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March 11th, 2012
Greg Mrakich Painting, Indianapolis, Indiana shares his tips on interior painting on Youtube.
Throughout the past two years, I’ve shared tips for interior and exterior painting on my blog. I’ve also cautioned homeowners about really reading the fine print before hiring a painting company through posted online “deals.” Now you can also check out some of my tips on a video recently produced by Angie’s List.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm serving the greater Indianapolis market (Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties). Prior to relocating to Indianapolis from Pasadena, California in 2000, Greg Mrakich was licensed in painting and decorating by the State of California Contractors License Board. If you live in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact Greg about your next painting project click here.
Tags: Greg Mrakich Interior Painting Tips, Interior Painting
Posted in Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Interior Painting, Painting for do-it-yourselfers | Comments Off on Greg Mrakich Painting Indianapolis: Interior Painting Tips
March 5th, 2012
My name is Greg Mrakich. I am the “Greg” of Greg Mrakich Painting in Indianapolis, IN. Like many of you, my wife and I subscribe to several email services that offers daily deals from Indianapolis area retailers, restaurants and various home improvement and other service providers at highly discounted rates.
Today, we received an email offer for painting one room from an Indianapolis painting company. Being an Indianapolis area painting contractor, I was very interested in checking out this interior painting deal. In addition to knowing what my competition was doing, I was looking at it to see if it really was a deal for the homeowner or not.
When evaluating a deal from a painting company, be sure to ask the following questions, and then you can decide for yourself if it really is a good deal:
- Many painting promotional offers include a limit on the size of the room for the offer price. Find out how much you will be charged when a room’s dimensions exceed the offer terms and conditions. The rest of the questions should always be asked when getting an estimate from a painting company.
- Is paint included? If so, what manufacturer or brand, type of paint finish (flat, satin, gloss, egg shell etc) and grade (contractor, designer high end or somewhere in between)? If paint is extra, is the company marking up the cost of the paint or passing the cost of what they pay to you? This may be tricky as painters usually get some type of discount off of the retail pricing because of the amount of paint they buy from the paint store. If you as a homeowner were to buy paint directly from the paint store, you would pay retail pricing. When you hire Greg Mrakich Painting for your project, my price includes the cost of the paint in the job (and it is based on what I pay without any mark-up.)
- What paint do you recommend for my project? Why?
- How many coats of paint will be applied? (the answer will depend on color chosen and color of paint currently on walls etc.).
- Are ceilings and closets included in the price?
- Does the price include trim (baseboards, moulding, doors, window frames)?
- What prep work will be done (such as cracks and nail holes filled and sanded)?
- Who will do the work?
- When can you (or your paint crew) start the work and about how long will the job take? And for houses built before 1978, (in cases where lead dust will be created) a painting contractor must be EPA lead-safe certified to meet the new government requirements for lead safety.
- Are you an EPA lead-safety certified firm? Proof of certification is required.
If you were to call Greg Mrakich Painting for a painting estimate, we would discuss the scope of the work you would like done and I would base my estimate from our conversation. It would take into account the size of the rooms, number of coats of paint to be applied, and the grade of paint that we agree to use for your project. Prep work and paint is included. Most of the time, I am the only contractor that will be doing the painting. Although from time to time, I will bring in other skilled trades people to help me complete a job when schedules are tight.
My goal is to exceed your expectations and build a trusting relationship with you. I want you to call me again for all your painting needs, and recommend me to your friends, family, neighbors etc.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm. For more information about Greg Mrakich and Greg Mrakich Painting, click here. Or, if you live in the metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact me, click here.
Tags: EPA rule for renovation, Greg Mrakich Interior Painting Tips, indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis EPA lead-safe certfied painting company, interior painting tips, painting estimates
Posted in EPA rule for renovation, Hiring a Painting Contractor, Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Interior Painting, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Indianapolis Painting Deals – Read the Fine Print
January 25th, 2012
Greg Mrakich Painting Indianapolis provides tips about everything you want to know about painting trim:
When do I need to paint my trim?
This is an easy one. If it is beat up and looks like it needs it, it’s time to paint. Or, if you want to change the color of the trim. It’s pretty straight forward. About half of the interior painting projects that I am hired to do include trim.
What type of paint is best for painting trim?
The current trend is flat walls and satin trim. Satin is a lower sheen than semi gloss. The thinking here is that semi gloss and high gloss are rather “industrial” looking, and I would agree. Trim in the past has always been semi gloss or high gloss, but as tastes and styles have changed, satin has become popular. The new generation of satin finish paints are extremely durable and can hold up as well to scuffs and bumps as the glosses of the past.
