Painting...
I was wondering what you guys would typically expect to pay for painting the interior of a 1500 sq. foot house? Ron LeGrand says it should not cost more than $1000 but I can't find anyone in my area who will do it for anything close to that... I got 2 bids - one was $4000, the other $3500. Thanks!
Do it yourself!
A 5 gallon bucket of paint is less then $100 and cheap paint sprayer is about $100.
It will take you a day to tape and cover and a day to spray the paint on the walls. With experience you can do the whole thing in less then a day.
$3500 to paint the inside of a small house is highway robbery - unless it needs extensive prep work like bright colors being coverd up, holes patched, or etc..
It sounds as though you have the same problem I do. Painters charge way, way too much money and i don't want to do it myself.
My only suggestion is to try out the guys that advertise in the handyman services section of the newspaper.
I would make sure to ask for reference of jobs completed within the last 30 days.
GOOD LUCK
I am currently working on a rehab and have definitely learned if I can do it then that is how it will get done! I concur people charge waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much for their services![ Edited by fmmp on Date 09/24/2004 ]
Ask for a referal at the Home Depot paint desk or any paint supply store. You want to find the painter who is an employee (not contractor) and then offer them a side job on the weekend or after-hours. Find the painter that will spray the interior, this will go faster and cost less. A pro would be in and out in 1 day, 2 max.
Quote:
On 2004-09-24 17:19, Michae52 wrote:
As a contract painter, I would charge between 1500-2000 to do the job. All of you do it yourselfer's are great, because I charge more when you screw your home up just for being you use crap home depot paint and do not know what you are doing.
I wonder if Ron LeGrand would paint the houses for $1000.00.
I am paying $2.00 a square foot on new contruction.........no drop clothes or anything....just spray and back roll...........
Me thinketh that 5 gallons will not cover a 1500 square foot home.....unless you add alot of water to your paint.
I have seen the same thing happen in drywall.............they then call the drywall contractor to fix the mess.
I cant help but laugh.........
regards.
NC
I use a lot of guys that walk up to me while I'm working on places. If they seem like good guys, I give them a small job and work up from there. I actualy prefer their work over the pros because they use a brush and roller or power roller, which gives a better paint job in my opinion. I get excellent results by doing one simple thing. I ask them to paint a room, and I tell them I don't pay for drips and sloppy work. The guy that I use most frequently will paint a 1500 sq/ft house for about $600 plus the cost of paint.
I'm not sure why the pros are down on Home Depot and other retail places. For some reason they always talk about how much better the paint is at Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. However, year after year after year, those paints do horrible in consumer testing and consistently the best paints are Behr(from Home Depot) and Walmarts paints. I suspect pros don't like the fact that they can't mark up the paints from these places so it cuts into there markets. Now if any painter can come up with some test results to the contrary I would sure like to see them. My 2cents.
I always use Sherwinn Williams Pro Mar 400 on every apartment and I love the paint. Goes on great and conceals most cracks and blemishes. I have a contractors account and get the same paint for Semi Gloss 60.00 5 gallon
Flat 50.00 5 Gallon
I think that is a pretty good deal for good paint. I wouldn't pay 100.00 for 5 gallons.
I also have a guy that paints for me and does a good job @ 6.25 an hour so I consider myself lucky to have him. :-D :-D :-D :-D
I would go to a small local paint store--not a chain--because they sell more to pros than to consumers and know who the good ones are (pros, that is!). I gotta agree that Sherwin Williams (even the high end stuff) and Home Depot/Lowe's paints to not last like some of less well-known/used brands (I love Dutch Standard, personally). It costs a lot more, but lasts MUCH longer as far as wear and fading. Just my opinion, of course!
The argument against this, of course is that if your turnover is high enough and you have to re-paint often enough, it may not be worth the extra. I would rather pay more and hope not to have to repaint after shorter-term tenants.
Again, JMHO!
Good luck!
You might also call handyman see if they will give you a quote
[addsig]
Funny...it's always the wholesalers and product selling gurus that come up with the "what it should cost estimates".
Think about it.
I hire people at $7 per hour all the time. Some with no experience at all and I have never had to hire a "pro" to fix any problem. Painting is not that difficult and it doesn't take a rockey scientist. I just hire anyone I can find and they always seem to do a "good enough" job.
I've had a couple "pros" come in with sprayers, but they do a bad job and get overspray everywhere. I'd rather take a couple $6 per hour guys with rollers and brushes
Glad to hear they charge that much so everytime I pick up roller and paint brush I can smile at all the money I'm saving once again by DIY.Darned if I'd pay anything near that kind of money. As long as my arm works and Lowes and Home depot keep selling Oops paint at 5.00 a gallon I'm going to be DIY. After all it's only paint ...and like someone else said...it sure isn't rocket science. :-D
1500sf is a small house, I could brush and roller it in 2 days. I wouldn't do it for less than 2-3K but you would get a great paint job.
SInce the house is small I infer that it is not "high end" and rather a run of the mill workingman's home. This being the case then I suggest that you give it a good average paint job. IF you know how to paint then I think you could show a high school kid or a housewife wanting extra money at 8-$10 an hour how to do it, better yet pay them $500 for the job and you supply the paint. I figure 200-250sf per gallon and through out the 400 crap that is on the can (though you may get lucky
I personally do not like Behr paint at home depoth though I use it occasonally. It tends to dry a little too fast for me on warm days. I too like Sherwin williams paint or guardian for ease of application.
20 years ago in Portland Oregon I was getting .36 a sf of wall space to brush and roller and that did not include the paint
In short, use a handyman or kid that you can train who will not spill paint on the carpet.
[addsig]
Lets put it another way. You have 2 options:
1. Hire a pro who will do an excellent job for $3,000.
2. Hire some cheap labor who will do a good enough job for $1,000 (including supplies) and put more $2,000 in your pocket.
When I rehab I like to make as much money as I can.
just curious, how much would you pay someone to paint the exterior of the same size house ?
I have someone painting a 1400 sqft two-story right now for $1,000 in labor (2 coats). I am supplying the paint and ladders.
I might stay away from the Oops paint at $5.00 a gallon. What are you gonna do when you need to touch up? You will never be ever to create the exact same color. I do all my own painting with rollers and brushes because I have the time. It's not difficult to do a good job. As a tip, write the paint color and code on the back of the light switch plate with a Sharpie. When you need to touch up, you won't have to guess which shade of white or whatever you used.
Just about finished painting my 110 year old victorian.....was neglected by prior 3 owners. Quote to scrape, sand, fill, oil prime and 2 coats (all Benj Moore) was 12,500 - 15,000. Materials have come in at under $1000 so far plus some new cedar replacment clapboard ($200). I have been working ever spare moment with minimal (I mean minimal help) for 6 weeks now and am nearing completion.
Wish you were in the Long Island Area.....I would paint your 3500sq for much less.....My advise....attach it yourself.