Exterior painting season is here in the Midwest so I will be very busy. I have no doubt that the housing "crisis" will help my business. People are staying in their homes and improving what they have. All my pals that relied on new construction painting are screwed, I actually bought a complete spray rig and van parts for about twenty percent of what it was worth because he went out of business, bad for him good for me.

When you paint this year make sure your painter is experienced and can answer all your questions, make sure you get a workmanship warranty and whatever guarantee comes with the paint. Have the painter give you a couple references, but do not get too demanding of painters to provide references licenses, bbb standing or a bunch of B.S. that you think will protect you, most residential repainters have enough work to get annoyed with you and jack up their bid, trust me this happens a lot when painters are busy. Most painters are pretty handy people so be sure to get them to throw in some wood rot repair with the bid if needed, also make them write down "clean up" on the bid. If windows are being painted then make sure they will all open when the painter is done.

Most of the time the painter will be able to get you a better deal on the paint than you can so let them do the buying. Never buy top of the line paint, as it may be a little bit better than the midgrade, but you will be overpaying by a lot and people change paint colors before a descent paint job starts wearing out anyway.

Spraying vs. brush and roll, I like brush and roll because the painter has to put himself at every spot he is painting which demands more detail, when spraying a painter has a lot more opportunities to cut corners and weak spots are easily missed on the final walk through, brush and roll weak spots can be easily seen by the homeowner..