“Urban legends” are a type of folklore, i.e., popular stories that often have some element of truth. However, they remain generally untrue, despite their regular retelling. Similar stories exist regarding painting. We call these the “urban legends” of painting. And unfortunately, some of these legends are occasionally spread by painting contractors.

Urban Legend: Brushing or rolling paint is superior to spraying.

Fact: According to the Paint Quality Institute, an independent organization dedicated to educating consumers and contractors, “some people think sprayed paint will not adhere as well as paint that is brushed, but we have not seen that, so long as the surface has been properly prepared.” In addition, because spraying generally produces a smoother finish, dirt and mold spores are less likely to attach to the paint film.

Urban Legend: Larger painting companies have more overhead and must charge higher prices.

Fact: While it is generally true that larger companies will have more overhead, that doesn’t necessarily lead to higher prices. In fact, a company with more employees can spread the overhead over more field hours. For example, Company A has weekly overhead of $1,000 and 3 people in the field, while company B has $2,000 in weekly overhead and 7 people in the field. Assuming each employee works 40 hours, Company A must charge $8.33 per hour to recover overhead while Company B must charge $7.14 to recover its overhead. Of course, the actual overhead for each company will be different.