Painting is one of the best ways to bring new life into your home, but it can be quite an expensive ordeal. To put it into perspective, a medium-sized bedroom would need 2 to 3 gallons of paint to complete. But with $30 a gallon for premium quality paint, you would have to save up a lot for the task. So, if your home badly needs a new coat of paint but you are on a tight budget, follow these six tips on how to make the project more affordable!

Check Near Recycling Centers

Recycling centers may have paint from local businesses that discard old and unused paint. Paint has a long shelf life, with latex paints lasting for 10 years while solvent-based paints can last up to 15 years. Though it may not be much, you can still find paints that are good and usable.

Paint cans have no expiration dates on them, but you’ll know if the paint has gone bad when it loses its usual chemical smell and has a strong rancid odor instead.

Use Quality Paint

Of course, compared to looking for old paints, newer and higher-quality paints are always better. High-quality paints cover better and more areas, requiring you to use less paint. These provide a more durable coat, which means that you won’t have to paint in a long time. Use quality paints to make the most out of your painting project!

Use a Primer

Most of the time, you do not have to use a primer because quality paints are already designed to stick to surfaces easily. However, you will still need a primer if you are painting wood, rough surfaces, raw drywall, and stained surfaces. If you want to change the color of your surfaces by painting over old colors, primer will help it cover the old colors better, thus the need for lesser paint. Primer is also cheaper, so you will save a lot if you substitute a layer of paint with a layer of primer.

Buy in Bulk

Five-gallon cans are much cheaper than purchasing 5 one-gallon containers, so it is always better to buy in bulk. Just make sure that you’re not buying more than what is needed, as you might end up in more paints that you can use.

Take Care of Your Equipment

Your painting equipment is half of the painting project. When the painting project spans more than a few days, you will need to take care of your brushes and rollers so that they stay usable until the end. After each day you paint, instead of rinsing brushes and rollers which waste paint, tight wrap them in plastic bags and tie with a rubber band to preserve its freshness. When you’re ready to reuse them, just unwrap and paint!

Hire a Painter

Amateur painters make a lot of mistakes when it comes to painting. This not only results in unevenly painted surfaces, skipped parts, and a lot of wasted paint, but it is basically a waste of time, effort, and money. Hiring a professional painter in Austin secures you good painting results every time.

Of course, hiring will require you to pay for labor costs, but when you choose the right painting company, you will have more to gain than to lose. Choose a painting company that charges per square feet of wall as you will not have to worry about surprise costs anymore. The best part is, you don’t have to pay for professional painting equipment as they will also have these covered.

When you follow these Austin painting contractor tips, you will surely get a new look for your home even with a small budget. Ask your trusted local painters at Painting Pro Guys Austin for a painting quote today to get started on a painting project!