These last couple of weeks I’ve started working with a local general contractor.

In the past, I’ve stayed away from them because as a residential painting contractor in San Diego I generally found it much more rewarding to work directly for the homeowners.

Whenever I’ve painted kitchen cabinets, refinished kitchen cabinets, or done interior work, it’s generally been a nicer experience to just have the place to myself to work in, w/o having to share it with a number of other workmen who are practicing their trade!

Often , general contractors make their profit by minimizing yours, so all that work you put into painting the interior is not as handsomely rewarded, plus, you are the last link in a long line of tradesmen, sometimes the drywall people delay you, or worse yet, you have to come back and paint the walls again for free!

But this experience has been more rewarding. Instead of trying to squeeze you for every dime he can make on you, Mark is happy to have you onboard, and understands the value of remunerating you for your painting professionalism.

Another plus is meeting other dedicated professionals that can become a recourse for when customers in the future inquire about their trades as needed.

A big advantage of working with someone in the same field of construction, is that they don’t have false expectations, and they fully understand the process that needs to take place.

I also especially like working on older houses, and this one dates back to the 1920s, so it offers me an opportunity to add my skill to a home that has been built with special care, when there was more pride in craftsmanship, and all the walls were put up by hand. I love the real wood floors that were built into homes back then, something not even money can buy today!

The older wood windows are also some of my favorites, though painting them takes special skill, window glazing is now a thing of the past with the fashionable vinyl that never needs painting, their double panes, tinted glass, and smooth operation they are more adept at keeping out the weather and the noise.

It’s like the difference between driving a brand-new computerized car or an old classic that you have to shift through the gears and interpret what the engine is telling you through its sounds…

In a brand-new car, the main experience is comfort and now, electronics. A built-in navigator, etc, yet when it comes to repairs and maintenance, newer cars can be quite pricey and moody, not so with an older vehicle, everything’s easy to reach and understand.

To give you an example. Texture. Older homes didn’t have much of it, craftsmen were just that, craftsmen, and they knew how to make a wall smooth, from scratch, like a home-cooked meal, it requires work and knowledge. Homes today are put-up quick to maximize profit and minimize expenses, so they are covered in cheap texture that will shine back at you if you don’t paint it with a flat paint!

Yet many people still insist on using shiny paints to make it easier to clean the interior painted walls. That works in the kitchen and bathrooms, due to the grease and oil, but in the common areas, hallways and bedrooms, flat paint is more elegant and easier to touch up!

Yes, shiny paints will increase their gloss every time you touch them up, leaving a tell-tale trail of what you did, whereas true flat paints (Not the Behr Marquee, ultra or premium flat!) are able to hide them.

I only refer to the Behr paints as not being perfectly flat because although they are labeled that way, they are not, and I discovered that the hard way, after honoring a client’s wish on his 3.5 Million dollar home in La Jolla on the first ten gallons of paint. After that, we were able to use a true high-end flat paint that delivered!