Painting Contractors in Baltimore, MD (Maryland)

Baltimore Home Painters

You might think that painting a home in Crabtown is an easy prospect compared to many other areas of the country since Baltimore's climate is a relatively mild one. That's not necessarily the case, however. Baltimore has its own laundry list of painting hazards, most of which are directly related to hiring a home painter in Baltimore who doesn't follow, or doesn't know, the basics when it comes to applying exterior paint. Getting bids from multiple contractors is your best bet when it comes to hiring someone qualified to do the job, since you'll be able to compare prices, the quality of past work, and references before you sign any contracts. Still, it pays to educate yourself on the basics of smart exterior painting practices, so that you can hold your painter to the high standards once the project gets underway.

Costs of Hiring a Home Painter
Before we get to the basics when it comes to hiring a Baltimore home painter, most homeowners like to know what they're signing up for when it comes to cost. Based on homeowner surveys that HomeAdvisor sends out to Baltimoreans who use our customer referral service, we can give you an idea of what to expect. Data collected from those surveys indicates that the average cost of hiring a home painter in Baltimore runs about $4,100 for an exterior paint job. Don't etch that figure in stone, however. The size of your home, the present condition of its siding and paint, and choices you make in regards to your hire and materials can influence the final cost quite a bit. The most expensive job in our books, for example, ran a hefty $9,000, while the cheapest logged in at a surprisingly cheap $800 bucks.

Project Duration and Hiring a Baltimore Home Painter
The other factor that most homeowners like to get a handle on is how long their exterior paint job is going to take. Using the information gathered from those same customer surveys, an average exterior paint job in Monument City takes about five working days to complete. Again, the specifics of your paint job will determine exactly how long you'll have a paint crew on your premises; it's always important to keep in mind that things like proper prep, which makes or breaks a good exterior paint job, and carefully finishing the trim lead to most jobs taking longer than homeowners expect. That being said, the longest job we've encountered so far took almost two weeks to finish, while the quickest took a mere two days (if you get quoted the latter, you either live in a very small home, or you might want to consider taking another bid).

Steps That Any Good Home Painter Should Take
On to more practical advice. As we said before, the end product of a quality exterior paint job in B-Town is often in the details. Primarily it has to do with knowing when to paint, where to paint, and when to call it quits for the day, especially in a climate as humid as Baltimore's. Get to know the following exterior painting tips. They are some of the most important aspects of painting a home in B-Town that any Baltimore house painter should follow if you want to get the best results, and the longest life, out of your exterior painting project.

Painting is a Seasonal Affair for Baltimore Home Painters
Even in Baltimore, you can't safely paint outside 12 months of the year. Oil-based paints shouldn't be applied if the temperature is less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and for latex the mercury should read 50. In Baltimore, that means the painting season runs approximately from March to November, though if there's any chance of a freeze for at least two weeks after your paint job, put it off. Even if the paint is dry to the touch, a freeze that hits before the paint totally cures will significantly reduce the life of your paint.

Moisture Is the Biggest Enemy
Truth be told, a painting season that lasts from March to November is a dream for most painters across the nation. What throws a wrench in the works in Baltimore more than anything else isn't temperature, but humidity and precipitation. Ideally you need to wait a day after a summer thunderstorm for things to dry out, and two days after a soaking rain, before you climb back up on the ladder. And if the humidity is pushing 70 percent or more, you might want to think twice about painting, as well. High humidity hinders the paint's ability to dry and set properly, which can also affect how long you can expect it to protect your Baltimore area home. Finally, don't give your house painter in Baltimore a hard time when they quit early instead of working until dusk. While you want your project to proceed along as quickly as possible, quitting a few hours before sundown will lead to a better paint job in the end. In a climate as humid as Baltimore's, the dew that can accumulate when the temperature drops at night can be as detrimental as fresh paint getting hit by an afternoon cloud burst.

Hiring a House Painter is a Good Choice for Most Homeowners
Hiring a Baltimore house painter is one of the easiest ways to improve the overall look of your home, and to protect it from the elements. Being smart about when to paint, however, can be the difference between needing to re-paint your home sooner than later in the City of Baltimore. Furthermore, while the factors mentioned above are rules to live by, there's a hundred other tricks of the trade that a qualified home painter in Baltimore knows that most homeowners don't. If you don't have previous experience painting, and want your exterior paint job done right with a minimal amount of setbacks, hiring someone who knows what they're doing in the greater Baltimore-DC area is definitely a good way to go.