Welcome
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to visit our website. People often ask what separates Painting by Marge from everyone else — I'd have to say most everything. Beyond using only the highest quality products, my scrupulously trained crew, and the care, consideration and attention we give to each customer, hands-down, it's the meticulous prep-work we pour into every project that makes the difference. There are no shortcuts when it comes to creating professional results, and taking the time to do the real work is an art in itself, one that most have long abandoned.
I'm tremendously proud of the work we've done throughout Litchfield, Hartford and Berkshire Counties over 40 years now, and hope you will be too.
My Story
It was 1970 when my brother Dan and I began painting for my father. I was 15 years old and decided I needed a job, dad was game. He was a builder at the time, and managing an apartment complex that needed painting. He staged where we were to work each morning with tools and pump jacks and gave us free range. Dan and I would pump ourselves up the side of the building and paint our way down. If we forgot to bring lunch, we'd go without for the day due to the time it would take to work the pump jack. Bathroom runs were via ladder, but we'd go without that too if we forgot to set one up in advance. Of course my brother had the advantage I didn't, and could go off the side of the scaffolding if push came to shove.
It didn't take long for my brother to spend more time people watching than painting, so I ended up finishing the project by myself. If you've ever seen a pump jack in action you can imagine the balancing act it was for a 15 year old girl to work one solo. Each morning I'd have to move from one side to the other, cranking myself up little by little until I reached the top, and of course I'd do the same thing at the end of the day, and crank myself back down, one side, and then the other, and back again, until I was on terra firma.
I won my father’s confidence and he gave me another job painting the entire exterior on an addition of Fran Ford’s house. Fran was a notorious realtor at the time so this was a big deal to me. As fortune would have it, the house next door to Ms. Ford's was also being painted, but by a ‘real’ painting company. I studied them closely, and volunteered to help out in hopes of learning how the pros did things. This is where I learned the importance of prep work.
As a teen, I had two passions — baseball and painting. I couldn’t wait to get up every morning with the prospect of playing ball, which I did for the Connecticut Diamonds, a semi-pro fast pitch softball league. When I wasn’t playing ball, I was painting. At 17 my next-door neighbor, Guy Manzi, and I joined forces. He had a small landscaping business, and for a few years we worked together on and off — landscaping on rainy days and painting on good-weather days. I painted my way through high school and college (which I was able to pay for myself), and bought my first home by the time I was 20. After college, I continued to paint houses until I married and had children. After child number-three I decided to build a crew of other mothers who were willing to work part time when their children were in school—and Painting By Marge was born.
For nearly four decades I've built scores of crews of incredibly talented painters. I take great pride in teaching them all that I've acquired over the years, and in delivering the highest level of service to my clients. I can easily say that the prep-work I learned all those years ago is probably the very thing that distinguishes what we do today -- as it's a lost art that most have abandoned. When it comes to quality, I've learned there are no shortcuts. The extra work can be painstaking at times, but the results say it all (not to mention it nearly doubles the life of the paint). For me, that's what it's all about—putting a smile on the faces of my customers, and knowing I've provided the very best for them.
WHAT MAKES OUR CREW SO SPECIAL?
Each of our painters graduate from Painting By Marge's rigorous training program—where they develop a true expertise in professional interior and exterior house painting. It's not surprising to know most don't have formal training when they come to us, others have picked up some pretty bad habits that require re-training. Sometimes it's hard to predict who will rise to the top. Needless to say, our crew is comprised only of those few painters that make the cut. We're delighted to be able to provide our customers with a professional crew that meets our high standards, ensuring beautiful results that last.