‘They were just nice guys.’

-- Laura Whitmire, customer

When George Mera shows up at your door to talk about painting your house, you can be sure he’s not just a salesman with a clipboard and a Blackberry. He’s someone who knows the house painting business from the bottom rung of the ladder on up.

George got his start in house painting as an immigrant from Ecuador in the early 1990s. A Morris County painting contractor took George under his wing and taught him how to paint a house the right way – so it looks great when you’re finished and so the finish lasts.

George Mera, owner
 Independent Painters

After about a year and a half as an apprentice, George started picking up work of his own, and for a while, he was his own boss, focused mainly on house painting in South Orange and Maplewood, N.J. That experience helped him land a job with an Essex County painting contractor, which hired him to oversee one of its warranty crews – the guys who show up to make things right with unhappy customers. Within a few months, George was promoted to handle sales and oversee new jobs for the company.

During the winter months, George ran his own side business, offering interior painting services to some of the clients who were impressed with the exterior painting he had overseen for them. He eventually decided to strike out entirely on his own, and in 2006, he founded Independent Painters, offering interior and exterior painting services in Essex, Morris and Union counties in northern New Jersey.

More than 600 houses later, one of George’s proudest accomplishments is that Independent Painters doesn’t need a warranty crew like the one he once oversaw, dedicated to repainting houses when the finish goes bad. He’s confident he won’t need a whole crew to fix any problems that come up. His painters get the job done right the first time. And he has many happy customers to prove it.

George would love to come to your house to discuss any painting you need to have done. Just call him at 973-444-1956, or e-mail him at georgemera@independentpainters.com.