What is the best method to paint trim?
I cannot over emphasize that prep is very important.
- Clean the trim that you are going to be painting with Fantastic, 409 or something that will cut through oil, grease and dirt.
- Very lightly sand the trim. Two or three light passes with a 120 grit sand paper is plenty. You just want to give the surface a little “tooth.”
- Prime with a 100% acrylic primer. Thanks to the new EPA regulations, oil-based paint is no longer sold in Indiana. What this means to you if you are a homeowner in Indiana is that priming is now necessary. Otherwise, when the water-based top coat is applied, it will have nothing to hold on to. Now for a little chemistry lesson – Because the water molecule in water-based paint (the top coat) is larger than the oil molecule in the oil-based paint used previously on the trim, the new water-based paint will not penetrate the surface. So, if you don’t prime the trim, once it has dried, the newly applied water-based paint can be scratched off with your fingernail.
- After the primer coat has dried, apply two finish coats of the water-based paint.
What about painting stained trim?
Not so long ago, stained wood trim was the fad de jour. Today it just looks dated. It can be painted, but it is involved. If you want to do it yourself, these are the steps you’ll need to take for a good job:
- Clean with a strong cleaner.
- Sand well with 120 grit sand paper. The paper will clog up as you go since you are removing the varnish. This is normal and what you want to have happen.
- Apply one coat of 100% acrylic primer and let it dry for 24 hours so it has time to penetrate and bond to the wood.
- Fill in the now visible nail holes with wood putty and let that dry.
- Lightly sand if needed where wood putty was applied.
- Apply a second coat of primer and let it dry overnight.
- Caulk as needed at joints and along top of baseboards as needed. Let dry a few hours.
- Apply first finish coat.
- Apply second coat in a few hours.
Painting previously stained trim will help to give your home a fresh and up-to-date look.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm serving the greater Indianapolis market (Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties). Prior to relocating to Indianapolis from Pasadena, California in 2000, Greg Mrakich was licensed in painting and decorating by the State of California Contractors License Board. If you live in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact Greg about your next painting project click here.
Posted in EPA rule for renovation, Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Interior Painting, Painting for do-it-yourselfers | Comments Off on Greg Mrakich Painting Indianapolis: Painting Trim
January 1st, 2012
Award reflects businesses’ consistently high level of customer service
Greg Mrakich Painting, Indianapolis, Indiana has been awarded the prestigious 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award, an honor bestowed annually on approximately 5 percent of all the businesses rated on the nation’s leading provider of consumer reviews on local service and health providers.
Once again, I am pleased to be recognized by my customers and Angie’s List through the very important Super Service Award. My goal with each and every painting project I am hired to do is to understand my customers’ needs and exceed their expectations. – Greg Mrakich, Owner, Greg Mrakich Painting Indianapolis, Indiana
“Only a fraction of the businesses rated on Angie’s List can claim the sterling service record of being a Super Service Award winner because we set a high bar,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “The fact that Greg Mrakich Painting can claim Super Service Award status speaks volumes about its dedication to consumers.”
Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have met strict eligibility requirements including earning a minimum number of reports, an exemplary rating from their clients and abiding by Angie’s List operational guidelines.
Ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List, but members can find the 2011 Super Service Award logo next to business names in search results on AngiesList.com.
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Angie’s List collects consumer reviews on local contractors and doctors in more than 500 service categories. Currently, more than 2 million consumers across the U.S. rely on Angie’s List to help them make the best hiring decisions. Members get unlimited access to local ratings via Internet or phone, exclusive discounts, the Angie’s List magazine and help from the Angie’s List complaint resolution service. Take a quick tour of Angie’s List and view the latest Angie’s List news.
Tags: indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis area painting contractors
Posted in Indianapolis Painting Contractor | Comments Off on Greg Mrakich Painting Indianapolis, Indiana Earns Coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award
September 24th, 2011
In my twenty-plus years of being a professional painting contractor, I’ve painted somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 dining rooms. From Avon to West Hollywood and Altadena to Azusa (not yet in Zionsville – but I’m working on it!)
Why am I focusing this blog on dining rooms you might ask? Or then again, maybe you might not ask…
The past couple of days, I have been transforming a very special dining room into a warm and inviting space in a commercial building east of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. This dining room like most if not all the dining rooms I’ve painted over the years, hosts celebrations. It is also used for fundraisers, meetings and lunch time gatherings of students and volunteers. This special dining room is at Second Helpings, an Indianapolis not-for-profit agency that transforms lives through the power of food.
