BloomingtonHousePainter.com asks: So the barriers to entry to becoming a painter are very little. All you need is a bucket and a paint brush. How do you decide if you come across a painter whether or not that’s all the experience they have?

Paul Martin: You can check references and see how long they have been in business.

BHP.com: What are the perils of hiring someone who’s just a college painter may or may not be around or be found in the next week or two?

PM: Well if there is a problem with the job they may not be there to back it up, they may not have the proper insurance so if they damage something on your property or even if they hurt themselves you may find yourself liable whether damages or injuries. That’s why it’s important that you choose a contractor that has all the necessary insurance.

BHP.com: Do you do that as part of the bid process?

PM: Yes

BHP.com: What does the customer ask for specifically when they are asking for your insurance information?

PM: If they have general liability insurance, if the contractor uses employees, if that employee is covered by Workman’s Comp as required by IL law. If that contractor uses a subcontractor, if that subcontractor is covered by Workman’s Comp. or his employees are covered by Workman’s Comp. A lot of, some of the painters out there use all subcontractors and may or may not be covered. When your hire Martin’s Painting & Decorating you typically get one of the Martin’s on the job not a subcontractor.

BHP.com: So if the painter doesn’t have the requisite insurance is that a reason to be concerned?

PM: We think so cause it doesn’t take but a small accident to turn into quite an ordeal. Customer drops a ladder on a car, puts it through a window, he falls off and breaks his leg

BHP.com: Yeah I hadn’t thought about the ladder falling on the car, I guess there are many ways to have an accident besides getting hurt

PM: Yes painters spraying can overspray the neighbor’s car, or the neighborhoods cars for that matter.

BHP.com: Yeah there are many perils.

PM: Some of them most people don’t think of. But it’s a consideration when hiring, it may not be worth saving a hundred dollars on a non insured painter.

BHP.com: So if you’re going to hire a painter, how should you go about choosing a painter?

PM: Well most people choose a painter either going through the phone book and calling two or three or four painters to do a bid. Sometimes they have to call four or five painters to get two or three bids. A lot of times painters don’t return calls. Then they do sort of an interview with the prospective painter when he’s doing the proposal and a lot of times it comes down to price and how well they liked the estimator or the person who does the proposal. That’s one way. And the other way a lot of times is just recommendations from friends or co-workers. And if the customer uses that way, a lot of times they don’t even get a competing bid because their neighbor might tell them that they had a good price and experience from particular painter and a lot of times that’s good enough.

BHP.com: Would you say that there is someone people should look for when hiring a painter because it’s not hard to say that you are a painter?

PM: It’s very easy to say that you are a painter. Our recommendation is to look at how long that painter has been in business, if that painter has all the necessary insurance, in IL there is no certification or license so that doesn’t apply. You want to look at their history as far as if you do some reference checks, make sure that they do their job on time and budget. If a painter says it is going to take 3 days to do a job and it takes 5 and there’s no explanation for that that might be something you want to look at. That the painter shows up on time when they’re supposed to be at a job, things like that.

BHP.com: So when you hire a painter it’s not always the person that you talk to who comes to your house, what kinds of questions should you ask about the people who will actually be in your house especially if they’re there and you’re not home? That’s where your valuables are, you’ve got to be able to trust the person.

PM: Absolutely, that’s a good question because there are a lot of people out there that think all painters are a certain type person whether it be good or bad. Just like any job when there’s a group of people, you have all different kinds, but I know that if I was hiring someone to be in my house I would make sure that they were trust worthy and have a history of any problems or just because a contractor may be trustworthy, it’s about the people that are going to be in your house. To me that’s a pretty big consideration. The easiest way is to ask the contractor what kind of people he has working for him, how long they’ve worked for him, and who exactly is going to be in that customers home. If the employer is going to be there, or if it’s just going to be the painters with the boss somewhere else.

BHP.com: And does someone from one of the Martin’s usually show up on site with the painter?

PM: Typically…well yes. Typically at the start of any project if we’re not going to be there the whole time we will be there at the start of the project and either regularly to check on it, but most of the time we’re there all the time with our employees.

BHP.com: Well that’s an added benefit to having the expert on site the whole time

PM: We have found that if we’re there we have much better control over the job and the work that gets done. We can take a much better…We can take responsibility …we take responsibility regardless

BloomingtonHousePainter.com asks : And how long has Martins Painting & Decoration been in business?

Paul Martin: Over 30 years.

BHP.com: Your dad started the company right?

PM: That’s correct

BHP.com: And still works for the company

PM: Still works for the company, we are partners now.

BHP.com: Your sisters are in the painting business?

PM: Family business. I have 3 sisters, 2 of which still paint, but they don’t work for the family business anymore. One of them lives outside of, lives outside of the area and works for herself. Another one lives in the area and works part time for herself.

BHP.com: You can definitely say that the Martin’s know painting

PM: I’d agree

BloomingtonHousePainter.com asks: How do you choose the right paint? Can you give recommendations?

