FAQ:

· Q: Do you Warranty the materials. A. No. I only am the guy applying the product. The contractor is not a chemist, I don’t work in the factory, and I can only do the industry standard preparation, plus any enhancements that talked about or labeled, and the work extent to which the customer agrees to fund or purport to desire at the time of the estimate. The manufacturers have deeper pockets than I. This includes tape, to the paint. They sometimes warranty any customer satisfaction along with any product performance. I do not. I will only guarantee that I will do all things according to each individual line of the contract, which is always limited by the budget you give me, or hint at, during initial negotiations and estimate. Nevertheless, my jobs try to remain pretty standard, since I can’t tolerate a job that doesn’t satisfy my older self, nor can make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Paints I choose from experience should be safer to use than paints customers might have heard good things about.

· Q: Why do I need to read the FAQ. A. So you understand more about what to expect. For example, I have had mad customers, because I washed, sanded, taped, got paint on my masking, primed the surface... you name it. This is likely because they thought they knew the process and, indeed, they did not. It is like a cook getting yelled at because heat was used. This document will educate you. The contents herein are binding on both the contractor and the homeowner and are designed to avoid misunderstandings.

· Q: How long do good paint jobs last, typically? I would say, 12 to 25 years, with some variation, see page at the end. A bad paint job, outside will last a 6^th as long.

· Q: Do you Warranty your labor? A. I Warranty the outside jobs, since the preparation determines the life. See the end of this document. Inside, there is not much to warranty, and your walls are at mercy of the shifting foundation, the product performance (label Warranties), and customer and furnace grime that slowly makes new paint jobs look seedy after year. Caulking will shrink in 6 months, and I will gladly re-caulk a joint, if asked, up to one time. But, I will not repaint the line. Any peeling is merely a one time touchup Warranty and not a full repaint, with the exceptions at the end of this document where I will do more. This is universally accepted. Should an interior paint fail to adhere, it is between the payor and the paint company. I document the sanding, washing, priming and topcoats, in accordance to the label. I do test areas before painting, beyond this, it is out of my hands.

· Q: Why do you tape and paper everything? A: This way I have documentation that any paint on the surface is old paint, and every humanly effort was don’t to protect adjacent areas and the lines are legally objectively straight! If you aren’t happy with the Frog tape or other tape performance, this is between you and the tape company. Just be aware that frog tape does a sharper line and straighter line than is humanly possible. Furthermore, a rough surface is always taped, clear caulked, painted and pulled, but often doesn’t look any straighter than a straight laser line down West Virginia when not viewed from dead above! And Frog tape does bleed 10 to 30 percent of the lines in most rooms, no matter what. I re-frog the 10 to 30% ish, and repaint. The fact that when I hand paint a line, I always first pencil draw a straight line then perfectly follow that line, but it doesn’t look as good as the frog tape, absolves the tape company of accusations most likely in court.

· Q: What do you do differently than other painters. A: Basically you start out with the industry standard and add extra steps, like: red auto filler inside; rotation blasters, plus a surgical blaster (180 times more effective); far more effective sanders out side (40 times more effective); vacuum sanding; using drywall sanders on inside; special lighting and lighting methods; sprits caulking method inside and outside; invisible venting outside; using 3 types of spackling and 3 types of plaster (drywall), and knowing when to use each and not mistakenly thinking that mud is as good as spackling; I offer limited art brush touchup at no extra cost; and too many other tricks that are trade secrets. An accumulation of many tricks and skills, beyond the industry standards, can reduce the time by a factor of 3, else or while boosting quality exponentially.

