To paint or not to paint...that is the question

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The Farmers Daughter

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We are slow as many of you are too. I have been toying with the idea of doing some sprucing up around here. Nothing huge, just painting some guest rooms and maybe the dining room. We originally were planning to have a professional do it, but are reconsidering paying someone to do something I can do my self.
Is anyone else taking on projects that in the past you would have had someone else do? Has it impacted your business negatively in any way? Was it worth it or is it just being 'price consious and penny foolish' ? or whatever that saying is?
 
We have almost always done our own interior painting, and most of our own interior or updating work. If it gets into areas we (meaning my husband) don't feel comfortable with, then we hire it out, but that hasn't always gotten optimum results.
To answer the question, we have not really changed our philosophy on what we hire out and what we do in house. It's so difficult to find someone who will do a good job that I think our default plan is to do it ourselves and only hire when we can't do it. In the past, that has created some problems with guest experiences, when we've waited too long to address a problem (I'm thinking of some outside landscape maintenance). So, if you choose to do it yourself, make sure you can get it accomplished before guests arrive.
 
We wouldn't wallpaper because we're too slow, but we paint all the time. Right now Gomez is on a ladder with a steamer stripping the rest of the wallpaper in our space. We did the inn last month.
What I wouldn't do is paint too close to when guests are due to arrive. The paint smell lingers unless you can open windows.
Painting is easy. Unless you have really difficult spaces (high ceilings over open staircases, etc). If you have the time and patience, it's a big savings.
 
We have always been part of the 'do it yourself' bunch, unless it is beyond our knowledge or talents. I think some of the things we do ourselves gives our place the character we want it to have.
We painted a guest room a few months ago and are heavily working on redoing our personal space.
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell.
 
We have always been part of the 'do it yourself' bunch, unless it is beyond our knowledge or talents. I think some of the things we do ourselves gives our place the character we want it to have.
We painted a guest room a few months ago and are heavily working on redoing our personal space.
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell..
Copperhead said:
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell.
Thanks, that is good to know. That is something I would be very interested in as I am not the fastest worker and often things take longer to accomplish than I originally expected. Can you tell me who makes it and if it is expensive?
 
We have always been part of the 'do it yourself' bunch, unless it is beyond our knowledge or talents. I think some of the things we do ourselves gives our place the character we want it to have.
We painted a guest room a few months ago and are heavily working on redoing our personal space.
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell..
True about the smell. Aura, by Benjamin Moore is one of the low VOC paints that don't smell like paint.
 
We have always been part of the 'do it yourself' bunch, unless it is beyond our knowledge or talents. I think some of the things we do ourselves gives our place the character we want it to have.
We painted a guest room a few months ago and are heavily working on redoing our personal space.
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell..
Copperhead said:
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell.
Thanks, that is good to know. That is something I would be very interested in as I am not the fastest worker and often things take longer to accomplish than I originally expected. Can you tell me who makes it and if it is expensive?
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The Farmers Daughter said:
Copperhead said:
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell.
Thanks, that is good to know. That is something I would be very interested in as I am not the fastest worker and often things take longer to accomplish than I originally expected. Can you tell me who makes it and if it is expensive?
There are many low and zero VOC paints on the market now. The best, in my opinion, is Mythic Paints. True zero VOC, in that the dyes themselves are zero VOC. Many of the others have zero VOC bases but the dyes themselves are still toxic.
 
I do all our painting. What I can't reach on a regular ladder (scaffolding outside second floor) my DH does.
Riki
 
We have always been part of the 'do it yourself' bunch, unless it is beyond our knowledge or talents. I think some of the things we do ourselves gives our place the character we want it to have.
We painted a guest room a few months ago and are heavily working on redoing our personal space.
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell..
Copperhead said:
FYI there is a fairly new paint that is odorless that is very good and is a one coat paint. It is very thick and takes some time to get use to but once it drys, your guests will never know it was 'just' painted due to smell.
Thanks, that is good to know. That is something I would be very interested in as I am not the fastest worker and often things take longer to accomplish than I originally expected. Can you tell me who makes it and if it is expensive?
.
Home D. carries Freshaire but there are many others. They are not cheap and do not cover the same sq ft as a reg. paint gal. but is a one coat paint, with no fumes so if time is a heavy factor, this is a good option.
 
