The painting villain isn’t the door-knocker — it’s the cash painter with a roller, no prep kit and a $4,500 quote with nothing in it. The red flags, in order of how often you’ll meet them, plus a five-minute verification routine.
The painting villain isn’t the door-knocker. It’s the cash painter who walks in with a roller, no prep kit, and a quote that’s $4,500 because there’s nothing in it. Cheap quotes win on the day and fail in year two — by which time the painter is unreachable and you’re paying a second painter to fix the first one’s shortcut.
Here are the red flags, in roughly the order you’ll meet them.
“No prep needed”
Every wall in every house needs at least a sugar-soap wash and a sand. A painter who tells you otherwise is pricing the cheap quote you’re about to take.
No primer in the quote
Skip the primer and the topcoat doesn’t bond — bleed-through, peeling, the old colour ghosting through. Saves $200 today, costs $4,000 in three years.
Cash discount, no invoice
No invoice means no warranty trail, no GST, and nothing to claim against if the work fails. It almost always means uninsured work and an unregistered operator.
“Whatever paint you like”
A working painter has product preferences. A cowboy doesn’t care, because cheap-shelf and premium paint cost them the same labour to apply. You wear the difference for a decade.
No licence or insurance
In NSW, painting work over $5,000 needs a tradesperson certificate. Public liability is essential — a spill on the carpet without insurance is on you.
The cheap painter is the most expensive painter. You just don’t find out for two years.
Ask this, exactly
“Could you send your licence (if required for a job this size), your public liability certificate of currency, and the brand and product name of the paint you’ll use?”
A working painter has these to hand and sends them without fuss. Hesitation here is the most useful answer you’ll get.
Brushline is licensed in NSW (284 551C), insured to $20M, and every quote names the paint brand and product with the prep itemised. Ask us for any of it and it comes back the same day — because none of it is the part we’re trying to hide.