· Q: Can I demand any color or sheen. A. Yes, but I warn if certain sheens and colors will run, look bad, not cover, and almost certainly leave the customer unhappy. And so, you agree to pay for such an outcome, no blaming me, or excuses. A richer lower velvety look always beats a clown house (a perl semigloss, rather than high gloss, for example). I worked for builders of multimillion dollar homes and the builder would descend on any home owner who wished to make their multimillion dollar hours look like a “clown” house. They had a neighborhood to keep happy and might need to repo the house if the homeowner didn’t close. It is about keeping the customer happy, but also safe from themselves. I warn, but not in such harsh words as “clown” house. Some people are happy with the tradeoff that I warn about, others maliciously blame me after, which is unacceptable. Furthermore, on outside wood, customers interfering with the sheen will cause early peeling, since I use the best balance of breathability and color retention, UV resistance. Runs can be reduce by thinner coats (more money), heating the paint, back rolled before drying—if practical. Runs with some paints on some surfaces are unavoidable with the sheen, needed product, or chosen color. I power sand and touchup where I can, but will not repaint the entire piece, since certain products are basket cases of runs, and repainting will likely lead to new runs. Curved surfaces and flexible paint are not fully sandable, and sanding will only reduce the run, if that. The best way to avoid runs is to have a carpenter/handyman remove the item to be painted, and paint it in the shop, under controlled conditions (not always practical), choose better colors and sheens. Spraying—even hvlp near zero overspray sprayers-- is not possible, in occupied residences in most circumstances, due to the dust and other factors. In unoccupied homes, dust cleanup is done at the end of the job, and having a mopping contest with the homeowner doesn’t get the job painted any faster. (Note, I don’t include mopping floors in a painting estimate or flat rate price specifications.)

· Q: How does Duration and Emerald resist peeling better than older generations of paints? A. Better UV resistance, and the ability to stretch and let out many pounds of moisture rather than peeling off. Again, it is a tradeoff, and there is no solutions in life. However, a $100 gallon paint over a loose paint chip is still a $100 a gallon paint over a loose chip. This is why I triple blast and grind (more than sanding) to get all of the loose paint off that scraping and sanding could never get off, even with month or years of scraping and nibble sanding. Duration and Emeral are different animals than other brands of paint. Often in the past, expensive paints, would allow customers to pick an interior color outside, and use the markup for covering warranty claims from early fading. Duration and Emerald are actually better products.

· Q: How has the EPA affected product performance? A: In some ways, I have better performing products, and, in other types of products, the current line up is a shadow of its former self. Customers will have to adapt to a lower expectation, as they already have on certain surfaces, like interior trim, where the products are excellent, but not in the same boat as the solvent finishes. It is best to get certain things painted now, like cabinets, while I still can get ahold of the far superior solvent products. Solvents for doors and trim, are a thing of the past.

· Q: Why no window washing? A: Too many dishonest people who didn’t pay in the past over window streaks that are not part of my contract or paint job! If I wash windows (or anything else), it will be time and material, extra, after the painting is paid for.

· Q: Why is there small print in my contract? A. A flat rate job needs to have a flat rate scope of work! It’s all about “scope”, unless billing hourly. And, even in hourly, fine print allows customers to have expectations that are humanly and practically fulfillable. I need to underpromise and over perform to keep myself and my customers happy. It is imperative to not assume any work will be done, for free, that is not specifically listed in the contract. This includes being your maid, plumber, electrician, handyman, window washer, carpenter, etc. A painting contract includes only the painting and preparation. Extras may include a customer generated punch list, hardware replacement cleanup, unusual fiddling with areas beyond the contract’s line-item specification. My fine print is a fraction of the big guys’ and little guys’ contracts. Not listed, means it is not included for free. My fine print is for underscoring this obvious statement ! But it cannot mention everything. With the afore bold statement, this document is not really needed, except to educate. Again, if I forget to write a line item I will add it if you remind me before starting the job. But, there are lots of things, that I intended to leave out because of good reason.

· Q: I want to flat rate everything. Is this possible? A. No. Because, some items like hardware have no fixed hours and depend on the age of the screws. Some taks are too elastic and stretch with ever increasing customer expectations or obcession. Some jobs are too elastic and subjective for a flat rate of hours, much less a flat rate of costs.

· Q: Is any hardware covered by the flat rate? A: Yes. On residential jobs only, switch plates, light plates, some light skirts and down spouts will be loosened and replaced. On commercial work, this is always done by the carpenters or maintenance. Beyond this, time and material extra, if not listed in the contract specifically.

