Happy New Year 2009

All of us at Chism Brothers Painting want to wish all of our clients, employees and potential clients in 2009 a very Happy New Year!

This year, we know things will be tighter than in the previous few years. Therefore, we have a suggestion when considering your home maintenance projects for 2009. Chism Brothers recommends our Painter For a Day program this year more than anything else. Instead of spending big bucks to redecorate or repaint your entire home, just be conservative and allow us to touch up or freshen up your home. You will be amazed at how much our team of professionals can get done in a short amount of time with the proper equipment and tools. Instead of painting all your exterior trim, just have us paint the sun exposed areas. There are many examples on how Chism Brothers Painting can save you time and money in 2009, so please contact us to see how our Painter For a Day can benefit you!

Even though 2008 was filled with a tough economy, we are very thankful to have kept our doors open and look forward to another year serving the communities of America's Finest City: San Diego! 

Merry Christmas 2008

All of us at Chism Brothers Painting want to wish all of our visitors, clients and customers to be a very Merry Christmas! We have had a very interesting year full of disappointments, surprises, excitement, happy times, sad times and so on. Whether it was a good or bad year for you personally, we do hope you will take time to reflect on the many blessings we all receive daily from the One who made all of this possible. Take a moment and ponder the real meaning of Christmas. If Christmas is not something you celebrate, we hope you will enjoy the day off with your family and friends.

Thank you to our clients for continuing to hire us for all your painting needs. We are very blessed and grateful for your trust in our service. 

Our Lowest Painting Price in Years

Chism Brothers Painting has offered a program we call "Painter For a Day" since 1998. Since its conception, the program has grown in popularity. We originally introduced the program for $395 and tried to keep it affordable to our clients. Because the cost of living, supplies, labor cost, etc. have gone up significantly the past ten years, our daily rate reached $570 for our painter for a day program. We still did not have a shortage of clients signing up for this service, because they see the benefit of having on of the best painters in town show up on time and get a lot of painting done in 8 hours.

We are pleased to announced that Chism Brothers Painting has been able to save all of our clients money this year. Because of the way our economy has been, we've begun cutting overhead and can now offer our Painter For a Day services for as little as $485* for a full day of painting! So, take advantage of this special offer and request your Painter For a Day online today!

*Labor and Basic Paint Supply Cost of a Painter For a Day is $485. All Paint used will be billed at our discounted contractor cost with NO mark up! So you'll save on materials too! 

Christmas Is Just Around the Corner

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, our next big holiday event of the year is just around the Corner! If you are celebrating Christmas at home this year, please let Chism Brothers assist with your painting needs. Our staff are some of the finest craftsman in San Diego, and on top of this excellent work, they are fun to have around! People hire Chism Brothers because they want people to show up, do a good job and NOT supervise their work. 

Leave the details to us. We have an excellent staff ready to get your next paint job checked off your list. For small touch up items, consider our Painter For A Day as an option! 

Happy Thanksgiving From Chism Brothers Painting

Below are a few links that we thought would be interesting to read and watch this Thanksgiving Day. We San Diegans have a lot to be thankful to God for this year! Enjoy this day, and we look forward to serving you after the holiday passes!

The First Thanksgiving 

The Pilgrim's first Thanksgiving was nothing compared to our feast today. You will be amazed at the little they had and still with grateful hearts!  View Now

Dramatized Story of Squanto and the First Thanksgiving

Produced by Focus on the Family  View Now

Video on the History of Thanksgiving 

Approximately 3-5 minute video from History.com  View Now

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

An excellent and short read during your Thanksgiving meal  View Now

Pilgrim's Echo  View Now

A Few Fun Facts About Thanksgiving  View Now

In Time for Thanksgiving

If you need any last minute touch ups on your home before Thanksgiving, our San Diego Painting experts can make sure we schedule and get your work done! Chism Brothers Painting was the first to start a program called, "Painter For a Day" which gives new clients a way to sample our services and our existing customers the opportunity get little projects checked off their list.

If you are running into a pinch for Thanksgiving or Christmas, let our professional staff of painters get the job done on time. We promise to show up on time and leave you feeling it was money well spent. We do all the work from ordering the paint, providing you with all the supplies needed and provide the most skilled professional painters in town! You'll love our people! They make the difference.  

Freshening Up Your Home for the Holidays

If you plan on having family over to your home for the holidays this year, you will probably be spending extra time making sure your home is decorated and in top-notch condition. Changing a few rooms with unique colors before the holidays is also a perfect way to impress your guest! You can tackle this project yourself or high a professional painting contractor. If you decide to add color and do the painting on your own, we suggest reading this article written by the Paint Quality Institute for a few pointers before starting. Otherwise, give us a call or send us an email and we'll send out an estimator to discuss your painting needs with you.

Read the Painting Tip Article 

Picking The Right Colors Of Paint For My Home

Here is an article we found interesting that may help educate yourself on selecting the right color for your home. We hope you will find it helpful and of course, if you would rather us do the selecting of the colors and the painting, we'd love to help!

Read the article Here

Turn Off the TV

The October issue of Real Simple Magazine had an article about dealing with stress. They wrote out a 14 day stress relieving plan that made a lot of sense. The one that stuck out to me was the Tuesday of the second week. It said, "Turn off the TV." Real simple said, "Constant bombardment by news can make you feel anxious when you're already keyed up, and a blaring TV hits you with both visual and aural stimulation." (p. 166, October, Real Simple). Watching or listening to too much news and TV during the elections and the way our economy currently is can create a lot of stress and anxiety. It also causes you not to want to spend money or do the proper home maintenance items!

