Our process
How a Smart Coat project runs
The same five steps on a single-family interior and on a four-building community repaint. Only the scale changes — the sequence does not, because the sequence is what decides whether the finish is still sound in year five.
There are no timeframes on this page. How long a job takes depends on its size, on what the wash uncovers and on the weather, and a schedule with real dates belongs in your estimate rather than in a marketing promise.
On every job
- A licensed Florida general contractor on the contract, not a paint-only crew
- A written scope of work before anything is opened or covered
- Surface preparation quoted as line items, so you can see what you are buying
- Full clean-up and a walkthrough before we ask you to sign off
Step by step
The five steps
Free estimate
We come to the property and look at the surfaces themselves — which is the only way to find the hairline cracking, the failed caulk joint, the soft stucco and the rusting fastener that decide what the job actually costs. On a building or a community that means sounding the walls and balcony edges and checking the perimeter sealant, because the visible damage on a structure of any age is reliably smaller than the real damage. What you get back is written: the scope, the products, what is included and what is not, and the price broken out so you can read it against another bid line by line. It costs nothing and there is no obligation attached to it.
Color and scope consult
Before anything is ordered we agree on the colors, the sheens and precisely which surfaces are in the contract — walls, ceilings, trim, doors, railings, soffits, driveways — because “the exterior” means different things to different bidders. For an association we prepare a color schedule in the format the board or the architectural review committee expects to receive, and we will put sample sections up on the building so the scheme is judged at full size in real daylight rather than off a fan deck indoors. Anything agreed here is written into the scope, so nobody is relying on a conversation.
Prep and protection
This is most of the labor on a South Florida exterior and it is the part you cannot see once the job is finished. Surfaces are washed down — including a salt wash on coastal properties — then scraped, cracks routed and filled, hollow stucco cut out and rebuilt in proper coats with the texture matched, joints re-caulked, and bare or repaired areas primed. Everything that is not being coated gets covered: furniture, floors and fixtures inside; plants, screens, driveways, cars and signage outside. A coating applied over a surface that was not properly prepared, or not properly dry, fails early — and no product warranty covers that.
Paint and restore
Coatings go on in full coats, at the spread rate the manufacturer specifies, in the system the scope names — not thinned out to cover more wall. A supervisor is on site while the crew works, and on association projects visits each working day. Where the contract includes restoration, the concrete repair, the stucco rebuild and the waterproofing are completed and checked first: a finish coat over a repair that has not cured, or over a crack that was never routed, is a repaint you will be paying for twice. Because Smart Coat holds a Florida general contractor license, that repair scope and the paint scope sit on one contract rather than two.
Walkthrough and warranty
We walk the finished work with you — or with the board and the property manager — in daylight, from the distance anyone else will look at it. You make the punch list; we work through it before the job is closed out. The site is cleaned, the protection comes up, and you get the paperwork: the colors and products actually applied to your property, and the warranty documentation for the workmanship and for the coating system. Keep the color schedule. It is what makes a touch-up in three years match the wall next to it.
Deliverables
What you receive
Six things that come with the job rather than on request. They are also the six worth asking every other bidder for — a contractor who will not put them in writing is telling you something.
A written scope
What is included, what is excluded, how many coats and which surfaces — in writing, before anything starts. It is the document that settles a disagreement in month two.
A color schedule
The colors, sheens and products specified for each element of the property, recorded so the next touch-up matches and nobody is guessing three years from now.
A schedule of values
On association and commercial projects, the scope broken into line items the board can read, vote on and pay against as the work progresses — with repair quantities as unit rates rather than a lump nobody can check.
A daily site clean
The working area is cleaned at the end of each day, not at the end of the job. Protection stays up overnight; debris does not.
A walkthrough and your punch list
We walk the finished work with you in daylight, you write the punch list, and it is worked through before the job is closed out.
The paperwork
Colors and products actually applied, and the warranty documentation for the workmanship and the coating system. On association and commercial work, the certificate of insurance and lien releases as the project progresses.
FAQ
Questions about how we work
The five questions we are asked about the process itself, rather than about the painting.
How long does the estimate take?
The visit itself is usually under an hour for a house and longer for a building or a community, because the surfaces have to be looked at rather than measured off a plan. You get the written scope and price after that — not a number at the curb, which is the fastest way to be quoted for work that turns out not to be the work.
Who is on site while the work runs?
A supervisor is on the job while the crew is working, and on association projects visits the site each working day. That is the person who catches the wall that was not properly dry before it was coated, which is the failure nobody sees until the second year.
What happens if it rains?
We stop, and we do not coat a surface that has not dried out. South Florida summers bring a storm most afternoons, so exterior schedules are built around earlier starts and around the forecast; a day pushed for weather costs you nothing, and a coating applied over trapped moisture costs you the finish.
Do you move furniture and protect the site?
Yes. Furniture is moved and covered, floors and fixtures are masked, and the working area is cleaned at the end of each day rather than at the end of the job. On exteriors that includes plants, screens, driveways and vehicles.
What do I get at the end of the job?
A walkthrough in daylight, your punch list worked through, and the paperwork: the colors and products actually used on your property, and the warranty documentation for the work. Keep it — the color schedule is what makes the next touch-up match.
Step one
Start with the free estimate
Send the details and we will walk the property, write a scope you can read, and price it line by line.