Contractors Caring for Your Home

5 Things to Know Before Hiring a Professional Painter

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Having a professional painter update the color of your home to boost its curb appeal or brighten up the interior with a new color can make all the difference. Whether you simply want to update the aesthetics, or you plan on putting your home on the market, a fresh paint job can transform your home.

But while you’re in the midst of looking for the right professional painting contractor, there’s a few things you’ll need to consider before hiring them. At Greenleaf Painters, we’re here to shed some light on the process to help you along.

Should I Paint My House Myself?

Painting can be a rewarding experience. Some even find it therapeutic. But when it comes to your home, you’ll want to be careful, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience with painting.

Painting your home yourself is a lot of physical work, and ladders are heavy and can lead to injuries. Hiring a professional painter can help alleviate these concerns. We at Greenleaf sometimes get calls to finish a job a homeowner started!

Professional painting crews also have the expertise that can ensure that the prep work and coating is done right so your walls and trim look their very best. The quality speaks for itself when you hire a seasoned professional painter. Done right, a paint job can last for many years.

Preparing Your Home for Painting

Since you have painters coming to your home, it is a good idea to prepare your space for the work. For interior work, it may be a good idea to relocate valuables for the time being to avoid the risk of damage. We at Greenleaf Painters take great care to move and/or cover your belongings before the painting job starts. If you have a pet, sequestering them to another area of the house may be a good idea to keep their paws out of the paint!

Choose the Right Painting Company

Before hiring a company, conduct some research on the contractors in the area. Look at reviews to see how they’re received by previous customers. Look for reviews of both finished work as well as the process itself. Is the company responsive and respectful of customers and their spaces? Also check their portfolios on their website.

If they seem to be well-reviewed, are prompt and respectful of the homes they paint, and the work looks great, you may be ready for the next step.

Find Out What Quality Paint They Use

If you’re having your home’s interior painted, it’s good to find out the type of paint that the contractor uses. Eco-friendly paints from quality paint companies are high-performing, and yet they don’t emit the smelly chemicals which can have a negative effect on the air quality of your home. Make sure that the painting contractor you hire uses green and sustainable products where possible.

Plan Your Schedule but Be Adaptable

If you’re having your home’s interior painted, it’s good to be present or available if the contractor has any questions for you. It’s also important to know that when you’re having the exterior of your home painted, weather can be an erratic factor. It’s important to be open, understandable, and adaptable.

Find Your Painting Contractor Today

Now that you’re aware of the things to know before hiring a professional painter, you’re ready to begin your experience! If you’re in need of interior, exterior, or historic painting services, you can look to us at Greenleaf Painters.

We’re more than happy to assist you with your painting needs and bringing your vision to life!

Shout-out to a Solution Maker

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We are proud to be part of this community during these challenging times; goodwill is everywhere we look, as people and businesses aim to help.

We want to give a special shout-out to Sourland Mountain Spirits, a Hopewell, NJ company that began producing hand-sanitizer. Their first batches went to fill the needs of the local medical industry.

“Within two weeks, our grain went from helping people celebrate life to helping save it,” said Ray Disch, the company’s founder, in a Planet Princeton article.

Since they’re making so much, we’re able to refill our crew’s personal hand sanitizer bottles — without spending hours on the hunt. Thank you, Ray! We raise our glass to you for helping keep our spirits up! 😄 (Jonathan Shenk, owner, pictured here with recent purchase). 

As we remain open, we are also grateful for customers who have allowed us to work on painting their home or office, so we can keep our craftsmen working. 

For the safety of everyone, our crew members: 
— wear personal protection masks
— practice social distancing
— have their own bottle of hand sanitizer 
— communicate with customers without physical contact.

This week, we are finishing up painting this lovely home exterior in Princeton.

Helping Run a Painting Company from Home – While Parenting

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Operations Manager Ryan Munn and his daughter working from home during Covid-19.
Operations Manager Ryan Munn and his daughter working from home during Covid-19.

By Ryan Munn

There are a lot of new situations I’ve found myself in while both my wife and I work from home with our two children, ages five and two.  For the most part over the last three weeks, we’ve been able to juggle each other’s conference calls and take turns watching the kids while trying to stay productive and focused.  

The “mute” function on our phones is a much-used feature as our 2-year-old is quite unpredictable.  We definitely have to be strategic and get creative.  Sometimes we’ll jump on the computer before they’re up or stay on a little later to finish something if there were extra distractions during the day.  For the most part we make it work! 

There are a lot of times we just need to occupy their time, so I don’t feel like I’m a better parent for it. We’re doing the best we can and try not to beat ourselves up over it too much. We try to have them do different things like play with playdough, color, practice writing, but their go to is the iPad. Aiden will play on the iPad and watch YouTube videos all day if we let him! He’s definitely getting more screen time during the week, but on the weekend that gets squashed. We’ll go out for a walk, have the kids ride scooters, and play games with them.

