How to Save Money
On Exterior And Interior
Home Painting

But whatever the reason may be, everybody loves to save money where they can, and the following tips will help you do just that.

So take advantage of these suggestions - they will show you all the ways you can save on your next home improvement painting project.

Repaint more often

This may sound very counter-intuitive, but with regular maintenance painting you can keep the surfaces protected and avoid costly repairs.

A lot of homeowners wait too long before repainting the exterior of their house, thinking they are saving money by delaying the needed work.

Instead they end up with major paint deterioration, wood cracks, dryrot, deep mold and mildew and water damage - problems that are very expensive to fix. It's like being penny wise and dollar dumb.

And if you take into account that the biggest cost of any house painting job comes from labor, you will realize that the longer you wait, the more you'll end up paying because of all the scraping, sanding, caulking, priming and repairs that your house will need by that time.

The thing is, it's much cheaper to keep your house and your budget under control by being proactive.

A properly and regularly maintained house usually needs just one fresh coat of paint and minimum surface preparation every 5 years or so - your savings will literally reach into thousands.

Choose the Best

"I am not rich enough to buy cheap things" - have you heard that saying? It holds true for so many things in life, but especially for house painting.

You see, the primary purpose of quality paint is to protect your home from the elements, and its decorative value is just a nice bonus.

So when you buy and use cheap paint, you are not saving any money, just the opposite - you are wasting it, because the thing you bought does not (cannot!) do what you bought it to do.

The same goes for choosing painting contractors - low bidders have to cut corners on surface preparation (in addition to using cheap products) in order to make some money, and without proper surface prep the paint will not hold up well - you may have to repaint much sooner than you normally should, or even pay someone else to redo the job right away.

You can avoid paying more and paying twice if you choose a reputable house painting contractor who will do the job right the first time.

Time It Right

You can take advantage of lower contractor rates if you just schedule your exterior and interior home painting projects for "slow seasons".

For example, in areas that have all the 4 seasons, winter is a great time for interior home painting, March and November are good for exterior painting jobs, while August and periods around all major holidays offer good saving opportunities for different painting projects.

Many house painting companies lower their rates or run special promotions during these times, so if you are flexible and plan your projects in advance, you can often make a great deal - just ask your contractor when he can give you his best price.

Order Wholesale

Some people spread their exterior and interior home painting projects throughout the year - they hire a contractor for painting just one room, then a couple of months later they call him back to paint another room or something else in the house, and so on.

But if you group all the exterior and interior home painting work together to be done at the same time, you can usually get a "volume" discount from your painter - he will save on gas, on setting up and wrapping up and will pass those savings on to you.

And here's another way to get "wholesale" pricing: recommend your contractor to a friend, neighbor or family member - if he gets the job from your referral, you will usually receive a discount on your own painting project.

Do Your Part

When it comes to quotes, interior home painting contractors usually include in their price things like moving furniture, removing pictures, blinds and decorations from the walls, and then putting everything back.

You can often get a price break if you take responsibility for those tasks and offer to completely set up the stage so that the painters can focus on painting.

See Also:

Instructions for Storing Paint Properly

How to Get Free Colors to Paint Your House

Oops! Designer Paint Colors On a Bargain Budget

Seasonal Interior and Exterior House Painting Tips

HOUSE PAINTING TUTORIALS