5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known as a Rookie Painter
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We talked to a painting pro to learn five things that rookie painters should know before kicking off their career.
Nick Slavik has worked in the painting industry since centre school. Y'all read that right. He started with his dad'southward painting visitor as an 11-yr-old earlier founding his own firm fourteen years later. Slavik has been active in the merchandise always since, learning a lot along the way. We talked with Slavik to detect out five things he wishes he would have known before making painting his career of choice.
Painting Careers Tin Mean Potential Freedom
For some, commercial painting might seem like a back-upwardly programme for your back-up programme, something you lot autumn into rather than gear up out to do. Slavik understands this point of view. When he was younger, he saw the job every bit inevitable only because that'due south what his dad did. At present he realizes he didn't grasp the full potential of a career as a painter.
"I wish I would take known how much freedom you tin take working in this profession," Slavik says. "I grew up in this, and so information technology was like, yeah, I estimate I'll be a painter because my dad's a painter. I had no idea that if you lot applied business organization principles to this and pay attending to things like client satisfaction, you can turn this profession into a freedom-generating machine for you and your family."
Don't Be Intimidated by Grumpy Coworkers
On your first day on the jobsite, there's a good chance you lot'll encounter someone who, well, doesn't smiling a whole lot.
"Most of my begetter's generation of contractors are browbeaten up and grumpy," says Slavik. "You'd await at them and recall, why would I e'er practise that?"
From Slavik's perspective, being a painter is what you lot make of it. If y'all spend all your time wishing you lot were somewhere else, never take intendance of your torso, and put off investing in quality safety equipment (more than on that below), your years every bit a painter volition brainstorm take their toll. Merely it doesn't have to be that way. Slavik argues that beingness a painter tin can be simply as exciting as a job in the tech industry.
"If yous think of the juxtaposition of computer coding… in Silicon Valley, one of the sexiest jobs on the face of the planet is computer coding," he says. "They've got prosperous young people being happy and doing exciting things in open up offices with edible bean bag chairs and foosball tables. They make such a good statement for being in the tech industry.
"But if y'all think about that job… is in that location annihilation more tedious and mundane than reckoner coding? And on the opposite side, nosotros're restoring historic homes, and people love that stuff. People who don't even similar one-time homes get a boot out of seeing a before-and-after on a historic home."
Constantly Question What You Are Doing
Slavik never received whatsoever formal training as a painter. He learned on the chore through years of do and always trying new things. This has led him to believe in a principle of abiding improvement.
"Yous're doing a chore in a certain style now, but how could yous make it better?" he says. "How could y'all make it faster? How can you serve your client better?"
You are not going to take all of the answers, especially simply as yous are starting out. Practice non be afraid to experiment at least a picayune, specially early on. If yous make mistakes, learn from them. If you have successes, larn from those too.
"If you accept to wing it, brand it an experiment," he says. "Learn from information technology, and so consciously brand improvements the next time you exercise it."
Invest in Your Knees (And Your General Health)
The best way to avoid becoming a grumpy veteran in the painting industry is to take care of your torso from the kickoff.
"Fifty years down the road, that stuff volition pay dividends, peculiarly if you get a good pair of knee pads," Slavik says. "Honestly, the knees are the starting time thing to become with tradespeople. You buy yourselves an extra ii decades of work with a skilful pair of knee pads."
Here are the four things Slavik thinks rookie painters should invest in:
- Quality knee joint pads;
- Noise cancelling piece of work headphones;
- Skillful centre protection that doesn't fog up;
- A expert pair of piece of work gloves.
Piece of work With the Tradespeople Effectually You
Sometimes the structure trades can be a strangely competitive world, where pros treat the things they have learned over the form of their careers like closely-guarded secrets. Slavik is no longer a fan of that mentality.
"Do what I didn't — and what almost no other painter did — and reach out to other painters and start collaborating with them," he says. "In the early on years of my career, I thought all other painters were my sworn enemy. Turns out, I reached out to a few of them and now nosotros openly shared our processes, our systems, our pricing… we interact. That's been the biggest growth for me personally and professionally.
In the age of social media, there are plenty of places to go to go part of a community. Reach out to your fellow painters online and in person, and exist open to working with people instead of against them.
Well-nigh the Expert
Nick Slavik is the possessor of Nick Slavik Painting and Restoration Co. in New Prague, Minn. He has more than than 25 years experience as a professional painter and served his country through 2 tours of duty in the Middle East. He is a correspondent to "This Sometime House," and produces a weekly Facebook testify called "Ask A Painter."
Next, read more than from this serial:
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Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/wish-i-would-have-known-as-a-rookie-painter/
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