love the low fume, zero voc paint that inkeeper to go mentioned.
but i'm not a great painter. i do an okay job ... but after it dries, and i take a closer look, i'm not thrilled with the job i've done. i helped paint at a habitat for humanity house and i took ages applying some of that blue painters tape before painting. and then when i removed it, it was taking off the paint on the trim that was supposedly dry and would be okay with the tape on it. so i had to touch up the trim.
embaressed_smile.gif

i did a better job on the ceiling i think.
if i could, i'd hire a painter ... or try to get some friends that have done a great job on their own places over for a painting party. pizza and snacks for all hands. that kind of thing.
 
We've always done our own painting but we just hired a painter to do our kitchen because we needed it done quickly. It was the best money we ever spent. It was done in 2 days-no fuss, no mess. We also used the VOC paint by Benjamin Moore and there really is no smell, plus good for the environment.
 
We've always done our own painting but we just hired a painter to do our kitchen because we needed it done quickly. It was the best money we ever spent. It was done in 2 days-no fuss, no mess. We also used the VOC paint by Benjamin Moore and there really is no smell, plus good for the environment..
Yup, if time is of the essence, we hire it out, too.
 
The only painting we did not do is the outside of the guest house, we hired out, they did a lousy job now its time to do it again...you live and you learn. Outside specially with original wood panneling can't be done quickly. It needs to be scraped, sanded, primer it then paint it (twice).
We did all our own interior painting, never will let friends paint cause again-lousy job, now we have to repaint the living room. We did most of the rooms in the guest house and are getting ready to do two here in the main house. We would rather do it ourselves than hire out for inside painting. Outide painting we will have to hire someone to do, but with many references.
 
We lost our yard help and because of that, our yards do not look as good as they could even though it's Winter. But I think we're alwyas more critical than the guests. There are just not enough hours in the day.........
We do everything ourselves unless it's a job that would be better suited to a licensed professional (electrical work). I got an estimate for our 2 story stairway and almost collapsed. We figured out how to do it ourselves. :) We stay closed when doing bigger maintenance projects or very deep cleaning so as not to impact the guests.
 
My husband spent last weekend painting the doors and trim in the upstairs hallway and it looks so beautiful now. He also used the low VOC paint. We do most of the painting, inside and out, gardening, plumbing, and some electrical ourselves. But when it comes to wallpapering we hire out.
 
We lost our yard help and because of that, our yards do not look as good as they could even though it's Winter. But I think we're alwyas more critical than the guests. There are just not enough hours in the day.........
We do everything ourselves unless it's a job that would be better suited to a licensed professional (electrical work). I got an estimate for our 2 story stairway and almost collapsed. We figured out how to do it ourselves. :) We stay closed when doing bigger maintenance projects or very deep cleaning so as not to impact the guests..
Samster said:
I got an estimate for our 2 story stairway and almost collapsed. We figured out how to do it ourselves. :)
I know what you mean! My daughter bought a foreclosed home so we've been helping them fix it up to move into. We had painting quotes to paint the entire inside, including trim and it was just under $5,000 for a 1600 sq ft home! Needless to say we all ended up painting ourselves!
 
We lost our yard help and because of that, our yards do not look as good as they could even though it's Winter. But I think we're alwyas more critical than the guests. There are just not enough hours in the day.........
We do everything ourselves unless it's a job that would be better suited to a licensed professional (electrical work). I got an estimate for our 2 story stairway and almost collapsed. We figured out how to do it ourselves. :) We stay closed when doing bigger maintenance projects or very deep cleaning so as not to impact the guests..
Samster said:
I got an estimate for our 2 story stairway and almost collapsed. We figured out how to do it ourselves. :)
I know what you mean! My daughter bought a foreclosed home so we've been helping them fix it up to move into. We had painting quotes to paint the entire inside, including trim and it was just under $5,000 for a 1600 sq ft home! Needless to say we all ended up painting ourselves!
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GeorgiaGirl said:
we all ended up painting ourselves!
What color did you turn out?
tounge_smile.gif

 
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