· Q: I need an extra coat of paint; can I get it free? A. This is like asking if you can get a free coat at Walmart if you pay for one, simply because it is extra cold outside! It is simply shoplifting. Not paying for a job because of non-paint related work items, is also shoplifting, and using the excuse that the stolen item was never giftwrapped with a bow on top!

· Q: Do you use subcontractors. A: I would only use tightly, micromanaged, time proven, loyal, trained by myself, honest, drug tested subcontractors. If you demand I bring in people, it may or may not speed up the job, it will create more issues that the customer agrees to weather through without blowing up, since the customers are potentially benefiting from the helpers more than the contractor.

· Q: What about if I have punch lists? A: I love them because they tell me how you see the job, and I like feedback, unless by a negative person. I will address everything, as far as humanly and practically possible. However, punch list cost extra money and technically, this is a time and material extra, only to be addressed on an hourly basis of compensation to the painter contractor. 1. Punch lists by customers rarely see anything I don’t see, and usually include impossible things like getting straighter lines than the frog tape, or no universal ghosting or universal streaking in the paid for and contracted number of coats, sheen issues with the product, fly specks, limitations of the field conditions that don’t match a factory shop horizontal finish. Very, very few customers ever produce any punch list. And too often the few who do, do so to get out of paying! It is the rare problem, but these rare customers are the ones who cause inflation for everyone. My best defense is to weed out and try to deal with only reasonable, honest, humanitarian, and empathetic people, like myself.

· Q: What about the oral contract? A. After 40 years and the rare nightmares, I heavily document everything! --Down to as granular as is practical, including transcribing and relistening customer instructions and desires, to constantly snapping photos throughout the day, to timelapse camera boxes. I call them honesty boxes, and only dishonest people do not like them. I expect honesty and empathy in return for my own honesty and empathy for the customer. Any honest person doesn’t mind being recorded. In Ohio, all this is admissible in court, which is my secondary purpose for documenting. The first is to get things correct and customers reminded and aware of what they said and the work that was done. This prevents friction, by keeping everyone honest and consistent, while preventing honest mis-memory.

· Q: What about dust and chips, deep cleaning and small or minute misses? A. The preventative measures are clearly outlined. There is not such thing as zero dust or zero chips or zero film dust specs etc. (unless you pay for unlimited time), and the customer assumes responsibility for deep cleaning and final removal of anything my measures and self-imposed remediation doesn’t get. I often remove 2 million paint chips if you do the calculation, and a 1 percent loss, is 20,000 missed chips. I do far better than even the pickiest painter in this regard. However, the more preparation, the more of a tiny little fraction that the customer will be responsible to catch. You can choose a company that focuses on doing zero to little preparation and promise deep cleaning in exchange. I, however, have built a business on uniquely effective preparation methods. My goal since the 1090 was to bring the 4 year job up to a 25 year job. So be aware, it will be the long lasting paint job you will appreciate years from now.

· Q: What about cleaning after apartment painting? A. I haven’t met an honest cleaning person in my life, so this issue comes up. Here’s why: I was told by two cleaning people: “To survive, a cleaning person must lie; since, a room can be cleaned in 40 minutes or deep cleaned in 4 hours. So, they talk their way through it all.” We painters clean up any tracking or tarp misses etc.. (since modern paint is easy to get off with water), unless there is barely noticeable tarp tracking onto floors and surfaces with layers, often a 16^th of an inch of biological hazardous filth, as is often the case in apartments!! This is the job of the cleaning person, but they will often use the painter as an excuse not to get the half inch thick layers of grime and filth off. I am not responsible for biological hazard filth left be former tenants, as we need to keep healthy, and I am not equipped as a dedicated cleaning person to remediate bio hazards.

