What’s It Like to Be a Painter?

Rohan Mathew

Updated on:

If you think a painting job is easy, think again. Although you don’t need a degree to be a painter, there are skills you certainly require. You also need a license and must know how to paint properly for you to receive a license. Learning how to paint does not mean you don’t have the qualifications to complete university. You can have what it takes to complete college but choose to make a living as a painter in Brisbane, QLD.

What Painters Do

It’s obvious that painters paint, but what else do they do? Well, painters also apply wallpaper, varnish, and other finishes to protect, maintain and decorate the surfaces of structures and buildings. These surfaces can be drywall, wood, concrete, and steel. The surfaces are the inside of commercial and residential buildings such as homes, offices, and factories. Unlike the interior, exterior surfaces are mostly coated to shield them from the weather elements. Since coatings come in various colors, you can use them to decorate and beautify. Other jobs painters do include,

  • Erecting scaffolding ladder and placing drop sheets to protect the areas
  • Selecting and preparing paints by mixing the paint, oil, and thinning
  • Hanging wallpapers in matching patterns
  • Cleaning equipment and work areas

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Top Painter Skills

If you are looking for a painting job, make sure you have the right skills and knowledge to do the job. These skills will not only help you get started but also please your clients. Here are the top painters’ skills:

  • Communication Skills

To serve a client’s needs, a painter must understand what they want. Unfortunately, most people do not know how to explain what they want. So you’ll have to understand the instructions or use your imagination to come up with the details.  Good communication means listening to the client, offering your professional advice, and getting them what they want. While you can make suggestions, the client has the final say.

  • Detail Oriented

What makes a great paint job is in the details, such as clean edges, crisp edges, even coats, and well-adhered layers. Making a small error can make you lose everything and alter the look of the room or building.

  • Physical Dexterity and Strength

Painters need good manual dexterity to achieve a good clean coat. You need the ergonomic skills and strength to move the equipment efficiently and safely and a strong sense of balance to prevent you from falling off roofs and ladders.

  • Familiarity With the Required Tools

Painters use various tools, including rollers, brushes, sanders, wire brushes, and texturing tools. Since this helps create different effects, you must be familiar with them and know how to use each efficiently. Tools differ between interior and exterior painting. Plus, different tools might be required for painting different textures and styles.

  • Familiarity With the Materials

Paint varies by color, texture, viscosity, luster, drying time, and other factors. There are also the varnishes, primers, sealers, and finishes, which also vary widely. So, choose the correct combination to prevent the paint from peeling, cracking, or looking bad.

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  • Time Management Skills

Whether you are an employee or a self-employed painter, you are likely to spend most of your working time alone or out of view of the supervisor. You must, therefore, work efficiently and honestly without someone supervising you. Self-employed painters must also provide accurate estimates of how long it will take to complete the job.

How to Become a Painter

While some painters learn the skill by working under someone or in a company, most go to college. To qualify as a painter, you need at least 2 to 3 years of training. It’s important to ask a company you want to work for whether they have a training program.

A good company uses a training system that focuses mostly on everyday tasks. Part of their program should be safety training and certification. If you are considering becoming a painter, you can register for a full apprentice program. It is pretty thorough and includes both field and classroom training.

So that’s what it’s like to be a painter. Becoming a professional painter is not only rewarding but also a viable career option. If you are licensed, skilled, and certified, you can earn as much as $70000 per year. You can also expect this to go up after gaining more experience. With the right skills, training, and passion, you can make an honest living as a painter.