Yes

by Dave Jackson

Created on: April 07, 2008   Last Updated: May 13, 2012

Yes, absolutely! As a journeyman painter, my opinion is certainly biased, but I've had to correct an awful lot of DIY "horror shows" over my career. In many cases, the cost of returning the property back to a professional level of quality is double. That being said, it is possible for a handy homeowner to do a nice job, especially if the amount of prep and repair is minimal. A job with no snags or pitfalls is rare though. (We'll assume a homeowner with renovation experience, a love for painting, and lots of spare time won't be interested in this article.)

It's tough to match the speed and quality of a professional painter, for three basic reasons: Experience (practice), knowledge, and equipment. It takes practice to develop the skills and knowledge, and quite a bit of money to acquire excellent tools and equipment. A painter works closely with his suppliers and is kept abreast of the constantly improving industry. You might spend a month of weekends working to accomplish what a professional could have done in a single day. It's likely you could use those weekends doing something far more productive.

Painting interior walls is the easiest to do, but if the drywall repairs and prep are not done thoroughly, the finished product will still be disappointing. Properly repairing and prepping the drywall commonly takes longer than the actual painting. A house without holes, dents, gouges, and cracks is pretty rare. In fact, a newly constructed home will often require more work after a year or so than an older one, due to settling and cracking. Slapping on a coat of paint really doesn't change much. If the old finish is alkyd based and not identified and dealt with, the new paint job will certainly not adhere well. All of the paint will have to be scraped off. Not identifying lead based paint is an insidious health risk if it gets sanded. There is also a risk of doing expensive damage when removing old wallpaper.

Damaged ceilings are even more difficult to repair and paint, especially if they are textured. Cracks and water damage are common. The drywall often has to be cut out, replaced, and finished the same as a wall, then the texture has to be sprayed on. Setting up the machine to spray exactly the same texture is tricky. These textured ceilings are normally painted with an airless sprayer and nasty alkyd based paint. Not using a respirator is dangerous. If the homeowner attempts to cover the texture with a roller and latex paint at least some of the texture will fall off, and the finish will not be uniform. (latex can be rolled on if the texture has been previously sprayed with alkyd however.) The paint sprayer and texture sprayer can both be rented but they are expensive and take practice to use effectively. It's easy to make a horrific mess with them. Cutting the wall into the ceiling often ends up wobbly and is quite noticeable. Masking this line doesn't work very well. Neither does masking off the wood trim and areas like kitchen cabinets. Paint very often bleeds under the tape edge and looks terrible. If paint bleeds onto naturally finished wood trim it is almost impossible to remove. The paint normally soaks into the wood so even sanding will not remove it. And homeowners don't usually have expensive drop sheets to protect floors.

Some of the perceived cost savings of doing the work yourself will be offset by the extra cost of materials. A painting contractor will enjoy a substantial discount from the paint supplier, which you will not. Also, a good painter will use high quality materials instead of cheaper paint from the "big box" stores. Suppliers will bend over backwards to keep their contractors happy, handy in case of problems involving warranties. More of your savings might be wasted renting or buying equipment, which a painter will own.

Painting the exterior also involves a lot of repairs and again the sprayer is often needed for stucco finishes, as well as a pressure washer, ladders and scaffolding. Inadequate preparation of an exterior will result in failure of the paint job within a short time. It's easy to do more harm than good on an exterior.

The "tricks of the trade" apply even more so to surfaces such as trim, doors, spindles, and cabinets. A homeowner can end up spending forever on these areas, never getting them done nicely, or never getting them done at all.

One helpful service I used to provide was to let the customer watch me work and I would answer any questions and offer tips. Paying your painter for a couple extra hours to train you is money well spent. Once you have established a good relationship with a good company you can enjoy the best of both worlds. I would even lend my best customers a set of basic tools to complete parts of the job they wanted to tackle, and pass on my discount on material. And there is always the option of bringing the painter back to finish if you run out of time or patience. The best painters will have far more work available than they can ever keep up with, so they won't normally be reluctant to be flexible in this way. In my experience, most people decide to hire me to finish the job anyways, once they observe the speed and quality.

Painting a house, especially an interior, is one of the biggest possible disruptions to your home. Rather than live in self-inflicted chaos for days or weeks, leave it to a professional crew that will do a beautiful job in a short time. Go on vacation or stay with friends, skip the mess, dust, odor and hassle, and return to enjoy your new surroundings.

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