this is simply a rant, just me running my mouth on things I would never.
stories of things that are unsead as a business owner. lets start with Time wasted. It’s such a big issue in business. We get a lot of clients that ask for estimates not because they’re looking to paint their home or do any drywall, but because they just want to see what it actually costs to do the job. But overall, they were always going to do the job themselves.
I am extremely okay doing free estimates, and sometimes I realize people think painting is cheaper than it actually is. So, if you do ask for an estimate and you really don’t know what it would cost and you don’t want to waste anybody’s time, feel free to talk to me about it and I will definitely find a way so that I don’t waste your time or mine. But also keep in mind I do work with people’s budgets, whether they don’t want to be paying high-end paints. Maybe they want to pay for cheaper paints. We can also adapt to their needs to help in whatever way we can.
Red Flags on the Job: Why We Stand Firm on Quality and Materials
To wrap up my thoughts on estimates, there’s one particular scenario that always serves as a massive red flag. You show up to do an estimate and notice three things right away:
The job has already been started.
The owner has already bought cheap, low-quality materials that we would never normally use.
The workspace is a complete mess.
I recently ran into this exact situation and decided to walk away from giving a bid. When you see signs like that—along with hints that a previous drywall contractor wasn’t even paid—you can safely assume the client will be just as disorganized when it comes to schedules, payments, and materials.
While I sometimes allow owners to supply materials, I rarely recommend it. When we supply our own materials, we stay in control of the timeline. If you run out or need something immediately, you can’t afford to wait a whole day for a contractor to scramble and deliver it; every delay costs time and money.
Worse yet, some clients want to supply materials strictly to slash costs, essentially looking to treat skilled professionals as cheap labor. They want to spend as little as possible while pocketing maximum value. I simply don’t work with clients like that. We don’t offer cheap labor—we offer high-quality work, delivered with craftsmanship, because we focus on doing the job right, not fast and sloppy.