About us
Family-run, and proud of every wall
We’re the people who show up at 7 a.m., prep like it’s our own house and answer the phone when you call.
Our story
It started with a ladder and a borrowed van
Dale Hartwell painted his first house at fifteen, for a neighbor who paid him in pie. After years apprenticing for a Greeley contractor, he started Hartwell & Sons in Fort Collins in 2008 with a used van, a stack of drop cloths and his two boys on Saturdays.
Cole joined full time in 2013 and Wyatt in 2016. Marianne, who had been keeping the books at the kitchen table, moved into the office. Today there are twelve of us, and most of the crew has been here five years or more.
We’re still a family company on purpose. Painters are on our payroll, we’d rather book a job for April than rush it in November, and Dale still stops by to look at the big ones.
- 2008Founded in Fort Collins
- 12Painters, office and family
- 2,300+Homes and businesses painted
- $2MGeneral liability insurance
The people on your job
Four Hartwells and the crew who make a house look new.
Dale Hartwell
Owner & founder
Painted his first house at fifteen for a neighbor, apprenticed with a Greeley contractor, and started Hartwell & Sons in 2008 with one van and his two boys. Still shows up to look at every big job.
EPA Lead-Safe Certified Renovator
- MH
Marianne Hartwell
Office manager & scheduling
Runs the calendar, the crews and every invoice. She’s the one who answers the phone, remembers your paint color and tells you the truth about when we can start.
Twenty years in the front office
- CH
Cole Hartwell
Estimator & project manager
Dale’s oldest. Joined in 2013 after a degree in construction management. He walks your house, writes the estimate and does the final walk-through with you.
EPA Lead-Safe Certified Renovator
- WH
Wyatt Hartwell
Exterior & deck crew lead
Joined in 2016. Leads our exterior and deck crews, and he’s the one on the ladder in October. Will happily argue about primer.
Certified in scaffold and fall protection
- LO
Luis Ortega
Interior & cabinet crew lead
Fourteen years with the company. He sets up our cabinet finishing room and has never let a drip leave a job. The crew’s go-to for cutting in a perfect ceiling line.
Certified cabinet and fine finishing
- BK
Beth Kowalski
Color consultant & drywall finisher
A former interior designer who prefers the tools. She helps customers choose colors, then patches and finishes the walls those colors go on.
Color consultant, level 5 drywall finisher
How we work
- Insured, $2M liability
- Workers’ comp on every painter
- EPA Lead-Safe Certified
- Photo updates every day
What customers say
- ★★★★★
“Nine rooms in six days, and I never once had to ask where anyone was. Cole walked every wall with me at the end with a flashlight and a roll of blue tape. The lines at the ceiling are razor sharp and my house smells like nothing, which is how I knew it was done right.”
Janelle M.Whole-house interior, Fort CollinsReview on Google - ★★★★★
“We got four quotes. Hartwell was not the cheapest and not the most expensive, but they were the only ones who scraped a test section and showed us what was under the old paint. Wyatt’s crew was on and off our two-story in a week, and they covered every shrub.”
Rick & Sue T.Exterior repaint, TimnathReview on Google - ★★★★★
“I was ready to rip out my kitchen. Luis and Beth sprayed the cabinets in a clean room set up in my garage, and they came back looking like brand-new shaker doors. Two months later, nothing has chipped, and I have two kids and a dog.”
Amara O.Kitchen cabinets, LovelandReview on Google
Want to paint with us?
We’re hiring a crew painter and a cabinet finisher.