Three texts after you have left
The job finished on Friday. On Saturday the customer texts a photo: paint on the light switch in the hall. On Sunday another: a patch by the radiator that looks thin. On Monday: a door that sticks since it was painted. Each needs a painter to go back. The painter is on a new job across town, so the touch-ups wait until Thursday, and the final invoice waits with them.
None of these snags was hard to fix. They were just not caught before leaving.
Why snags are found late
Painters check their own work as they go, but at the end of a job they are tidying up, loading the van and thinking about the next one. Nobody walks each room with fresh eyes in good light, surface by surface, and the customer only looks properly after everyone has gone.
- The end-of-job check is informal and rushed.
- Checks are done in poor light, often late in the day.
- The customer is not walked round before the painter leaves.
- Snags reported later are by text with no record.
- The final invoice is held back until touch-ups are done.
What late snags cost
Every return visit costs travel and a painter's time away from paying work. The final payment is delayed. And the customer's last impression is a list of faults rather than a finished home, which shows up in reviews.
Late snags also break the painter's next job. A return visit for twenty minutes of touch-up still means packing kit, driving across town and unpacking again, and the customer on the new job sees the painter disappear for half a morning. Multiply that by several jobs a month and the return visits become a steady drain on the diary.
And a snag list that arrives by text over a weekend is hard to manage. Photos get lost in the thread, the painter who fixes them is not always the one who did the work, and it is easy to miss one. When the customer finds the missed snag, the business looks careless twice.
The handover walkround we build
- At the end of the job, the painter or a supervisor opens the walkround on their phone. It lists each room and surface from the colour schedule.
- For each surface there is a short checklist you set: coverage, cutting in, drips and runs, paint on fittings, woodwork finish, doors opening and closing.
- Snags are recorded with a photo and a note, and fixed there and then where possible.
- The customer is walked round, adds anything they notice, and signs off on the phone, with any remaining items listed and dated.
- Remaining items are scheduled as a short return visit, and the customer can see when.
- The final invoice goes out on sign-off, or on sign-off minus the remaining items, as you decide.
| Check | Example |
|---|---|
| Coverage | Even colour, no thin patches |
| Cutting in | Clean lines at ceilings and edges |
| Runs and drips | None on woodwork or walls |
| Fittings | No paint on switches, sockets, hinges |
| Doors and windows | Open and close after painting |
A cleaner end to every job
Most snags are found and fixed before the painter leaves. The customer's sign-off is recorded, with anything outstanding written down rather than texted over a weekend. Return visits are fewer and planned. And the final invoice goes out on the day the job finishes.
Is this how your jobs finish?
- Customers send snags by text after you have left.
- Painters go back for small touch-ups regularly.
- Final invoices wait for touch-ups.
- There is no record of what the customer signed off.
- The end of job check depends on who did the work.