You do not need to do much before a painting crew arrives, and you should be suspicious of any company that expects you to do their prep for them. That said, there are a handful of things that are genuinely better handled by the homeowner, mostly because they involve decisions or objects we should not be making calls about.

Move anything irreplaceable yourself

We move furniture and we cover what stays, carefully. But anything fragile, valuable or sentimental should be somewhere else entirely before we start. Not because we expect an accident, but because the sensible way to handle an irreplaceable object is not to have it in the work zone at all. Artwork, collections, heirlooms and anything with emotional weight are best boxed and moved to a room we are not working in.

Take down wall hangings and clear the small stuff

  • Pictures, mirrors, shelves and anything else hung on the walls
  • Curtains and blinds, if you want them out of the way (we can also mask around them)
  • Contents of closets if closet interiors are being painted
  • Small items from surfaces we will need to move
  • Anything on top of the refrigerator or cabinets if we are doing the kitchen

You do not need to fill the nail holes. We do that as part of prep, and we do it properly with compound rather than toothpaste.

Decide your colours before day one

This is the single biggest cause of delays. Paint has to be ordered and tinted, and a change of mind on the morning we start means a trip and a wait. We will put samples on your walls well ahead of time precisely so this decision is settled before the crew shows up.

Tell us about pets and access

Doors get propped, gates get opened and there is equipment moving in and out all day. If you have a dog or a cat, tell us at the estimate and we will agree how to handle it. Likewise if there is an alarm code, a gate, a difficult parking situation or a time of day that is bad for you. All of that is much easier sorted in advance than improvised on the morning.

Point out the problems you already know about

If there is a spot that has been patched three times and keeps cracking, or a stain that comes back every spring, tell us. Those are symptoms of something, and knowing about them lets us investigate before we paint over the evidence. A crack that keeps returning usually needs a different repair approach, and a stain that reappears is often telling you about a leak.

What we handle

Covering floors, masking trim, fixtures and hardware, moving and protecting the furniture that stays, filling and sanding, caulking, priming and cleaning up at the end of each day. That is our job, it is included, and you should not be doing any of it.

Amaya G Painting works throughout Little Rock and Central Arkansas. Call (501) 453-3565 for a free estimate.