About those celebrations I previously mentioned, since opening its doors in 1998, Second Helpings has graduated over 400 students (64 classes) from its culinary job training program. As of March of 2004, when Second Helpings relocated to Southeastern Avenue, this dining room has hosted 30 class graduation luncheons. Those graduation celebrations, plus various meetings and other events held in this room, have introduced countless central Indiana residents to its mission of food rescue, jobs training and hunger relief. Many of whom are so moved by what they’ve witnessed in the transformative power of food that they donate their time and money to support the mission.
If you’ve never visited Second Helpings, there is no better time then October 1st. That’s when Second Helpings opens its doors to Harvest, the annual fundraiser to raise money to fulfill their mission. Experience an evening of delicious food prepared by some of the best chefs in Indianapolis, paired with excellent wines and you’ll be supporting a great cause! For more information about Second Helpings and to buy your tickets visit www.secondhelpings.org/harvest – and if you go, be sure to tell the wonderful Second Helpings staff that Greg the Painter sent you!
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm serving the greater Indianapolis market (Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties). Prior to relocating to Indianapolis from Pasadena, California in 2000, Greg Mrakich was licensed in painting and decorating by the State of California Contractors License Board. If you live in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact Greg about your next painting project click here.
Tags: indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis area painting contractors, Interior Painting
Posted in Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Interior Painting | Comments Off on Greg Mrakich Painting: Dining Rooms
September 11th, 2011
The weather is finally cooling off in Indianapolis after a record hot summer here and throughout the midwest. Just the other day I received a call from a homeowner who would like to have the exterior of his house painted. This happens every year without fail. As soon as the weather cools off for the first time, I’ll get a few calls for exterior painting work. If you live in Indianapolis or another midwestern town or city, waiting until September to call a painter for exterior painting projects can be risky due to change in weather and painting contractor scheduling. In the course of three days, Indianapolis went from temperatures in the 90s, down to the 60s, with rain to boot! You don’t want to have the work done when it is too cold because paint does not cure properly when it is applied in temperatures below 40 degrees. I always recommend contacting a reputable painting company early in the spring so you can get on the schedule. Better yet, book your exterior painting project now for next spring or summer, to make sure you will get on your painter’s schedule. That way, if weather becomes a factor like it did this past year in Indianapolis with rain early in the summer, there is plenty of time to get your exterior painting completed before the weather turns cold. However, If you NEED to have your exterior done this season, call a painter NOW. There is not much time left this year to get it done.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm serving the greater Indianapolis market (Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties). Prior to relocating to Indianapolis from Pasadena, California in 2000, Greg Mrakich was licensed in painting and decorating by the State of California Contractors License Board. If you live in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact Greg about your next painting project click here.
Tags: Exterior Painting, indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis area painting contractors, Indianapolis EPA lead-safe certfied painting company
Posted in Exterior Painting, Hiring a Painting Contractor, Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
June 23rd, 2011
Last weekend, my wife and I toured the 38th annual Meridian Kessler Home Tour in our hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Greg Mrakich Painting was pleased to be a first time sponsor of this annual tour. Each year, several hundred people buy tickets to tour these wonderful vintage homes. Most of the homes featured on the tour have been lovingly restored and updated over the years. So, if you have fallen in love with an older home like those featured on the tour, and your dream is to find one to call home, it’s a good idea to understand what the EPA Renovation Repair and Painting (RRP) rules will mean to you. With these regulations that went into effect last year addressing lead safety, the game has changed for anyone planning to purchase, remodel or schedule routine maintenance such as painting for any home built prior to 1978. Since I am a professional painting contractor doing business in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area, I will just address painting in this blog.
How Does the EPA RRP Rules Effect Painting Contractors?
Painting contractors working on a home built before 1978 face fines up to $37,500 per infraction if caught not following the EPA lead paint protocols.
Why should you care, John and Marsha Homeowner?
Higher costs. The EPA lead regulations can add an average of 30% more time on to the average exterior paint job. (I compared notes with fellow painting contractors in the Indianapolis area.) With heavy fines, and aggressive enforcement (it IS a cash cow) it will soon be very hard to find a legitimate painting contractor who does not follow the EPA regulations when working on a pre-1978 project. Not having the EPA certification and the threat of getting caught for not following the regulations is thinning the herd.
