Our Story
The Paint Guru was born in 2019, but it wasn’t when the whole operation started…
36 years ago, in 1988, we started as T.S. Services right here in San Diego. The company was founded by brothers David and Daniel Aguirre.
Their father Humberto moved from Mazatlan, Mexico, and became a handyman here in SD. He was a jack of all trades, working in apartment and condo complexes. He was obsessed with working and finding solutions to fix all household problems. Humberto passed on his dedication, work ethic and tricks of the trade to his sons. He brought David and Daniel with him to work, introducing them to the construction field, where the brothers began by painting.
T.S. Services began their operation by primarily doing commercial work. They continued in the commercial field while slowly adding residential homes into the mix. Residential jobs are far more personal than commercial work. Commercial is less about quality than it is about cranking out work. The proverbial hamster wheel began to set in for them. White ceilings, white walls, white ceilings, white walls, white ceilings...
While the work was never ending, it wasn’t what they saw themselves doing long term. They slowly started phasing out commercial work and began cementing themselves as residential specialists.
They continued inserting themselves into residential homes and quickly made a splash. But as the company expanded, the two brothers hit a crossroads and had a change of opinion in how the company should be ran. After much deliberation, they mutually parted ways, leaving David to take full ownership of T.S. Services.
Daniel then began his own venture in the painting world. He started his own painting company shortly after called PQ Painting, which is now currently Gold Standard Painting. While they are no longer business partners they still bounce around ideas and help each other whenever they can.
Around 2001, 13 years after T.S. Services was started, David entered into an agreement to use 1-800-Paint-Job for marketing purposes.
If you were to dial 1-800-Paint-Job, it would ask for your zip code. Then, depending on location, they would connect you to the painting company that purchased the license in that specific area. David didn’t technically own the rights to the number, which would make decisions easier down the road.
In 2003, 2 short years after purchasing the licensing to use the number, David switched the T.S. Services name to 1-800-Paint-Job of San Diego. The name and number quickly proved to be beneficial as the company began to scale and build a reputation for itself in San Diego.
David’s oldest son, David Jr, joined the company around 2009, followed by his youngest son, Ryan, around 2011. The trio continued to build and establish a reputation as the go-to painting company in San Diego. As the company expanded and competition began rearing it’s ugly mug, they began mulling over marketing ideas. The biggest idea being a complete name change for the company.
In order to use the number 1-800-Paint-Job, we had to pay around $500 a month for the rights in our territory. Funny enough, after giving our company name, 1-800-Paint Job of San Diego, to a potential customer, we would often get asked for our phone number. It was the introduction of smart phones and the growth of websites that drove down the need for catchy or memorable numbers, in our opinion, anyway. Aside from the established known numbers like, 1-800- Flowers, 1-800 Contacts and 1-800 Got Junk, personalized phone numbers seem to have gone the way of the fax machine.
We never felt like we truly owned the rights and name, 1-800-Paint Job of San Diego. So in 2019, we filed and trademarked the name The Paint Guru. Dropping the 1-800 name and number took some time getting used to, but proved to be a remarkably beneficial decision for the short and long term.
It’s the same family owned and operated business as before with the same philosophy that brought us to where we’re at today. With the best industry leading warranty in the business (5 year Guru guarantee) and hundreds of satisfied clients that continue to refer us to their family and friends.
We are positive we can exceed your expectations and we’re eager to add you to our long list of satisfied clients!
