Prepping Your Business for an Exterior Paint Job

Making sure your business is ‘presentation-ready’ and appealing to customers may be one of the most important ways to draw customers. This means that the exterior should be bright and clean and pleasant to the eye. The first step is to keep the outside of the business looking freshly painted. This telegraphs the message to the customer that you are open for business and have pride in your product or service. If you have done a recent walk-around the outside of your building and believe it is time for a new paint job, here are a few suggestions that will help you get ready while minimizing the disruption.

• Develop a schedule that lists the steps necessary to get the project underway and complete – from start to finish. Add a timeline and review the list regularly to ensure there are no long delays or issues that are unresolved.

• Create alerts for the customers and employees well in advance. You should put notices up on the front door and other entryways letting people know the dates and times the exterior will be undergoing a paint job and when you expect it to be finished. This will allow customers and employees the ability to avoid the area if they have medical issues that arise from the smell of paint.

• Be sure to have completed any repair work to the exterior prior to the first day of painting unless the contractor has agreed to address these issues as part of the pre-painting process. For example, peeling paint should be scraped away so it is not painted over directly. It may be necessary to power wash the exterior before applying fresh paint as well. There are a number of pre-painting hurdles that must be overcome before the first stroke of the brush hits the side of the building.

• Take the time to choose a color that enhances your building’s exterior and aligns to the product or service you offer. For example, a child’s boutique painted in a bold red would be off-putting to most customers. However, a hardware store might be suitable for some shade in the ‘red family’.

Are you getting ready to update your business’s exterior with a new paint job? Contact the professionals at University Painters, Inc.