Painting & Decorating

In GB a painter & Decorator normaly paints walls and celings, Woodwork and anything structural that needs painted. They also Hang wallpaper and fit tiles.

In Norway a painter & Decorator paints and hangs wallpaper,Plasters damaged interior walls and tapes drywalls (Jibbsplater) Over the years this has extended to laying floors and tiles and moving house furniture around. Its also possible to take further education in the same field for those who may wish to give advice on how one should remodel there interior. Many large companies however have at least two employees who do this.
Basicaly they have:
People who secure contracts. These people then contact the painter best suited for these skills aswell as an interior designer if needed.

In America, I have not a clue?. Maybe someone would like to tell me?

A painter can also be an interior designer too although In Norway that is a trade most prefered by women. Most men I know don,t tend to care about curtains and what goes with what. In this business is often best to play safe. ie if a customer asks me to choose the paint. I choose something light like ncs 0502y or s-0502y reasoning for this is if the furniture is not already in the house, Then just about anything fits to light off white colors. I will only choose strong colors if the customer actualy says thats what they prefer, But then I would rather show them a book and they choose.

They decided that it was too expensive to get a company to hang drywall so they did it themselves.

But the drywall was uneven in many places and they used old drywall that was thrown out from other companies. Then they called me!

This is what I normaly do in order:

1) Repair damaged areas including running a knife over loose edges between each drywall plate and then apply quickdry mud.

2) Light sand and apply mud and tape reaply mud totape and remove completely, It dampens evens off and helps the tape to sit beter.

3) Apply a medium mud to everything x2 sometimes 3 if neccesary and sand when dry.

But on this job just about every plate was uneven and Damaged gaps were wide and not trimed. I used a whole day to repair it where it normaly takes between one and two hours and since the walls were uneven I then have to use more mud and spread this much wider than normaly needed. Therfor I use more time and more mud. This customer would have saved money by getting it done properly instead of doing it themselves!

Tip: Ask the tradesman what you yourself could do first to save time and money. Don,t asume that you know better!

How to save money and time before calling in a profesional:

1) Wash the area that is to be worked on, Ask a freind to help or a company. There price might be less than the painters price?
( Smokers roof ie a room where people have been smoking in is one of the toughest places to paint. Washing a room like this takes time but has to be done. In some cases it can be as costly as the job itself)

2) Move furniture or get help to do so. If you cannot move the furniture out of the room then place it in the middle. But remember, Akwardness takes time. Time is money.

3) remove outer covers on electrical apliances like smoke alarms and wall switches ect. (Don,t touch the inside areas as this is ilegal and may cause a nasty shock. for some this could be fatal so be warned)

Basicaly if you choose to be out and a company arives to find you have done nothing, Then they will add it as aditional time. They will add time for removing that which they can move and also for having to work round that which they cannot move. They will add time for replacing furniture and fitments too. If this causes a problem with other jobs that they have, Then they may come and go more often and charge more for driving?

Conclusion: If you are not taking care of things yourself, Then make sure it stands in your contract that the company is doing more than just painting!

I am educated in GB and Norway as a painter/Decorator.
Skills:
painting houses and offices inside and out
Wallpapering and carpet hanging
Rehabilitation of museums
Repairing Drywall and aimstaping
Plastering (Inside)
In adition:
I have further education and years of experience in Painting signs,Cartoons, Special painting methods ect for customers who want to have something different!

As a painter we tend to learn other skills along the way, Therfor I have studied building maintenance and have experience in many other area,s within the building trade. With so many new building materials in the market today this kind of knowldge does give me advantages!