couple hired us after a year from our first visit. They tired of pulling the paper off walls and getting an “ok” look to the rooms. On the two-story living room, they wanted it to look great. Eighty hours and 6 gallons of spackle later, they have an elegantly smooth wall free of underlying wallpaper.
• Charles and Brenda, an older couple wanted to sell their Cherry Hill house to move into a retirement community. They did not save any money by waiting 10 months before deciding the fresh paint was worth a try; the house sold the next month. Freshen the house and it will sell faster and for more money.