· Q: You do an excellent job of in-house touchup and job polishing, but how can I, the customer, contribute to the final product? Firstly, the workers and owners are not working at odds, but in concert, toward the final goal of a long lasting and most polished job, for your budget! 1. Don’t pretend to be cheap, if you have the money to pay for higher tiers of work and more hours and more expensive paints. 2. Don’t interfere (too many ways to mention): bottling me into small areas, time interference, deadlines, limiting me on application and surface preparation materials and tools, contracting other trades out of order, limiting my access to the jobsite, just to name a few methods of interfering. You need to contribute to any final deep cleaning of your own property. Know that all comes up with a simple degreaser and a wipe, after a 3 minute presoak (just like laundry dirt, or hire this out—not in the tight budgeted scope). Paint from former years, will not come off as easily, since the cure time of modern paints can be as high as 2 years.

· Q: What do I get out of a tight definition of a coat of material or product? A. You get a far more labor intensive, methodical application, which costs me extra money (over my old “look only ahead to the next unpainted surface techniques of my youth), which I gladly give up, in exchange for a better job, sleeping better, and guarantee to myself of no endless punch list without pay, which are always just “repaint forever, until you walk away without pay, after spending weeks trying to satisfy the %5 or so, of people who cannot ever be satisfied. This tradeoff of using better application techniques, exceeds 95% ish of all customers-- which also helps me.

· Q: Can I blame the painter if I don’t like the color I asked for, for any reason? A: Obviously not. But, home designers and architects are often the most likely people to not be happy, and they psychologically don’t blame themselves, and look to blame me and often imagine bad things, since they need a scapegoat for their own color choices that is making them unhappy at the end of the job. I haven’t recognized these phenomena with home owners, but again, I probably wasn’t looking for the “tells” of this in the average home owner. It probably happens. I recommend putting up samples before jumping in. Computer simulate the color scheme as close as possible before the samples go up. This at least rules out colors that do not work. I usually do this for free, but it could cost extra money if it takes me hours of time, especially for customers that become too taxing. Sherwin Williams discontinued their color consultants. Computer simulation and putting up samples, customers sleeping on it, is better than any consultant’s opinions of color taste, which may not match your own tastes.

· Q: What about hardware removal? A. I am not a locksmith or electrician. If I am forced to remove a light or lock, the customer assumes all risk and responsibility for replacement, should I not be able to get it back on! This is a time and material extra risk that the customer assumes full responsibility. Again, sticking to the scope of a paint job, this is a time and material extra, unless, stated in the lines. Again, technically, the customer assumes any responsibility for any hardware that doesn’t go back on, due to difficulty or the fact that handyman work is not part of the paint job, scope. This doesn’t mean that I might not remove or replace hardware, just be aware that this will be billed extra at my discretion, and the customer assumes the risk and is aware that a dedicated handyman or the customer doing it themselves. Also, I do not take home any screws or any hardware. The customer agrees that any missing hardware is still on their property and will pay for any missing hardware. When I leave, I cannot keep the customer from walking off with hardware. This includes painted items, that are loose and could be moved by the customer or a thief when I am not on the property.

· Q: What about old paint on brick, hinges, etc.? A. Removal is extra, time and material. Let me know in advance, since I can buy zip-strip before the pressure wash. In fact, I have had people blame me for old paint on the brick, during the wash stage, kept my mouth shut and zip-stripped it off. But don’t count on me doing this, since I know phone photo the old paint before working on it. Most customers replace old hinges, because they are rusty and tarnished, usually, so, let me know as my time can go into other tasks and the job will come out better for you. If I remove or soak hinges, I usually charge extra and don’t guarantee I can get off the screws.

· Q: I don’t see tape removal in the contract, is this included. A. Short of an act of God, or the customer, it is included. Any customer will be given a $15 per room discount if they want to remove the tape and cleanup under the tape, if they choose to do so or their own decisions result in them needing to remove the tape themselves. Or other act, outside of my control. Also, an extra charge my be levied, if color choice delays, or scheduling delays, adds time to the tape removal.

· Q: I don’t see closets in the contract. Are they included? A. If not listed, then not—just like anything else. If I make a mistake and don’t include it, ask me, and I will add it into the scope, gladly. I will give you a replacement, if not handwritten in and signed by me. I generally trust most customers, until I am given reason not to trust them.

· Q: What is the typical ageing of the paint film. A: Regardless of the brand or price, after 3-year pigments and the sheen fades. If working within certain genres of paints, you are at the mercy of the chemistry and strength and weakness of the products. Remember, in medicine and painting, there are no solutions, only tradeoffs.

