A picture is worth A thousand words and may easily be the most important things that we utilize throughout the life of a job, as they come in handy every step of the way. Their value for us begins at the estimating phase. When I, or anyone else, am on site for an estimate we are sure to take many pictures of every aspect of the job. Some key pictures to take are a few of the overall space so someone looking at them can get an idea of what it is like as well as many close-up pictures of specific areas.
These close-up pictures are generally meant to call out specific issues noticed on site, ranging from access issues to carpentry repairs to areas of previous paint failure. At this stage the real importance is to help not only remember the job while the numbers are being run, but also to familiarize others with the conditions if you need a second opinion. On larger projects, or projects with a detailed scope, we may put together a presentation package with pictures calling out certain items to provide to the client so everyone understands exactly what was quoted.
Once a job is landed, all the pictures of the job are typically reviewed with the Crew Leader that will be on site so they understand what the conditions are, as well as what the scope is. This is all part of giving our crews all the information we have to make the project a smoother process. Often times throughout the job progress, pictures will be taken by the crew or the Project Manager to help gauge progress, as well as to point out and document any issues.
The final stage of picture taking is also very important, as it comes at the close-out of a project. At this time, we may take many pictures of the finished job. These pictures come in handy for things such as marketing material, as well as references to show future clients that come to us with similar projects. At the very least, we will have these pictures for our records and to compare to other jobs. As you can tell from reading this, even in the painting world, a picture is worth a thousand words.
