Dependable, affordable, impeccable, in four steps
Reeves Painting does interior and exterior painting for private homes, condos and apartments, and the job runs the same four steps every time: a free estimate, prep work, the first coat of paint, and a completion that does not end until you are satisfied. Their own heading for all of it is Dependable, Affordable, Impeccable painting, and the four steps are how Josh Reeves and his crew back that line up.
Step one is the estimate. After you ask for one, a painting professional visits your home to talk through the project in detail, help you pick colors and set a date for prep work. You get it in writing: a printed estimate with materials and labor, pricing and work specifications, so nobody is guessing at what the number covers.
Work begins anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks after the estimate, once the color selections and work specifications are confirmed and the work contract is signed. The point of that wait is that color and scope are settled on paper before the crew arrives, whether the house is in Lindale, Tyler or Longview.
Prep work is where the finish gets decided
Reeves Painting protects and moves all furniture and items out of the work area before a brush comes out, and they finish the drywall repairs and any maintenance the surface needs ahead of painting. Their wording is plain: superior plastering, priming and thorough prep is part of the complete service, not an add-on. Holes and cracks are filled, left to dry, sanded smooth and primed spot by spot, because bare patch shows through finish coats.
The crew does the heavy lifting. Furniture moves, switch plates come off and go back on, fixtures are removed and replaced, and flooring and belongings go under drop cloths as part of a complete prep plan. Sanding of all surfaces comes first, so the paint lands on a sound base instead of on whatever the last coat left behind. Josh also passes on a small trick from his tips page: tape the screws to the outlet covers as they come off, and the reassembly goes much neater.
On ceiling and tray ceiling jobs the prep gets visible. Rooms are sealed floor to ceiling in clear poly, light fixtures and ceiling fans are bagged, and ceilings are mudded and skimmed while everything else stays clean. It looks like a plastic tent, and it is the reason the family comes home to a house with no paint on the fan blades.
The first coat, and what happens between visits
Reeves Painting starts with one coat of the color you chose, then checks in with you throughout the job to make sure you are happy before the work moves on. At the end of each work day your home is left clean and safe. That matters in an occupied house, where the family still has to live around the work.
Most of the work is done by brush and roller, with a spray for specialty jobs that call for it. They work with recognized suppliers including Sherwin-Williams, Behr and Benjamin Moore, and can recommend low VOC, low fume products when you want minimum odor. If you are still weighing colors, take Josh's advice: buy only a quart, paint it on a foam board and carry the board to different spots in the room to see what daylight and lamplight do to it.
One test is worth knowing before anyone starts. Rub a dry white cloth with rubbing alcohol on the wall; if paint softens and transfers to the cloth, it is water-based latex. Their rule is that latex never goes over an oil finish, or the other way round, so it is worth knowing which one is on your wall.
The walk-through, and the 30 days after
The fourth step is project completion and follow-up. Their line is that the job is not complete until you are satisfied. The residential team inspects each work area for final touch-ups, repeats that until the final walk-through, and then gives the home a full clean up. Nothing is called finished while you can still point at something.
After they leave, give the paint time. Wait at least 24 hours before furniture goes back into a freshly painted room, and allow 30 days before you wash the walls. Paint can feel dry long before it has cured, and scrubbing too early is how a good finish gets marked.
If your project is a kitchen, the cabinet page covers that process on its own. If you want to see how the prep looks on a real job before you call, the gallery has the tented rooms and the finished ones side by side, and Josh's written painting tips are free for anyone to read.