So how do you as a homeowner keep the price down?
The EPA RRP rules will allow you a certain amount of paint peeling before painters have to break out the moon suits. For exteriors, it is 20 square feet per side of the house and 6 square feet for each interior room (LEAD Safety for Renovation, Repair, and Painting Student Manual EPA-740-R-09-002 sec.2 page 3) That may sound like a lot, but the numbers add up quickly on a home with wood siding. Your best protection against paint job sticker shock is to schedule your painting project before the paint starts falling off your house. A little peeling is ok, but at the first sight of peeling, either fix it yourself or call a professional painting contractor. At the very least, have a painter spot paint the peeling areas if you can’t afford the entire paint job now. This will save you money and keep us painters out of the bee keeper suits. Once you have a quality paint job on the house, future paint jobs will be easier and less costly.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm serving the greater Indianapolis market (Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties). Prior to relocating to Indianapolis from Pasadena, California in 2000, Greg Mrakich was licensed in painting and decorating by the State of California Contractors License Board. If you live in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact Greg about your next painting project click here.
Tags: EPA certification, EPA Renovation Repair and Painting RRP Rule, EPA rule for renovation, indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis area painting contractors, Indianapolis EPA lead-safe certfied painting company
Posted in EPA rule for renovation, Exterior Painting, Hiring a Painting Contractor, Indianapolis Painting Contractor | Comments Off on Greg Mrakich Painting: What the EPA RRP Rules Mean to You (If Your Home was Built Before 1978)
April 28th, 2011
After an unusually long and hard winter, it is finally spring here in Indianapolis, Indiana and that means it’s time to get your exterior painting projects started. If you are planning to hire a professional painting company such as Greg Mrakich Painting, here are a few things that you can do to keep costs down – for both interior and exterior painting projects.
For interior painting, the number one money saving tip I can give you is to have the room or rooms ready for your painting contractor. Take pictures off the walls, remove the drapes, move small furniture out of the room. This will save the painting contractor time and the painter’s time is your money. If you were to hire me to paint a few rooms in your home and the rooms are ready to go, I can paint two rooms in the time it would take to paint one room if I have to remove items before starting my real work. It’s not that I mind doing so, I really don’t mind; but if you are cost conscious, it’s not the best use of my time or your money!
Since it is outdoor painting season in Indianapolis and most of the rest of the country, I’m focusing the rest of my tips on exterior painting:
- Like interior painting, clear the way for the painter. Make sure any bushes and tree limbs that could be in the way are trimmed back, and move any outdoor furniture away from the house. If your painter has easy and unencumbered access to your home’s exterior walls, he or she will be able to complete your project faster.
- Mid-tone to light colors will not show signs of fading as quickly as dark colors.
- Paint method – spraying versus brush and roller. Spraying is quicker, cheaper and uses less paint. But an exterior paint job done with brush and roller will far outlast a sprayed on coat of paint. The more expensive roller and brush paint job will save you money in the long run because you will have to paint less often.
- Lastly, and very important for those of you with houses built before 1978, schedule your exterior painting projects before the paint starts to peel. If the paint is peeling, there are new EPA regulations that a painter MUST follow to contain lead paint chips and dust. Any painter caught not following the EPA lead-safe regulations is subject to a $37,000 fine per infraction. Make sure your painter is EPA lead-safe certified to protect your family (particularly your children) and your pets.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm serving the greater Indianapolis market (Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties). Prior to relocating to Indianapolis from Pasadena, California in 2000, Greg Mrakich was licensed in painting and decorating by the State of California Contractors License Board. If you live in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact Greg about your next painting project click here.
Tags: EPA certification, EPA Renovation Repair and Painting RRP Rule, Exterior Paint Colors, Exterior Painting, Greg Mrakich Interior Painting Tips, indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis area painting contractors, Indianapolis EPA lead-safe certfied painting company, painting estimates, prepping for painting
Posted in EPA rule for renovation, Exterior Painting, Hiring a Painting Contractor, Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Interior Painting | Comments Off on Greg Mrakich Painting Indianapolis: Tips to Save You Money on Hiring a Painter
March 24th, 2011
There is no shortage of painting contractors in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you type in painting contractors Indianapolis in Google, you will get over 50 pages of painters in and around Indianapolis. You may have even found Greg Mrakich Painting through Google or through a subscription service such as Angie’s List. But, how do you know which painter is the best for your job? There are several key points to remember.
