Cleveland House Painting Company
Why Choose The Picky Painters?
We’re a small painting company based in Strongsville, Ohio, since 2021. We use our team—not subcontractors—so they’re insured, and you’re covered if something goes wrong. Every worker passes a background check before coming into your home. We’re pros who care about doing it right, especially on interior and exterior jobs. With us, you get solid work you can trust.
Joe Strbik’s Journey: The Making of The Picky Painters
I’m Joe Strbik, and I’ve been painting for over 25 years. It started at 18, working for companies around Lakewood, Ohio. For 10 years, I was on a big residential crew with 20-30 painters, learning my trade on 3-5-man teams. I loved how paint transformed a house—I’d fuss over every corner to make it last. Life was okay raising my kids, now 17 and 21, but I hated what I saw. Most bosses treated their painters like trash—low pay, no respect. I wanted something better.
An old boss would have one guy carry a sprayer around in his trunk to spray houses when he and his main guy drove vans. That was it—I decided to start a company where good painters could make good money and feel proud. But I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. I took a break from painting to be a single dad, and doubt held me back. Then my mom moved in to help with the kids. She cooked meals and kept things running so I could plan—she’s why I’m here today. Tired of lousy bosses, I jumped in. In February 2016, I took my old van and tools and started The Picky Painters in Lakewood.
It was a tough ride. Early on, some awesome team members helped me nail big interior and exterior projects. We even got known for cabinets after a few jobs I didn’t want to do. I wasn’t excited at first, but we built a killer system—using fancy finishes made for cabinets. Now it’s like a factory finish, way beyond basic painting. Then disaster hit. A customer hired us for a huge job, and we finished it with a full crew of 4-5 painters. Turns out, they didn’t own the place. We only got 25%—a small deposit—and lost thousands. A couple of workers quit, thinking I’d crash. I stood in that finished house, broke and stressed, but I wouldn’t quit. I ran with a smaller team for a few weeks, but we kept things moving.
Today, from Strongsville since 2021, we’re tougher. Great team members over the years have helped us push through hard times. We keep getting better—using tech and smart plans to stay sharp. Interior and exterior painting is our main thing, but our cabinet work still wows people with that pro finish. We’ve earned a name for quality and trust. I’m picky—I usually do more than customers expect and try to catch stuff before they even point it out. The best part of the job is when people love what we did to their home. We’re The Picky Painters—picky for painters, picky for you.