Residential vs Commercial Painting: What’s the Difference? 

October 9, 2020

When it comes to painting, you might notice that there are two types of jobs involved: residential and commercial. Whether you are having your home painted or a new business, you will have to understand which one you want to contract for the job. In short, residential painters typically paint houses and commercial painters work with larger properties such as office buildings or restaurants. 

Residential Painters

Many people will often hire a residential painter to paint the interior and exterior of their homes. These workers use precise technique to give homes a new look with unique designs. They also specialize with the interior of the house including the walls and ceilings. Residential painters are typically accurate with their quotes when discussing the price with the buyer. This is due to them having many other houses that they work on. You can expect there to be no hidden fees when working with this type of painter. Here are some examples of the many services that residential painters provide:

 

  • Wall and Ceiling painting
  • Fence painting
  • Drywall repair
  • Staining 
  • Wood replacement and repair
  • Trim painting
  • Deck painting

 

Although some of these services are performed by commercial painters, the major point of emphasis is that residential painters perform these actions inside or outside a place of residence. Jobs are typically accepted directly from the owner of the house, meaning your reputation and marketing presence needs to be top-notch in order to grow as a residential painter. 

 

Commercial Painters

 

Commercial painters differ from residential in a few different ways. As noted, they typically work on businesses, as opposed to places of residence. Commercial painters have a business-to-business relationship with their clients, meaning they offer services to businesses rather than individuals. The types of services commercial painters offer are also slightly different from that of residential painters. Some painting services that are exclusive to commercial painters include:

 

 

These commercial painting services require special paints for specific purposes, and expertise in the surface you will paint. For instance, some parts of the machinery you will be painting cannot be painted over, or it will reduce or completely disable the function of the machinery. Another example would be the process of line striping, where commercial painters will have to work with a warehouse manager to decide the best line striping floor plan for their specific flow of operations.  

 

Commercial painting also differs from residential painting in the way that jobs are offered and accepted. More often than not, commercial/industrial painting jobs will be placed up for a bid, and commercial/industrial painting contractors will bid on the job against their competitors. The company offering the job might take the lowest possible offer for the job, but they will also consider things like reputation and expertise with specific tasks. Of course, if a commercial painter has a lasting relationship with a client, the job might just be offered to them directly. 

 

McLean Company Commercial/Industrial Painting

 

At McLean Company, we offer a wide range of high quality commercial/industrial painting services. These services include silo painting, machinery painting, fence painting, line striping, masonry waterproofing, and much more. We have a long-standing reputation of doing quality work within facilities around Danvers, MA, and take pride in each job we accept. We keep our prices fair for the work we do, and won’t take on a job unless we are sure we can perform the task at the highest possible standard. If you are looking for a commercial painting contractor for your next facility painting job, contact McLean Company for a free quote on your project. 

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