PM:  That’s correct

BHP.com: So if you are a do-it-yourself painter, and you’re just buying paint from Home Depot or Lowes, can you expect to get the same kind of quality from the paint that you get as a professional painter?

PM:  Absolutely. What it ultimately comes down to is different price points or different grades of paint and a high quality paint from Home Depot is comparable sometimes better than a high quality paint from Sherwin Williams or Pittsburgh or any of the other manufacturers.

BHP.com: When you go to paint someone’s house do you usually pick the paint or do they ask you to pick Lowes or Home Depot or Baer or Benjamin Moore?

PM: 95% of the time we pick the paint we prefer to use. Occasionally we’ll have a customer who insists on a paint. We try and accommodate the customer, but a lot of times we explain to them that although that is a fine paint if it is in fact a good paint, but its’ not a paint we use regularly and we prefer to use the paints that we are familiar with just because the way they go on the wall or they way we apply them. Every paint goes on a little bit different. But if the customer insists then we try and use their paint.

But sometimes there’s a surcharge because we cannot guarantee the results if we aren’t familiar with the paint.

BloomingtonHousePainter.com asks: Alright so our first question then is: what kind of advice do you have on choosing colors?

Paul Martin: We like to tell people the color they like is the right color. Sometimes we advise them on what we think works and doesn’t work from our experience but at the end of the day they are the ones that live in the house so they need to like the color. I don’t need to like the color. And the color consultant doesn’t need to like the color

BHP.com: How often do you see people hiring the color consultant and then going with the color the color consultant chooses?

PM: Not very often, in our experience when color consultants are used the customer ends up using their color maybe 25% of the time and the customer overrides the color consultant and uses the color they prefer 75% of the time

BloomingtonHousePainter.com asks Will a fly by night painter versus a professional painter pick a different paint because it covers better or they can do fewer coats? Is there a general rule for that?

PM: Typically the painter in question will use a cheaper grade paint to make more money. And if that paint requires more coats, than he might be able to charge a customer for multiple coats if it’s possibly not necessary. On coats, or how many times or coats of coverage you need, we recommend if you’re changing colors or changing sheens from a flat to an eggshell, you should always do 2 coats.

BHP.com: Even when you’re changing sheens?

PM: For the first time. If you’re putting eggshell over flat, and you only do 1 coat that sheen will not be will not get the appropriate build of that sheen and so touchups won’t touch up right. If you have any repairs to the wall it may show more than they would otherwise. There are a lot of paints that guarantee to be 1 coat coverage and we have yet to find one that actually works.

BHP.com: A 1 coat coverage paint?

PM: Correct. Some work better than others at 1 coat but again if you’re changing sheen or you’re going from a flat to an eggshell or a flat to a satin or changing colors, we always recommend 2 coats.

BHP.com: If you’re painting white over red, how many coats should a buyer expect to see on the proposal?

PM: Minimum of 3 coats. Sometimes even more than that depending on the other variables, sheen and if it’s a smooth wall or a textured wall. Red over white is the same way. Typically takes at least 3 coats.

BHP.com: Red over white?

PM: Red over white. Yellows cover very poorly. Yellow usually take multiple coats or more than 2 coats

Graffiti and vandalism encourage more of the same. If you see an abandoned building with a window broken out, the desire in other kids to see if they can break a window too, you’ll see, is hard for them to control. Drawing on a bathroom wall has some just wanting to comment, jibe or poke fun right back. The problem breeds itself.

To get rid of graffiti, we typically approach it one of two ways. We either paint over it and the wall it is on, or we use a media blaster (a sand blaster for instance). Paint seems to get the job done quicker and less messy.

If you’ve got vandals in the area, stopping them takes swift action over a short period of time. Often times a vandal comes back right after the first repaint to “mark their territory”. But a new coat after that and perhaps 1 time after that solves the problem, permanently, 90% of the time.

If you’ve got graffiti in the greater Bloomington / Normal area – call us! 309-661-9300

We specialize in the following:

Paint and Products we apply

• For residential and commercial painting we are a full-service Bloomington Painting Contractor
• We do faux painting effects like “crackle” finish



• Fun paints like “chalkboard” or “glow-in-the-dark” paint
• Staining and/or sealing decks, fences and wood shakes
• Drywall and plaster repair
• Concrete waterproofing
• We also work regularly with mural painters, should you so desire a wall mural

. . . and that’s really not everything. If it can be sprayed, brushed, blown (like basement waterproofing) or painted – we do it.

Most people think painters apply new stuff, but we do a lot of removal as well.

Things we remove

• Graffiti Removal
• Wallpaper removal
• The stripping of peeling and chipped paint
• Bad drywall
• and we powerwash houses to remove mold, mildew, dirt and grime as well as sandblast areas if needed.

So it’s not all about putting new coats on. In fact, a new coat over something bad doesn’t really get you anywhere.