My suggestion is to turn off the TV for a little while and do something fun! Go plant some flowers! Play a round of golf! And don't forget to call your painter to talk about a few new color options for your home. Bringing color to your life is sure to make you feel a lot better during these rough times! 

Fall Season Painting Projects

Chism Brothers Painting is staying busy even with our growing economy concerns. However, we still have room for your project! The fall season is a perfect time to get the final exterior touch ups, rooms repainted for the holidays or get a complete repaint both inside and out. If you want a company that has the reputation for not only talking about quality and professional service but has a proven track record, give us a try! If your a busy professional or a mom who is busy being a mom, we think you'll be impressed with our people! Our staff have been carefully "hand" picked to be apart of our team, so you can rest assure that you will be treated with the utmost care and professionalism. Send us an email or give us a call!

Color Trends for 2009

Thanks again to the Paint Quality Institute for providing us with some of the colors that will be popular in 2009. Colors that will be "in" would be: pumpkin orange, candy apple reds, lemon yellows, dusty purples, deep blues, etc. 

For the complete article: Click Here

Are Oil Base Paints The Best For My Home?

I recently came across a quote from a website that supposedly was offering good painting advice to homeowners. The quote I am referring to said this about oil base paints, "Oil based paints may be a better solution for you. They provide for a better amount of coverage, dry slower and give a better finish. They work perfectly for cabinets, your trim and your furniture painting projects. Professionals prefer oil based paints that are readily available." For years, oil base was the standard of a quality finish for both inside and outside projects. Oil base finishes dried hard and looked great! However, in recent years, the statement above is becoming old fashion and dated.

The reason a professional painter likes or will consider using oil products today is because they dry very hard and are durable when a homeowner tries to clean the painted surfaces. Besides those two things, oil base paints really are becoming extinct. California has also made the standards for paint very high. Oil base paints are typically very high in VOC, which means they are not friendly to the environment. Therefore oil paints are being replaced with low VOC acrylic and latex products. For example, in the old days oil base was used to paint all exteriors. Today, it is one of the worst products to use, because of chalking, fading, cracking and attracting mildew! Today, the acrylic products have proven to out perform all oil base finishes for masonry and wood surfaces. The same is true for interior products. Oils were well liked because of how they looked when dried. Now, if a good painters knows how to use a sprayer or is good with a brush, he or she can get most water-base paints to look and feel just like an oil base finish. 

So, though I personally like the look and feel of most oil base finishes for interior and exteriors of homes, it is not always the best to use on your home. Water-base products are and will continue to be the standard of the future. They need to be applied properly but they will last just as long or longer than the oils of the past. They are safe for the environment and they are good for your home. If you have any questions about what products to use on your home, please feel free to post your question on our blog or send us an email. We'll be glad to help! 

Cream of the Crop Painting Companies

If you are reading this blog for the first time while searching for a credible and quality painter, you've stumbled across the right company! If you are not located in San Diego and need a cream of the crop painter in your area, this is all the place to find the perfect match! Please continue reading for more helpful information!

Chism Brothers Painting owners, Mike and David Chism, just returned from a 3 day conference in St. Louis, MO. The group was called the Residential Forum of the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America. This event is annual and called, "Advanced Shop Talk (AST). Professional residential painting contractors, who desire to be the best in their area, come together to discuss what is working or not working in their business. The round table discussions that take place are geared to help each contractor improve their businesses from accurate estimating to better customer service. 

If you are the type of person who does not like to waste time interviewing 5-10 contractors and even wait to see if they will show you to your home, you need to hire a member of the Residential Forum. There is probably a contractor in your area. The website (geared for contractors only) is: http://www.pdcaresidentialforum.org You can also email us and tell us what area you live in, and we will look up the members list in your area. You can't go wrong hiring a professional painter! 

5 Great Reasons To Freshen Up Your Home

 The Paint Quality Institute had a list of 5 great ideas to freshen up your interiors without spending a lot! Here they are: 

1. A simple change of hue in any space refreshes and revitalizes while adding a sense of updated style.
2. Large polka dots or other geometric patterns add instant impact to a child’s bedroom or play area.
3. Not ready for a whole room redo? Change the trim or door color and the entire space will feel new.
4. Highlight that new flat screen television by “framing” it with paint. Before hanging it on the wall, paint a rectangle large enough so a six-inch, colorful “frame” is exposed once the TV is in place.
5. Create interest in a dining room by painting the ceiling with a glossy finish. Light from the chandelier will have extra sparkle.

These are all things you can tackle on your own or if you don't have the time, we'd love to help! Most of the individual items can be accomplished in just one day with one of our skilled craftsman painters: yes even the colorful polka dots for your daughter's room! We love to create beautiful rooms that bring color to your life!

For more tips and tricks about painting your home, visit our blog often or go to http://www.paintquality.com (Picture from the Paint Quality Institute) 

Moving East

In the upcoming weeks, our chief estimator and marketing director, David Chism, will be moving his family to the east coast and settling around the outskirts of Washington D.C. His wife's family is from the area and they feel it is a good time to move and be closer to her side of the family for the next few years. David has spent 30 years growing up in San Diego and has always known the painting industry. He is very excited as he embarks on this new adventure yet also very sad that he will be leaving behind a job and customers he enjoys very much.

Mr. Chism will still be working on some of the marketing and public relations of our company when he gets settled into his new place. At this time, he plans on staying in the painting industry and is currently seeking employment opportunites for a quality painting contractor in the D.C. area.

Mike Chism, CEO of Chism Brothers, will be handling most of the estimates after David leaves at the end of August. James Becker, one of our project managers, will also be helping Mike carry the estimating load for the time being. So, please continue to email or call Chism Brothers for all your painting needs, and we will take good care of you.