Hiring Student Painters
I came across this ad for Student Works (like College Pro) which is a company that uses students to paint. After reading it, I wanted to post something on Paint Calgary in regards to hiring students to paint your home.
A lot of our clients understand that hiring students is not going to get you a professional result or application. This may not be a concern to some people whose only concern is price; however once you consider the costs between a student company and a local professional company, there really are no comparisons at all. Painting is a trade that takes three years under Alberta Trade, to obtain a journeyman certificate, the same as a welder.
Student painting companies are franchises which come with franchise fees and there is normally levels of people that your money must compensate, this leaves the people actually doing the work making as little as $10 (such as the ad below). Paint Calgary painters, as with other local professional painting companies, do not require franchise fees or compensation at levels through the franchise, which leaves us more flexibility to spend your money where it counts by using experienced professional painters that start at $18 an hour, the industry standard and quality coatings and materials.
Another consideration for professional local companies is knowledge. We see this as a common problem with correcting student painting problems, mainly on exteriors and in older homes due to previous coating issues and unskilled preparation. An inexperienced $10 an hour student is not going to have the knowledge about a potential problem or a solution. And because their hourly rate is based on piece work, the faster they can get your job done the more money they will make. This makes for a combination for a disaster that the home owner often ends up paying for especially on exteriors where often the paint will peel within one year or essential preparation work will be missed that will lead to other repair work. Commonly, we see this with cracks in window frames (especially second floor). Cracks in window frames as with other areas of concern require preparation and at a minimum caulking, student painters will often paint over these areas which later requires more serious leak repair and in some cases interior mold issues.
In additional to knowledge, safety is also a concern home owners should consider. Professional painters are career painters which means they are familiar with potential coating and material hazards, plus they are used to ladder work.
- A student painter may not know that a cloth soaked in thinner is a severe fire hazard.
- A student painter may not know how to safely use large extension ladders.
- A student painter is not used to heights.
How student painting pay works
Understanding the pay structure with student painting companies will help you get an even clearer idea as to what kind of finished project you can expect. With the ad below, the manager of this location franchise is offering $10 -$14 (piece work) per hour and has listed experienced painters as well as students, this means, that the$14 an hour is the maximum an experienced painter will get. Piece work itself, does not mean they are paid for a clock hour of time, it is the total clock hours divided by the % the franchise owner has allotted for the project, so for a student who has never painted before, they could be making as little as $$3-$5 an hour.
Professional local painters offer so much more than student franchise companies can ever expect to achieve because we have the knowledge, the skill and the common sense to direct project funds where it matters most, with our painters and the right quality coatings for the right application. Hire a local professional and get it done right the first time.
The following ad to hire student painters was found online. Not only do student painters make less than a fast food employee but for this company they are required to do cold call sales also.
Student Works Painting
Giving awesome jobs to Students for over 20 years. Looking for highly motivated Students and/or experienced painters who are looking to make some hard earned cash for painting from May to labour day weekend.
REASONS TO WORK FOR SWP:
-$10-$14 PER HOUR (PIECE RATE) OPPORTUNTITY FOR WAGE INCREASES THROUGHOUT SUMMER!!!
-GREAT INCENTIVES -GREAT EXPERIENCE -WCB
REQUIREMENTS:
-HIGHLY MOTIVATED -VEHICLE A PLUS -MUST AID IN COLD CALLING (DOOR TO DOOR) -LIVE IN OR CLOSE TO AIRDRIE
*WILL TRAIN
*TO APPLY SEND ME YOUR RESUME AND COVER LETTER xxx@xxx.com LABEL IT (YOURNAME.DOC)
SETTING UP INTERVIEWS NOW!!!
Hurry only 4 spots remaining!!!!
It’s funny but student painters have been around for so long that people just assume they are professional enough to do their homes. I know we did and it was a huge mistake. We hired College Pro in Airdrie to come and do our exterior and by the time it was finished, with what we paid, we know now that we should have just hired a professional.
Can your company get paint off the shingles and siding without damaging it? And should our paint be peeling already? We had is done two months ago.
First of all, Student Works is not College Pro. The two companies are completely different. Second, most people do not ask student painters to provide a high quality service – they are just after a low price. I asked for a professional job from Student Works and I got it – my house and trim looks great and I don’t see any peeling anywhere (two seasons and counting). I think when a client asks for the lowest price possible, the painters are obligated to cut corners, regardless of who the painter is. My neighbour got his painting from a professional company and the quality looks identical, even the paint was the same – General Paint Platinum Series – it just cost me about half the price. I also chatted with a few of the painters while they were here and they expressed that they were paid on a piece-rate basis, but that they were not paid for touchups or if they had to redo some improperly done work. All in all, you will get what you pay for no matter where you go, I think you just have to ask. By the way, Student Works guaranteed my house for three years – what’s your guarantee?
All our exterior jobs start with a 10 year guarantee depending on the type of product for exteriors which ranges from exterior latex to Elastomeric Coatings which are used for stucco. In regards to ‘low price’, professionals cannot be beat because we do this for a living and not as a summer job. In the case of a stucco exterior on a two story home, it would take a professional crew of three to complete this job in three days, where students could take several weeks. Firstly, as professionals, we would select the coating based on the condition of the surface and the colour change (if any), then decide on the best course of application. For exteriors, which is what student companies usually book for, we typically spray as surfaces are quite porous and roller application just cannot measure up, especially for our climate. For an example, if we have an 1400 square foot, two story home, we would spend one day to prep. One day to spray and one day to clean up. I have looked at the Student Works website and a three year warranty when you are paying several grand for an exterior paint job is not a good deal if you have to repaint after that. So you can pay a professional $3000 that will last for over a decade or pay students $1500 that is only guaranteed for three years. It’s the difference between buying a pair Nike trainers to a pair at Wal-Mart sneakers to run a marathon.
Sounds like a very decent warranty – I was not aware of this. Your example of shoes doesn’t exactly fit, though, because Nikes are made in China too. That aside, I will wait and see how long the paint lasts because they did say they used an alkyd primer to increase longevity.
alkyd primer? Curious. What type of exterior do you have?
The warranty makes sense. 3 years compared to 10, in that regard the painting would cost me 3 times as much as it wouldn’t last as long? Any idea what happens to the paint after the 3 year warranty expires?