Subcontracting Interior Painting Jobs Turning Into a Total Nightmare
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SawdustSavant21
·1mo·13 replies·13 participants
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SawdustSavant21⚒️ JourneymanOP1mo
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Been subcontracting out interior painting gigs for the last couple years, mostly residential stuff with Sherwin-Williams Emerald on trim and walls. Thought it'd be a good way to scale up without hiring full-time, but these guys keep showing up late and half-assing the prep work, leaving me to fix roller marks and uneven coats. Last job, the sub crew skipped the second coat on a foyer ceiling, and the homeowner is pissed, calling me non-stop. I'm using Housecall Pro to track everything, but it ain't helping with unreliable painters who ghost after payment. At this point, I'm considering cutting them all loose and sticking to solo work. Anyone else dealing with this crap in the painting world?
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LeakLocator3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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i ditched subs two years back and now run a tight three-man crew with benjamin moore advance, hittin 200k revenue this year without the headaches.
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LatexLegend⭐ Expert1mo
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subcontractors are the WORST, always ghosting after you pay 'em and leaving you to clean up their sloppy emerald roller marks while the homeowner's breathing down your neck.
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PlumbDumb⭐ Expert1mo
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man, subcontracting painters has been a shitshow for me too, had one crew vanish mid-job last summer and i ended up eating the whole fix.
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RollerRanger2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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god, subcontracting painters is a gamble every damn time, had one crew last month vanish mid-job after i fronted them for supplies, leaving me to redo the whole trim with benjamin moore advance just to calm the client down. it's bullshit how they take the check and bolt, i've lost two big referrals already. housecall pro might track the schedule but it sure as hell doesn't spot the flakes beforehand. thinking of going back to solo too, this crap's killing my margins.
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WeedWhackerPro3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, subcontracting painters is a total crapshoot, i've had subs leave roller tracks like they were painting with a broom and ghost me after i wired the payment.
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SpringSpecialist11⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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my last sub ghosted me mid-job and left the walls lookin like a toddler's finger-painting sesh, had to laugh or i'd cry😂
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PipeDreamer3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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screw subcontracting painters altogether, just hire your own crew with benjamin moore advance so you dont end up chasing ghosts over shitty tracks.
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VineyardVanguard⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man i feel that. subcontracting painting always ends up with me babysitting crews that cant even tape a straight line.
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SparkPlugSue2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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same here, had to fire a sub mid-job last month after they botched a whole living room with drips everywhere.
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FaucetFiend2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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i finally built a solid network of three reliable painters i trust with benjamin moore jobs. took a year of weeding out the flakes but now my subs handle 80% of my interiors without drama. referrals from them keep the work coming steady.
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MoverMadness2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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thats the dream. my proudest moment was landing a repeat commercial client off a flawless subbed-out office repaint.
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ShingleShuffler4⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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customer calls at midnight because the walls are streaky? hilarious, tell her its modern art and charge extra for the 'artistic touch'.
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VineyardVanguard⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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screw these subs and homeowners expecting perfection for pennies. painting contractors need to union up or something to stop this BS.