There are a lot of positives too.  For one letting the kids sleep in instead of dragging them out of bed to go rush off to daycare.  I’ve enjoyed having the kids come downstairs and give me hugs every morning and they really love being in their PJ’s 24/7.  

We have a little more quality time with them but not a lot. During lunch one day, we planted sunflower seeds, and the other day they sprouted. Another day we made gingerbread men that were left over from a Christmas project that never saw the light of day.  Needless to say, the kids are enjoying more time around Mom and Dad too.

“During lunch one day, we planted sunflower seeds, and the other day they sprouted.”

I know there are so many people that don’t have this freedom and are either on the front lines helping the sick, or supporting the economy during this difficult time, or even worse are out of a job.  I feel very fortunate to be in my position and hope things get back to normal sooner rather than later.  

I’m gardening as my stress reliever, though it’s not too much different from every other Spring season. Although I might actually kill my plants from over-watering and giving them too much attention!

Here’s hoping everyone stays safe and that we all pull through this together. 

Five Principles for Building a Successful Business

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Greenleaf’s owner, Jonathan Shenk, had the incredible opportunity to speak at Kampala University in Uganda, East Africa, in 2018, on the lessons he has learned in building his company. He shared these same principles in a talk at the Princeton Corridor Rotary Club in 2019. Now a year later, we want to share them with you because they apply not only to business but to life in general. You may also learn more about Jonathan and this company in the process. Here is a condensed version of his talk.

Jonathan speaking at Kampala University in 2018

1. Every person has inherent dignity and worth.
We live in a diverse part of the world. It is not our place to judge someone’s culture or faith or to envy their wealth or to criticize their choices. It is also important that we don’t even entertain those thoughts in our heads because our attitudes influence our relationships with our customers. People can feel judged without any words being said. Therefore, it is much simpler to avoid judging in the first place.

2. Every company has a soul.
Each company is like a living, breathing eco-system. And the company’s soul flows through each employee. It also flows through the company’s work space and equipment. Whatever values a company lifts up will be experienced by anyone who interacts with the company. And the company will only function properly if every part of the company is in agreement with those values.

The audience at Kampala University during Jonathan’s talk.

3. Words have meaning.
Words are powerful and need to be aligned with our actions and attitudes. It is important to hold to the commitments we make to our customers and to each other. Words also create and shape our reality. Do our words suggest an attitude of despair or of hope? Do they suggest an attitude of weakness or of strength?

4. Take the long view.
A company’s principles and values take priority over the bottom line. They take priority over making profits on a particular job. In many businesses there will be profitable seasons and un-profitable seasons. There will be profitable jobs and un-profitable jobs. It’s important to take the long view and focus primarily on doing a great job.

“If your team is terrified of making mistakes, then they are less likely to aspire to their full potential.”

5. Practice gratitude and humility.

–Humility: we are all fallible human beings. We make mistakes. Sometimes we don’t know what choice to make or we don’t have all the information or knowledge we need to make the correct choice. The best leaders and the best companies take a team approach. And they demonstrate compassion and kindness when mistakes are made. If your team is terrified of making mistakes, then they are less likely to aspire to their full potential.

–Gratitude: it is important to walk with a spirit of gratitude as a leader, and to focus on the good things that are happening. It is a choice one needs to make, a choice of perspective and attitude. There are many challenges and difficulties that go along with leadership. It would be easy to fill one’s day with worry and anxiety. That will usually lead someone down further and further into fear and despair. It is better to choose to focus on the good things that are happening.

Thank you for reading!

Thanks from All of Us at Greenleaf for Ten Years of Great Reviews!

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Photo of Crew
A Candid Pic of Greenleaf Managers and Crew 2016

Greenleaf was built primarily word-of-mouth ten years ago. What started with founder, Jonathan Shenk, and a paintbrush has grown into the thriving company it is today.

So we want to pause and take a moment to give a big thanks for all the reviews and referrals you, our customers, have given over the years. We relish hearing how happy you are about the work we’ve done. Each referral and positive review brightens our day. It also helps our business grow and thrive.

One of our customers sent us this glowing review, which we couldn’t help but post below. Many more of you have posted reviews online, told us your feedback in person, and even sent us hand-written cards! Here’s to you, our friends and customers, for a great ten years! –Jonathan Shenk, owner

Carolyn Slaughter, Lawrenceville, wrote:

“If you’re looking for a superb painting company to transform the rooms of your home, Greenleaf is the company for you. I’ve tried many painters in the Lawrenceville/Princeton area and found no company equal to Greenleaf’s professionalism, courtesy, attention to detail and sheer skill and creativity in making any decorating job turn out perfectly and in the time promised.

