6 Common Misconceptions On HDB Painting

More than 81 percent of all the people in Singapore choose to stay in HDB apartments. Owning and maintaining an HBD unit brings with it a host of new expenses. Among them, painting is one of the major periodical investments that homeowners need to incur. Painting helps maintain the beauty and protects the interior walls of HDB units. It also helps you to refresh the look of every room in your apartment. However, painting an HDB unit is not as simple as it seems. To get the best results, you need to take a lot of tough decisions. The first thing you need to decide is whether you’re going to paint the apartment yourself or hire a professional painting service. No matter what you choose, you should have a basic idea about painting. To help you get started, here our list of 6 misconceptions about HDB painting.

HIRING A PROFESSIONAL PAINTING SERVICE IS ALWAYS EXPENSIVE:
There are plenty of firms that provide house painting services in Singapore. The competition between these companies is usually pretty high which may help you get a good bargain. If you decide to get your HDB unit painted by professionals, the best way to start is by gathering quotations from different painting services. Apart from getting the quotations, you should also ask the type of paint they are going to use. This should help you judge because there are a lot of companies out there who use cheap paint in order to bring down the rates. Thanks to the high number of house painting services in Singapore, you should have no trouble finding a firm that offers cheap rates. However, choosing a cheap service may also mean poor quality work. This is why, it’s best to hire a professional painting service that employ skilled and licensed painters. You should also look at their industry experience before finalizing the deal.

YOU CAN ALWAYS SAVE MONEY IF YOU DO THE PAINTING YOURSELF:
You might be tempted to paint your HDB unit yourself in the hopes of saving some money. Unfortunately, there is not much of a difference in terms of cost even if do all painting yourself. House painting services usually buy paint from wholesale distributors at a much cheaper rate. On top of that, these services already own all equipments needed to paint your HDB unit. If you want to do the painting on your own you will have to buy the painting equipments including paintbrushes, rollers, ladder, covering plastic, tape, and other materials. The cost of buying all these painting equipments will instantly hike the budget of the project. Coupled with the cost of buying the paint at a retail rate, you may end up saving an insignificant amount. In the end, the effort you need to put in to complete the project may seem a bit too much compared to the money you may or may not save. However, if you have experience in painting and have the necessary equipments, painting your HDB unit yourself may turn out to be a money saving idea.

PROFESSIONAL PAINTING SERVICES DO NOT CLEAN UP AFTER THE WORK IS COMPLETE:
Painting, in general, is a very messy chore. This means if the professional painting service you hire do not clean up after their work you may be forced to do it yourself. You may even be forced to hire other people to clean up the mess that’s left behind, causing you to spend more money. This is why it’s best to find a painting service that takes that extra step and cleans up your HDB apartment after the painting is done. Considering the competitive market, you shouldn’t face much trouble finding a firm that offers the clean up service. Great thing about hiring firms that are obligated to clean up after painting is that they usually take great care to protect the paint and furniture during the painting process. They wrap all the furniture and cover the floor to ensure the post-painting cleanup work is minimal.

IT’S NOT IMPORTANT TO PREP THE WALL BEFORE PAINTING:
A lot of people think that prepping the walls before painting is an unnecessary step. This cannot be further from the truth. Following proper procedure to prep the wall helps the paint to stick to the wall better. A typical prepping includes cleaning and scrubbing the wall and applying an initial coat of primer. The cleaning and scrubbing make sure the surface of the wall is smooth and dirt free, helping you get that perfect finish. The primer, on the other hand, acts as an adhesive that binds the paint to the wall, increasing the longevity of the paint. Even if you are not painting your HDB unit yourself, make sure the service you hire follows these steps properly.

IT’S ESSENTIAL TO MOVE OUT DURING THE PAINTING PROCESS:
Paint is a sticky substance which can easily damage electronics, furniture and other items around the house. This is why some people feel the need of moving out along with their stuff before handing over their HDB unit to the painters. This is an unnecessary step that simply adds to the cost of the overall painting budget. The cost of transporting the goods to a secure location and transporting them back after painting can be as much as the painting itself. There are a lot of professional painting service providers who take great care in covering and sealing all the stuff around the house before they start painting. Even if these painting firms charge a bit extra, it’s overall a lot cheaper than packing and moving your household items.

YOU NEED TO PAY EXTRA IF THE PAINTING SERVICE USES EXTRA PAINT:
Almost all painting services in Singapore charge a fixed rate depending on the size of the HDB unit and the quality of paint used. They usually have rate chart and charge you a fixed amount of money based on the number of rooms. This charge includes labor cost, equipment charges, cost of materials, and cost of the paint. After the painters evaluate your HDB space and provide a quotation, it’s their responsibility to buy the necessary amount of paint. Even if they need to buy extra paint that should come out of their pocket.