Commercial Painting Versus Residential Painting - For Painters
If you are interested in a career in painting as a trade or are curious as to what kind of painting services are available to you as a consumer or business, then this guide is for you. Commercial painters are those that deal with business or industrial buildings and properties, while residential painters deal with properties that people actively live in. They have their own unique challenges and advantages as career paths.
Commercial Buildings
Most of the painting industry deals with commercial buildings and structures, rather than residential ones. Commercial painters deal with office buildings, such as bank headquarters, small eye care offices, and accounting firms, as well as other commercial buildings such as mechanic shops, warehouses, manufacturing plants, and even bridge painting. These painting jobs are separate from residential jobs not only in terms of the property they paint but also in the work they do. Commercial painters typically need to paint larger surfaces and may deal with more complicated, hard to reach surfaces compared to residential jobs.
Additionally, commercial painters may have a greater or lesser ability to vent painting fumes while they work indoors. Warehouses typically have strong ventilation, as do large office buildings. These properties typically take advantage of large fans or industrial, high-efficiency air conditioning units meant for large areas. However, commercial painters dealing with small offices without fully functioning windows may have to leave a door open while they work and bring a small fan into play.
Residential Buildings
Residential painters differ from commercial painters in and of the fact that they handle painting jobs for the average person, rather than for businesses (or sometimes, local governments). It's important to note that commercial painting makes up the bulk of the painting industry, so those that go into this career may need to rely on current homes needing to be re-painted regularly (but infrequently) along with new homes continuously being built in their area. On the other hand, residential properties frequently have smaller surface areas to paint, and there's no loss of aesthetic quality compared to an at-work business if a window needs to be opened or a fan needs to be run. These elements can make residential painting more appealing to those in the industry.
Commercial painters and residential painters each deal with their own challenges in their line of work. If you are considering painting as a trade or a career, then make sure to research the kind of work you'll be doing and your options for career specialization. You can also contact companies like Blue Star Painting Company to learn more about working with commercial painters.