Paint Ain’t Cheap No More

[Nightclub Dwight]

I'm a painter. Many of my customers say I should charge more, and I probably should. Despite working hard, it always seems like too much money when I give them the bill. Lets just say that I don't charge anything near what has been mentioned in this thread.

In my opinion, one should use the best paint that is available. That means do not get your paint at a big box store. Go to a paint store and buy the best they make. I do not mark up the materials--I only make money on my labor. Ben Moore is good, but I personally use Sherwin Williams. My cost for their best paint is around $55-$60 per gallon and I am a small volume customer.

But then again, I'm probably my own worst enemy when it comes to making money.

 

[Dave W]

$90 a gallon is way high for top of the line paint. Labor seems way high too but I'd have to see the house to evaluate. Get another couple of estimates.

 

[studio]

I live in Los Angeles. There's no shortage of skilled Latino labor waiting for a gig.

Their skills are even more productive now that the motorized tool prices have been increasingly competitive for a good minute.

If you ask around in the HD parking lot, you'll find a great painter and his crew at moderate prices.

You supply the paint of your choice.

 

[pbenn]

Cheapest way to paint a unit is with the electric waterbase gun.
Trouble is it'll scratch in a week.
Might save time on the ceiling, though. I would attempt to sweep or mop the ceiling first though, to get cobwebs and grime.

 

[ReverendRevolver]

All of this sort of work is location specific.
My mother in laws boyfriend paid people $8k to install vinyl siding. The siding was already in his driveway.

For $8k I wouldve taken off work and done it. He's a nice guy, buy doesn't have a wrench turning bone on his body.

That's astronomical for paint and labor.

I'm a painter. Many of my customers say I should charge more, and I probably should. Despite working hard, it always seems like too much money when I give them the bill. Lets just say that I don't charge anything near what has been mentioned in this thread.

In my opinion, one should use the best paint that is available. That means do not get your paint at a big box store. Go to a paint store and buy the best they make. I do not mark up the materials--I only make money on my labor. Ben Moore is good, but I personally use Sherwin Williams. My cost for their best paint is around $55-$60 per gallon and I am a small volume customer.

But then again, I'm probably my own worst enemy when it comes to making money.

The company I work for had a policy for about 12 years that we had to use specific Sherwin Williams colors for specific areas of our store. 30 gallons of interior colors for all the drywall in our backroom, and the manager at Sherwin Williams cut us a deal on 4 or 5 gallons of industrial enamel safety yellow. 2 years later, when we had to repaint ballards and certain parts of the floors, I went back for more and paid $93ish per gallon.

So, Sherwin Williams, a notable paint supplier, sells (sold, might be a tad more now?) High visibility, high durability industrial grade yellow enamel paint at $90/gallon. This is paint put on cement and steel that dozens of times a day have power lift equipment driving on or banging into them, to say nothing for pallets, jacks, carts, etc.

I'd love to hear the justification for the OPs contractor quote being that price per gallon.
Extra fee for smuggling it across state lines to dodge epa requirements?
Experimental 3 part coat with unobtainium flakes?
It's OK to be cocky about your work/product if your competitors are garbage. Window makers and contractors around here are like that. One company outright tells you they're triple, because thier windows are proprietary, better windows, will be installed by the time agreed upon within the work time slot, and they'll handle all cleanup including lead mitigation.
Because literally all of those things are known problems with at least one local competitor, I see that companys signs in alot of yards.

Overcharging because you can is shady business if you're not up front about it....

 

[Milspec]

I'm a painter. Many of my customers say I should charge more, and I probably should. Despite working hard, it always seems like too much money when I give them the bill. Lets just say that I don't charge anything near what has been mentioned in this thread.

In my opinion, one should use the best paint that is available. That means do not get your paint at a big box store. Go to a paint store and buy the best they make. I do not mark up the materials--I only make money on my labor. Ben Moore is good, but I personally use Sherwin Williams. My cost for their best paint is around $55-$60 per gallon and I am a small volume customer.

But then again, I'm probably my own worst enemy when it comes to making money.

You touched on one of the most difficult parts of running a business....what to charge? I remember bidding on cleaning a 540 seat movie theater and thinking that maybe I was bidding too high when I submitted it. Turned out, they paid 3x more than my bid for the last cleaning.

The only advice I will offer is to never ask yourself "would I pay that much" because it will ruin you in short time. Instead, you really have to know your numbers. When I talk to small business owners today, I like to ask them what they have to make in a week? Most have no idea and those are the ones that will not be in business very long. You price according to what you need to charge to make your bottom line on all jobs.

I find it doubtful that the quote we have been presented is realistic to any bottom line unless the guy has really over spent on his over-head to try and look like a much bigger show than he really was (a common mistake).

One of the reasons I went out of business after 12 solid years was because I focused on the quality of the job more than the numbers and when things slowed down due to shut downs, I didn't have enough put away to ride it out. I used to clean houses for cancer patients for free so they could focus on their health issue. I must have cleaned a dozen per month all those years which I was proud of doing, but at the end of the day, I lost close to $520,000 over the life of my business. That was money I could have used to stay in the game.