· Q: Is there a customer satisfaction guarantee? A. No. As noted, this is impossible. I stick to agreements and try to offer extras, but I am not bound to doing any extras. Payment by the client is the second half of the contract. The first half is me doing each line item to written specs, then pay, then expect the extras and addendums.

· Q: I see problem customers forfeit any labor warranty at the end of the warranty? A. Absolutely. A problem customer makes it difficult to do the job and will always be the sole cause their own paint problems, real and often imagined. Again, these are the one in 7-to-10-year clients who slip through my screening process. So, this hopefully won’t apply to you.

· Q: What is your license number? My license number is my years in business and not some tax paid to the county. In Akron and Summit, there is not any licensing for painters or wallcovering hangers. Save that nonsense, for big companies who want to be politically connected, rather than work hard for their money.

· Q: I see price firm for 30 days. How ridged are you about this? A. Technically any price quoted could go up, and in theory track inflation. In reality, I am focused on painting and lining up the next jobs, and don’t think about this, unless forced.

· Q: I am short on cash because of unexpected expenses, and I can’t pay in full and on time. A. I only extend credit to the honest, easy going, and needy. If you are looking to delay payment by evil, ocd, or malicious means, expect the same late fees as charged by any landlord, which are harsh. If you renege on payments, expect a lien.

· Q: Who is liable for something going wrong? A. The homeowner is covered by their insurance, and I don’t give out my insurance to residential customers, and the customer doesn’t rely on my insurance, short of burning down the place, which is impossible since I keep any solvents far away from the property, several fire extinguishers handy, as well as gallon jugs of water and 5 gallons of water. Any paint spill or overspray of mine is easy to clean up as any grime. If a cleaning person says they can’t get something I missed up, fire them immediately, as they don’t know how to use hot water and degreasers, else they are lazy! Also, I am deeply suspicious (with good historical reason) of residential customers asking for my insurance company, and immediately suspect them to be malevolent and dishonest, and prone to file false insurance claims. Realize that: A single phone call to my insurance gets it cancelled, even if no claim is made! I will never sue you for anything outside your control and intent, and expect the same. Do not agree to the work if you feel otherwise. The focus, again, needs to be getting a quality job and not added legal stress. I have never damaged any job, so I expect you agree to be covered by your own homeowner insurance, which is far more forgiving than business insurance.

· Q: If I hire you to paint my house, but the siding guy failed to install a little siding, can I withhold your money until he puts it up. A. Builders used this trick repeatedly to withhold 4k or even 6k (2003-2008), rather than paying me all but one man day of work, as would be fair. Be fair, and you will be paid back with favors and fairness.

· Q: Who is liable for home owner, neighbor, other trade damaged surfaces after painting--the painter or the guy who damaged the surface? A. Note I don’t include any line covering any extra coats of paint or patching. So, naturally, the guy damaging the surface. However, with other trades, we can often swap out services, and damage might not be something to get upset about. Stay positive and do not immediately hammer a guy just trying their best to do their job.

· Q: What extras do you do that you don’t claim. A. We do extensive final cleanup, final touchup, chip vac, capture methods. But expect the customer to do the same, if they deem it is needed. This is an elastic item, so it is not in the flat rate or promises. Customers agree to hire or do the deep cleaning and spit polishing.

· Q: Do you take all equipment home each night? A. It usually takes me 3 or 4 man hours to get everything out (on small jobs), and at least double the hours to get all tools and supplies onto the job. So, naturally this would be counterproductive! The closer to the work area a tool is, the faster the job goes. Playing hide and seek with tools, doesn’t help the customer. On the other hand, much is done for nightly tidying up, which I add in my spreadsheet during the bid. My flat rate jobs include only 20 minutes daily hide each night equipment hiding, and 40 minutes in the morning, max, and will need to be adjusted, much higher, if this is the demand.