I live in a Victorian house in Lawrenceville, about 150 years old, and it’s something of a nightmare for any crew trying to produce a first-rate job: the floors slope downward, no shelf is straight, the ceilings have cracks which may suddenly open and send chunks of plaster crashing to the floor. Yet for all its infirmities, it is a magnificent, rare Second Empire house, with a mansard roof, characteristic in French building. I’ve lived and worked within these walls and my children have grown up under this roof for over twenty years.

I needed exceptional painters, who then connected me to a creative carpenter, who brought the ceilings back to new, and introduced me to a wood floor refinisher, Rees Powell, who brought the sloping floors back to their original pine beauty. The foreman, Abner Tolle, in his dedication to the job, could be found scrutinizing every inch of his hard-working crew’s work until he could leave the house looking as beautiful as it must have looked in it’s heyday.”

 

Protect and Beautify Your Home as You Welcome Spring!

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japanese flower
We are just as excited as you are that Spring has finally arrived!  Spring time is full of so many wonderful things such as longer periods of daylight, the blooming of plants and trees, and of course there’s Spring repair and cleaning.  Now you may cringe at those two words but as you know, protecting and repairing your home keeps it looking beautiful and in great shape.
And we’re here to make your life easier!  Firstly, we have an outdoor checklist to help keep you on track.  Secondly, we have some tips and strategies to make the cleaning process more streamlined and manageable. So let’s get started!
Outdoor Springtime Checklist
  • Tour house and exterior grounds.  Make a list of any needed maintenance.
  • Sweep porches and walkways
  • Wash siding, thresholds, and exterior doors.  It may simply work with a garden hose and a deck brush.  For the best results, we recommend power washing.
  • Clean or replace welcome mat.
  • Inspect, clean, and repair outdoor furniture.
  • Inspect light fixtures: wash covers and check for damaged wires and connections.
  • Clear away any dead foliage and weeds from beds and lawn.
  • Inspect the roof for winter damage: leaks, missing or broken shingles or tiles.  If you don’t have access, we recommend contacting your local roofer for inspection.
  • Scrape, prime, and paint any peeling spots on trim or woodwork.  You’ll not only be making a difference cosmetically but also protecting the wood from damage due to changing temperatures and moisture.
  • Identify any rotting wood trim or siding and have it removed and replaced before it becomes a bigger issue.
  • Begin your landscaping projects while it’s cooler and the soil is damp and pliable.  Trees, plants, and shrubs make a huge difference in adding curb appeal.
  • Lastly, remember to have fun doing it.  The outside of your home is there to protect you year round so it’s always a good idea to inspect, repair, and clean your biggest asset.
Spring Cleaning Strategies
1. Make a list– this will save time so you can keep the ball rolling.

2. Assemble a team–  If your family is willing and able, get them to work with you as a team.  And there’s always your friends.

3. Gather your supplies – Spend the week before spring cleaning begins gathering up the supplies you’ll need. 

4. Plan ahead for time-consuming tasks– If you’re planning any time-consuming tasks, set aside extra time outside of your actual spring cleaning schedule.

5. Focus on one task at a time – Simply put.

6. Recognize your progress – A large list is daunting but once you begin to see things crossed out you’ll feel you’re making a dent.

7. Be realistic – hard work takes time, but know that the satisfaction from a job well done is around the corner.

8. Take breaks – You’re not a machine, and everyone deserves a break.

9. Prepare snacks and meals ahead of time – Refuel without creating even more work for yourself.  Think of easily put-together meals.

10. Get ready to jam – Remember to have fun, so make that I-tunes playlist or break out those vinyl records.  Music keeps you moving!

Three Key Questions to Ask as You Choose a Contractor

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computer on table
In the last couple of months, we were hired by two different homeowners to re-do a job that
another painting contractor botched.
We occasionally get these requests, and it’s always a reminder to us to share what we know
about how to choose a contractor that’s right for the job. We recommend that you solicit three
bids, and then call the references the contractor gives you.

BUT DON’T STOP THERE. In the process, it’s important to ask these three things:

1) How will the contractor communicate with you? Does the contractor have an email address for answering your quick questions? Do they answer phone calls, and during what hours? How many days do they generally take to get back to customers?Not all contractors will actually return your call in a timely manner. If you notice that it is hard to reach a contractor when you are in the bidding process, this may indicate how it will go once you sign the contract. That said, we’ve had incredibly busy summers during which it is hard to get back to people as fast as we’d like. It is good to have a conversation with the contractor when getting a bid about what to expect.

2) How respectful will the contractor be of your property? Ask about how your furniture will be moved and protected during the work. If it is outdoor work, will your plantings near your house be protected? This is especially critical during lead removal or power washing.

It’s also important to ask how much preparation goes into the project. We pride ourselves in very careful preparation that leads to smooth walls, clean lines, and eye-popping results. Inquire about the kind of care the contractor puts into the work.

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