You get what you pay for. Lets say you are having your exterior painted. You get three bids ranging from $4000 to $7200. Why the huge difference in price? The difference is usually in the prep work, and this is the same for interior painting as well as exterior painting. It might take two days to do the painting, but it also might take four days to prep the rooms or exterior of the house for the paint. The low end bid might include the obvious prep work that is visible from space, but does it include the caulking of joints that you can’t see from the ground? Does it include primer when and where necessary? And what grade product is being used? Anything less than a top of the line product is a waste in my opinion. The overall cost of the paint on any job is usually less than 25%, so why cut corners to save a few hundred dollars?
Also, different painters do different kinds of work. You don’t really want a new construction painter painting your furnished, currently lived in home. Two completely different things. New construction building painters are used to empty houses with no carpet or flooring, and won the job for being either the lowest bidder, or worse, the contractor’s painter on retainer. New construction painters are used to painting an entire 3000 square foot house in under 2 days, while a seasoned, experienced custom home painter specializing in repaint jobs might spend one day in a bed room, making sure furniture is covered and safe, trim is masked off, and two coats are applied by hand (roller and brush) and not with a sprayer.
When getting a bid, know who is doing the work, and that they do that type of work. With new home building down, there are many new home painters trying to enter the custom repaint market who might not be qualified or have the necessary skill sets that custom repaints require. Another consideration if you own a home built before 1978. The EPA lead-safe rule requires contractors (including painters) to be lead-safe certified. It is a federal law and any contractor caught doing work who is not lead-safe certified is subject to heavy fines.
Don’t feel shy about asking for referrals. You will be glad that you did.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an award winning and EPA lead-safe certified firm. For more information about Greg Mrakich and Greg Mrakich Painting, click here. Or, if you live in the metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact me about scheduling an estimate for an upcoming project, click here.
Tags: EPA Renovation Repair and Painting RRP Rule, Exterior Painting, indianapolis area painting companies, painting estimates
Posted in EPA rule for renovation, Exterior Painting, Hiring a Painting Contractor, Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Interior Painting | Comments Off on Who is the Best Painting Contractor in Indianapolis, Indiana for your Paint Job?
March 5th, 2011
Indianapolis, Indiana has had a very brutal winter with significant snow and an ice storm that paralyzed the city for days. And it’s not over yet. Higher than average snow fall, monsoon rains and a once in fifty year ice storm have put rain gutters and roofs to the test. I am sorry to say that not all houses faired as well as others. Basements have flooded, and interior walls and ceilings have been damaged by water intrusion. When everything dries out, its time to repair the damage. In most cases the water damage is limited to water stains and minor drywall repair or replacement. In some cases however, entire walls and/or ceilings might need to be replaced. And chances are that if the walls are so damaged that they need to be replaced, the insulation in the walls will need to be replaced as well. Once insulation gets wet and compacted, it is no longer a good insulator against the elements. Also in some severe cases, the baseboards become warped and need to be replaced as well.
Greg Mrakich Painting did an estimate yesterday for repairs and painting on a house that had sustained damage due to the ice storm. As the ice in the gutters slowly thawed, the water seeped underneath the gutters and into the house. If I am hired for the job, before any painting can be done, I’ll need to first examine the insulation to make sure it is still in place and has not been compromised by water damage. Once that is determined, I can make the necessary repairs, and then prime and paint the affected walls and ceilings. When hiring a contractor to do the repairs, make sure that the hidden issues of the insulation and mold are investigated and addressed. Make sure that your contractor has dealt with these types of repairs and damages before. If your home was built before 1978, make sure that the contractor is EPA lead-safe certified.
Your walls may look ugly now but the right contractor can make it look like the damage never happened.
Greg Mrakich Painting is an EPA lead-safe certified firm serving the greater Indianapolis market (Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties). Prior to relocating to Indianapolis from Pasadena, California in 2000, Greg Mrakich was licensed in painting and decorating by the State of California Contractors License Board.
Tags: EPA Renovation Repair and Painting RRP Rule, Greg Mrakich Interior Painting Tips, indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis area painting contractors, Indianapolis EPA lead-safe certfied painting company, Indianapolis ice storm home repairs and painting tips, painting estimates, prepping for painting, repair & painting
Posted in EPA rule for renovation, Hiring a Painting Contractor, Indianapolis Painting Contractor, Interior Painting | Comments Off on Greg Mrakich Painting, Indianapolis Shares Tips for Homeowners on Ice Damage Repairs
