About
Why Alumni Painters
Alumni Painters Ltd. has been an industry leader in painting for over 30 years. With a focus on customer service, quality and reliability, they strive to ensure every project is completed on time and within budget. With prompt and honest communication, Alumni Painters aims to be the most trusted painting contractor in the Vancouver Lower Mainland. You’ll have piece of mind knowing that Alumni Painters is WorkSafe BC insured, has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and has a 5-star rating with Google Reviews.
Our Process
Pre-Project
We conduct an on-site meeting with you where project logistics are discussed, including confirmation of paint colours, workflow processes, and other job-specific details.
Startup & Surface Prep
The care taken in the startup stage is the foundation of a solid paint job. We carry out all surface preparation to MPI standards, and areas not being worked on are protected so that they are unaffected by the project. We clean substrates before painting, scrape and sand loose material, apply patching, repair compounds, apply prime coatings, and caulk the area to ensure the finish coats are clean, smooth, and to the highest standards. Our sites are kept clean, tidy, and safe. We leave your space in a respectable state at the end of each day.
Painting
We use high-quality paints suited to each project. Our work conforms to the quote we provide at the beginning of each project. We use one crew for each job, led by an experienced foreman in the painting industry. Our Management team conducts inspections to ensure the work is progressing smoothly. A full review is also completed at the end of the project to ensure the highest standards.
Communication
Your project is important to us, so we ensure transparent and open communication from when you first contact us to the final sign-off of your project. We regularly email progress updates and ensure to respond to you quickly with any communications.
Our Leadership
George Barr - Principal
In 1993, at the age of 19, George started his own home services business in Kelowna, washing vinyl-sided houses and painting window and door trims in his Grandparent’s retirement community. In this period George completed his Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management from Royal Roads University. He took on larger home services projects from there and painted houses for several years. George returned to school and completed an M.B.A. in International Business from Simon Fraser University. He also had a desire to learn the commercial painting industry and therefore, he joined a commercial painting company in Vancouver in 2011, where he learned how to estimate and manage larger-scale projects. As Senior Sales/Project Manager, George took great pride in making sure that his projects were completed with quality and in his effective communication with his clients. Most importantly, however, he focused on treating his customers, suppliers, colleagues, and foremen well. This lead to an opportunity to join Alumni Painters in a leadership role in 2020, which resulted in becoming a Principal in January 2021. George is grateful to be an owner in a company steeped in traditions of the highest quality workmanship, impeccable responsiveness to its customers, and respect for its employees and certified contractors. George is proud to have a son in the Canadian Armed Forces Search and Rescue and he and his wife, Dana, are excited about the arrival of a new member in their growing family.
Elijah Hartwig - Principal
Elijah started in the painting industry in the summer of 1997 joining Alumni Painters Ltd as a young helper. Over the next few summers, he quickly learned the ins and outs of running a crew to produce jobs from single-family home re-paints to larger-scale strata complexes. Elijah has continued to grow his skill set, both in the hands-on practical aspects of painting and in the last number of years has also gained a tremendous amount of experience in the day-to-day business operations and long-term visions of the company. Elijah and his family relocated to the Okanagan in 2016 where he opened his own painting company which he grew quickly over the course of the two years that he and his family lived there. When an opportunity in Vancouver for his family called, he was happy to re-join Alumni Painters Ltd. and took on an active leadership role in the company which has transitioned into him becoming one of the Principals of the company on January 1st, 2021. With his long history with Alumni Painters Ltd., he envisions carrying on the legacy of the company that the Founder of Alumni Painters established over 30 years ago, which is a commitment to the highest standards of service, quality, and professionalism. When not busy engaging with all things Alumni, Elijah and his wife, Chelsey are kept busy raising their three young children and getting outdoors as much as possible.
