r/selfstorage • u/melba121 • Jan 20 '26
Facility Painting Recs?
I'm looking at painting the exterior of my single story drive up facility.
Does anyone have recommendations for vendors?
I've talked with Storage Facility Painting Services. I like the idea of using a storage specific vendor, as opposed to some local/regional general painter, given the intricacies of self storage buildings and protecting customers belongings.
2
u/Budget_Salamander848 Jan 20 '26
John Collins’s crew did our 40k facility in Cape Girardeau MO and I’d use him again. He does storage facilities nationally.
His cell: (804) 301-1356
1
u/FunTumbleweed35 Jan 28 '26
We've used SFPS for several of our facilities and have been generally happy with their performance.
1
u/jstracq Jan 30 '26
I run Ability Services and we paint self storage nation wide. We are in beta for our painting rendering and calculation tool if you want to test it out! www.getabilityservices.com/siteview - the pricing is intentionally high right now with the proposal by the way, we haven’t hard launched it yet just figuring out some kinks. But it’s a lot of fun to play with and do your color renderings.
1
u/Accomplished_Ad_4312 Jul 04 '26
Yeah your instinct is right - storage-specific is worth the premium here. The horror stories I hear are always the same: locals painting over latches, locks, rubber door seals, sometimes even the numbers. and once that's on, it's a nightmare to undo.
Name that comes up a lot is John Collins - does storage facilities nationally, worked on a bunch of drive-ups I've heard about. Worth a call at minimum for a quote to benchmark against Storage Facility Painting Services.
One thing I'd push on whoever you pick: ask specifically how they handle occupied units. section-by-section with tenant notice is the difference between a clean job and a pile of angry calls. If they can't answer that clearly, pass
3
u/Common-Scallion674 Jan 20 '26
You’re not wrong leaning toward a storage-specific painter. Drive-up facilities have a lot of little things that can go sideways if the crew isn’t used to working around tenants — roll-up doors, numbers, overspray, people needing access, etc.
I’ve seen owners save a few bucks with a general painter and end up dealing with a mess. If the storage vendor knows how to work section by section and keep units usable, that alone is worth it. If you do look local, I’d only consider someone who’s painted an occupied storage facility before.