· Q: Have you ever borrow customer’s equipment? A. I have had customers say it is okay, and then claim the opposite later. I bristle at the question, because it implies that I might take your equipment home to use on my own house. Since we are working together for a common cause of getting the fastest, cheapest, most economical job to add to your equity, it pays you to employ any idle ladders to the employment of the job, if it saves billable hours running to the truck or allows those hours to be exchanged for a little extra time doing other more important things. Your equipment will only be employed on your own job, for your own benefit and interest, if it makes sense to do so and you benefit. High wear tools are also considered single use items, although they aren’t billed as such, except in unique cases. Trust me, your ladder or ladders will outlive you, as will my ladders outlive me.

· Q: Do you protect my gutters before going onto the roof. A Everything is protected and tarped, as is everything else. I also always can get off paint from anything, and carry special tools around to get anything up that misses a tarp, because we are walking on tarps and moving them around while painting. I don’t take down gutters and I only loosen new downspouts. I had one customer’s downspouts get stolen after they insisted on removing them. I didn’t need to pay, since the customer admitted it was his mistake.

· Q: I have a slate roof, how do you deal with that? A. There are several tricks and I have never had any problems with slate, tile, asphalt, or any roof. I have envisioned problems. And so, the agreement to have someone on your roof implies a waiver of liability giving to the workers! This is fair after all: I have walked onto jobs and found a half dozen slate shakes on the ground and put my ladder on the siding only to see 4 more slate shakes fall to the ground—on a job where the customer who turned out to be untrustworthy. It is up to customers to maintain their own roof before and after we paint your chimneys and dormers. I am not responsible for the maintenance of your house and its peripherals. I just want to do my job without getting blamed that your whole house airconditioner failed because of pressure washer water and not the rain water and leaves from the trees, etc.

· Q: Do I agree to pay for any decision or other delays once a job begins, I create? A. Only if you try to blame me for the delay, then, yes you might be billed at $400 a day for my missed work opportunity, plus penalties. Be honest and you won’t be charged.

· Q: I hired you by the hour, then I said that I could do the rest myself or with help. Now, I am mad because it took me 60 (xx) hours to complete the job! A: Your hours to finish has zero bearing on the hourly job I did, which you didn’t have the money to keep paying for. You might have had 60, but I might have had 15—it doesn’t matter. If this logic held, no one would ever get paid for any work, since there is always more to do, which is especially true of jobs that are purposely billed hourly, for this exact reason.

· Q: What is your biggest weakness as a painter? A. Not being tough enough with people and wanting to please people. And, that is why I am heading off disagreements with this document. Most stem from ignorance or misunderstandings (intentional or otherwise) by the Client.

· Q: What is the advantage of your experience? A: It helps me avoid pitfalls of other painters and my former self. Each year, I add more steps, and have more tricks. But I am still not God, nor need to be treated or blamed like Him. I am still young, despite 40 years in the business, but I am constantly still learning just like any doctor.

Other notes:

· . (Most disputes are customers with mental issues from OCD to paranoia.) If a customer has a history of mental problems, it is their agreed contractual duty and to disclose this to me, so I can make special accommodations and understand the affliction. If it becomes a problem, however, this history will be used against them in any court of law or mediation—should any court case be brought. They agree that their care providers may need to be deposed and impelled to testify

· I am only interested in bending over backward, making people happy and breaking even financially-- getting an honest day pay for honest work. However, the client assumes a heavy daily late fee in line with harsher landlords, should payment drag out. And bound by the limiting agreement within the print in the contract, whether signed, implied, or orally agreed to.

· Homeowners and carpenters often use silicone cleaners and caulk. Nothing sticks to silicon, and it usually can’t be sanded, or solvent removed!!! The Carpenter or homeowner is responsible for remedying this situation, else rely on my hugely imperfect solutions.

· Keep in mind, I have 150 things to remember and manage every day, I don’t need the added stress from problem customers who are malevolent. So, I treat my good customers very, very well. They dear to my heart, and have become a greater part of my business over the decades. Indeed, they are in a special contact list and often remembered by us, until they pass away or move on. … So, be pleasant, and let’s work together and remember we are on the same team working for the same goal.

