When you pay for a professional paint job for the interior or exterior of your home, what are you paying for? Obviously, you’re paying to get out of doing the job yourself, but what makes the difference between a professional painter and you? Before we go through the process of what a professional painting team does to make sure your home looks like new, let’s look at a few of the main differences between a professional and a do-it-yourself-er.

The first main, obvious difference between professional painters and amateurs is equipment and manpower. Professional painting crews come in with all the items and tools they need to get the job done, and the crew to make it happen. You might have a paint brush and a roller, but the professionals have ladders, drop cloths, sprayers, trim brushes, window coverings, and the other less obvious items necessary for a quality paint job. You can of course buy these items, but by that point, you might be spending more than hiring professionals anyway.

Here are the basic steps that all professional painters go through to make interiors and exteriors shine:

1. Make sure the painting areas are clear

You can actually help the professionals immensely in this crucial first step. Professional crews will bring cloths and covers for furniture or outdoor elements that can’t be moved out of the way, but you can help by clearing the painting area of any valuables or anything that you don’t want to get paint on.

2. Prepare painting surfaces

This means caulking any cracks or gaps in the surface, as well as removing old and peeling paint. Scraping is a big part of this process, because it removes damaged paint before it’s painted over. Professionals will also make sure to prepare surfaces to hold as much paint as possible by sanding them, priming them with a primer layer of paint, and removing mildew or mold damage. For interiors, some professionals will clean painting areas to ensure there is no debris that might affect the look of their finished product.

3. Tape and separate

A key duty of any painter, professional or amateur, is to keep paint from going where they don’t want it to. Professional crews will tape off trim areas to keep paint from splashing or dripping on surfaces they’ll have to paint carefully later.

4. Select the right paint

The customer is always right in this regard, of course, but professionals can recommend types of paint and even colors for specific areas. Professionals almost always use a powerful primer, capable of covering bare surfaces and maintaining the main paint’s color. They might also put in paint additives to help their product go on smoother, dry slower on hot days, or to combat mildew infestations.

From here, the paint job is pretty self-explanatory. Professionals usually paint in a logical, methodical way, moving from room to room or area to area in a way that minimizes wasted work and movement. Even the professionals aren’t perfect, so they usually set aside time to do a check for touch-ups.