Have you ever been a professional painter? Then you may just be unaware of some of the knowledge a painter should possess. Painting a home, whether interior or exterior, is not as simple as buying some paint and brushing it on. Professional painters possess a keen knowledge that goes well beyond the paint itself.

Knowledge of the tools of the trade must come from experience. No one wants to be a guinea pig when it comes to having their home painted. A painter's working knowledge of tools should include sandpaper and different sanding tools like sanding blocks, and power sanders. Other tools like scrapers, paint sprayers, brushes, paint rollers, ladders and scaffolding. Remember, painting is half the battle.

Preparation can make the difference between a good paint job or, a great one. Before a paint brush is ever used, there is a lot of preparation that needs to happen first. This is not an exhaustive is and by no means the order it has to happen, just some insight to help you through the preparation process. Taping and drop cloths are essential. Brush and/or roller size and textures are crucial to your finish. There are many different sizes and types of brushes and rollers. These are for different paints and surfaces to be painted.

Every painter should have insurance. Before you hire painter to do any work on your house, you should first check and see what types of insurance they carry. An uninsured or under insured painter could make things go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.

There are two types of insurance any painter you are considering should have. First would be business liability insurance. Worker's compensation insurance is the second type of insurance coverage. Many states require this coverage by law because it covers any work-related injury.

Before hiring your Painter ask for proof of insurance and the contact information for their agent so that you can verify they are current with these policies.

The prep work of painting a house is one of the most time consuming steps in the entire painting process. This may be the single most compelling reason why people decide to hire a professional painting company rather than going the "do it yourself" route. When hiring your painter you need to be confident knowing that they are meticulous and pay close attention to detail and what you want and expect.

Finally comes the dreaded clean up. For you, this may be the one reason to hire a painter. Although it may not seem like an important issue to factor in when hiring a painter, let's face it, if you hire someone who just leaves everything a mess, how good can their attention to detail and workmanship really be? Now you will be wasting your valuable time cleaning up their mess.

Here are a few tips and helpful questions to ask that may help you hire a professional painter...
Do they show up on time? Do they arrive in a presentable fashion? Are they willing to take the time to answer your questions or are they just rushing to get a check? Ask them if they will move furniture? Do they have their own equipment and all the necessary tools or do they rent them? Finally, how do they deal with problems they encounter along the way? Will they tell you about them or just fix them and add it to your bill?