·

Exterior Warranty:

Intro: (reasons) I have been painting for over 25 years, so it is likely I will stay a while longer in this business--perhaps over 50 years as my grandfather did. With new advances in surface prep, new lifetime Warranty paints, combined with my discovery in the mid 90's of a killer new proprietary primer, I am confident paint jobs will last 20 years or more-- Far out lasting the average length of home ownership! No more need to genericize the look of your house with boring, unartistic vinyl. Already people are tearing off the siding and going back to the original architectural designs. In the future, painted houses, with an architecture to boot, will be bring down premium values on the market.

Definition Labor Warranty: 2 years standard Warranty for everyone-no conditions except prompt timely payment in full in all our business dealings, same excluded areas as below, yet with no height restrictions. Also, offering everyone a "Loyal Customer" Full lifetime touch up Warranty on labor--local touch up of peeling paint that has physically and naturally separated from surface.

Excluded areas: Floors/railings/window seals (any area where water or snow can perch. Peeling caused by leaks in roofs, ice dams, gutter overflow, interior pluming problems. Any wood that snow can set up against without a 2.5 foot foundation (5 foot and down not covered): this includes dormer sides not properly flashed. Face boards with no metal drip edge installed. Wood within 6 inches of any snow perching horizontal surface. Any part of building under or adjacent to a flat roof. Painted chimneys, and wood within 3 foot of any chimney. Wood within 1 foot of any gutter that doesn't have a gutter helmet or equivalent. Rust not included. Wood glazing, any windows that do not have storms, doors behind storms. Any peeling assisted by abrasion, hand tooling, washing or chemical. Exterior of any building or area of building with an interior with high humidity. 15 year limit on commercial properties including rentals. Best color match possible, however fading can make touchup somewhat noticeable year after the touch up. Customer to buy any materials needed for the touchup, including paint and any possible associated products. Application, preparation, priming method will be at the discretion of contractor, including not limited to spray and back brushing. Areas that require special scaffolding and/or are over 24 foot high are not covered by lifetime Warranty.

Conditions of lifetime Warranty: Before calling, note this is a "CUSTOMER Loyalty" restricted Warranty. In order to get a contractor life time Warranty, you must be a positive person, and not a pain in the butt customer :-) If you are deemed by me as such, forget it. This means prompt payment, not added extras with no added payment, no unilateral deductions in price for higher expectations than what I contract. I also, an most importantly, require active referrals and job leads for entire job ownership not just in the first 4 years--One Successful job lead representing each three years of ownership of your paint job. Thus for a 6 year Warranty, you must get me 2 successful job leads at any point in time since the beginning of your job ownership. 10 Phone referals of potential customers "I" pay for through advertising will count as one job lead as if you told a friend and they hire me. If I go out of business for any reason, naturally the Warranty is no longer in effect. If you sell the property or it changes ownership, the Warranty is void. Budget or refesher paint jobs cannot be covered by this Warranty. Full surface prep and MY brand and type of finishes must be chosen by me. Over tinkering of paint type, sheen, primer type, and prep methods by owner voids all Warranties, including 2 year standard. Customer to remove and replace any fixtures, ivy, storms, ect. before and after Warranty work. Warranty doesn't include total surface area, and is not intended to be a refresher paint job, only a Warranty against workmanship deficiency in initial paint job. Mildew not covered. No labor Warranty on fading or erosion of paint film.

Conclusion: At best you will get a credible paint job for a good 20 years or even more. At worst, you get the best job possible, yet you move away or I go out of business.

Faq: Q: How can you offer this extended Warranty without charging money? A: This Warranty benefits both me and the customer tremendously. For if, 12 year later, I need to spend a day or two touching up a side of a house, that means the customer got me 4 successful lead on house the size of their own. For many people, this comes natural and all it requires from them is that they remember my name and phone number.

Q: What is your biggest worries? A: That customers wont read the fine print. That customers in today's instant techno miracle society forget that the simple things like a leakless roof, insulating attic, proper gutters and digging out around the foundation of the house can not only save the cosmetic paint job of the house, but the entire frame of a house and stop dry rot which can even occur beneath vinyl siding.