How to hire a house painter in Denver without regretting it

Before anyone starts

What should you check before hiring a painter in Denver?

Seven things separate the painters who are still answering the phone in three years from the ones who aren't. None of them take long to check.

1. Insurance, sent by the insurer. Ask for a certificate of general liability insurance naming you as the certificate holder, emailed by the agent rather than handed over as a photo. If the company has employees, ask about workers' compensation too: Colorado employers generally have to carry it from their first employee. If an uninsured worker falls off a ladder at your house, that's the question you don't want to be answering.
2. Lead-safe certification for older homes. If your house was built before 1978, federal rules require an EPA-certified firm with a certified renovator on site once the work disturbs more than 6 sq ft of paint in a room or 20 sq ft outside. Colorado's own rule is stricter about paperwork: for any renovation that disturbs 2 sq ft or more in pre-1978 housing, the contractor must give you the lead pamphlet before work starts. Ask for the firm certificate number and the renovator's name.
3. A written scope, not a number on a business card. Surfaces included and excluded, prep steps, primer, coats, product line and sheen, protection and cleanup. Our cost guide lists the eight lines a complete quote shows.
4. The paint named by product line. "Sherwin-Williams" isn't a product. Duration, Emerald and SuperPaint are, and they're priced and warrantied differently. If the line isn't written down, you can't hold anyone to it.
5. A warranty with terms. How long, what it covers (peeling and blistering from workmanship are the usual ones), what it excludes, and how you make a claim. "We stand behind our work" isn't a warranty.
6. Schedule and payment terms. A start window, how many days on site, what happens on weather days, the deposit and when the rest is due.
7. Recent local work. Ask for two or three Denver-area addresses from the last couple of years that you can drive past. Exterior paint shows its quality after a winter, not on the day the crew leaves.

Licensing, honestly

Does a painter need a license in Denver?

Colorado doesn't issue a statewide license for painting contractors. Licensing for building trades is handled locally, and in Denver it runs through Community Planning and Development, which licenses building and trade contractors and issues supervisor certificates. Whether a painting-only job needs a Denver contractor license isn't something we'll guess at on a web page. If your project includes carpentry, siding replacement, drywall beyond patching or anything structural, ask the contractor which Denver license and permits apply, then look the license up yourself.

What's not optional anywhere in Colorado is the lead-safe rule on pre-1978 homes. In Denver that covers a lot of houses. On our Denver painting data page, the Census table shows how many homes in each metro county were built before 1980.

Comparing bids

How many painting quotes should you get, and why are they so far apart?

Two or three is enough. Past that, you're mostly collecting phone calls. It's normal for Denver painting quotes on the same house to differ by 50% or more, and the reason is almost always the work, not the margin. Angi's Denver data puts exterior painting at $1.55 to $4.10 per square foot: the low end is a wash and one coat over sound paint, and the high end is scraping, priming bare wood and two finish coats on a tall house. Both can be honest prices for different jobs.

Planning numbers by house size are on our Denver painting cost page, which also answers the common question of whether $50 an hour is a fair painter rate.

Free tool

Score the painting quotes you already have

Tick what each written quote actually shows. The checker counts the gaps and tells you which questions to send back. Nothing leaves your browser.

Walk away if you see these

Red flags when hiring a painter

• Pressure to sign today for a "today only" price with no written end date. A real promotion has a date on it. (Ours is 25% off labor on projects booked by November 15, 2026, and it says so.)
• A large cash deposit before any materials are bought, or a request to pay the whole job up front.
• No physical paperwork: no written scope, no insurance certificate, no business name on the quote.
• "We don't need to test, it's fine" on a house built before 1978.
• Pressure washing and painting the same day. Wood and stucco need time to dry, and in Denver's dry air that's usually a day, longer in shade or after rain.
• Exterior painting in the cold. Most exterior latex paints need air and surface temperatures of at least 35 to 50°F, depending on the product, and staying above that until the paint cures. Ask what the label minimum is, and what happens if a cold front shows up.

Your choice

In-person estimate or photo estimate: which should you ask for?

Both work, and you should get to choose. A walkthrough is best for exteriors with peeling or soft wood, older homes that may need lead testing, and jobs with lots of trim or repairs. Those are things a painter needs to touch and measure. A photo or video estimate is fine for straightforward interiors, cabinets and smaller exterior jobs. It's quicker, and nobody needs to take time off work. If a painter will only do one or the other no matter what the job is, that tells you something about how they price.

Our form asks which you prefer, and we go with your choice. You can also request either one here.

Holding ourselves to it

How Denver Paint Contractors answers this checklist

Fair's fair: here's how we answer the list ourselves. We're fully insured and send the certificate to you directly. Every estimate is free and in writing, with the prep, product line and coats spelled out. Our workmanship warranty runs five years, in writing, and the deposit and payment schedule are on the estimate, with the final payment after your walkthrough. Want to see how we work before you call? Read why homeowners choose us and what the warranty covers.