 

[Lowspeid]

I'm painting my new house - well, I'm mostly done anyhow. I hired painters to do the two upstairs rooms so we could start moving stuff in and I'm re-doing the trim and repainting the rest of the house myself. My painters charged 2500 for two rooms, it seemed pretty outrageous to me but due to work obligations I had not much choice and they weren't the easiest rooms to paint either. Ben Moore Regal is around 70/gallon, that's great paint.
It's hard to find contractors right now at any price and the ones you can get can be pretty incredibly expensive, best to DIY if you're not filthy rich.

I’m definitely not rich, so DIY it is.

 

[Red Ryder]

I'm 68 years old and have been a mason for 40 years. Until 5 years ago I delt with the public and the general contractors on a daily basis. Also had to deal with employees who also think you're making all the money. 4 and half years ago one of my contractors was short handed and asked if I could lend a hand. I helped for about 3 weeks and had to go do a stone job. Soon he asked me again if I could help. Next thing you know he asked if I would consider working full time. I thought about it and took the job.
Now I don't have to deal with anyone trying to lowball me, finding good help, calling me late at night, early mornings, weekends or being a pain in my butt in general. Plus I have a full crew of younger people who actually help make my job easier. Best move I ever made.

 

[Driver3]

It helps to consider yourself a mark as opposed to a customer...

 

[imwjl]

I’m buying a house, and we close in a couple weeks. Thought “this is (hopefully) the last house we’ll ever buy, lets get the interior walls and ceilings painted by a pro before we move in.”

We just wanted bright white throughout, nothing fancy. The current owners were kind enough to allow painters to look over the house and give us bids.
We got 2: $20k and 10 days to complete for both!?!?!

I realize it’s a 3200sf house, but WTF is going on? 5 years ago we had the walls and ceilings of our 1500sf house painted for about $3,000 in 3 days.

I was a mid-loss property adjuster for one of the largest insurance companies in the US, so I’ve estimated millions of dollars of home repairs, and worked hand-in-hand with contractors for a decade. Paint was NEVER this expensive. It was usually one of the cheapest trades.

I was just truly shocked at the estimate. 35 gallons of paint at $90/gal = $3150
That means they are charging $16,850 for labor. Figure 10, 8 hour days = 80 hours. That equals $210/hour in labor (if my math is correct)!!!

I understand overhead and profit, and I get there’s been significant inflation the last couple years, but $20k to paint the walls and ceilings of a 3200 sf house?

Deep breath. Looks like a paint roller and cutting brush are in my imminent future. But on the bright side I’ll likely save myself at least $17k.

Same painting firm re-did our house last fall. It is a relatively young business and we liked the entrepreneur. Beyond materials he said the noticeably higher labor reflected what it took to get decent people, living wages, more honest knowledge and assessment of equipment costs, and increased insurance costs.

 

[Stubee]

I’ve painted plenty and did it with a large crew when I was a punk, and that was a great way to learn how to do it well. I still paint it if I can reach it with the only exception being hiring a guy to overpaint a 1700 sf house’s interior trim because he was good, inexpensive & fast. Get yourself high quality brushes, rollers, a good extension and some drop clothes and get at it. Walls & ceilings are not difficult unless you’re talking very high ceilings etc.

I was just in a paint store yesterday & $90 is extreme IMO and the labor $ is crazy high. It’s just painting fer Godsakes!

 

[schmee]

What I find with contractors is some are only interested in the "gravy" jobs. They bid high and dont want to be competitive.
I had a small cement job done many years ago. Got 3 bids. One was near $5000, the winner was $800 and did a fine job.

 

[Red Ryder]

It seems like a lot of people seem to think construction workers don't deserve to make a decent living. After all it's just manual labor. Concert tickets are $200 and up, they're just playing songs, athletes are just playing. When I first started going to concerts they were $4. They were worth it and they are still worth $4. I can buy any CD for $5 or less. I can play any sport with my pals on the weekend. These high dollar activities are non essential and at best athletes and musicians should make minimum wage.

 

[Bartholomew3]

You're bragging about buying a 3200 square foot house and complaining about a $20,000 paint bill?

The answer to this is: "I didn't get rich by being stupid or by being a pushover"

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Anyone needs to use my Sherwin-Williams account they are welcome to it. It’s a “shared” account and some of the guys that use it are huge purchasers so our discounts are pretty steep

I forget what I pay for Pro Mar200 flat but that is what I have always painted interiors with including my own house. And then I use Pro Classic for the Trim.

If you are not used to painting or physical work in the trades painting a whole house, interior could seem like a big job, but coming from a tile contractors perspective, I look at it as a couple weeks vacation.

Painting interiors is so freaking relaxing especially if you have air on in the summer. Crank up the tunes and just start hopping room to room.

 

[BelindasShadow]

You're bragging about buying a 3200 square foot house and complaining about a $20,000 paint bill?

There's no pleasing some people.

 

[Red Ryder]

Anyone needs to use my Sherwin-Williams account they are welcome to it. It’s a “shared” account and some of the guys that use it are huge purchasers so our discounts are pretty steep

I forget what I pay for Pro Mar200 flat but that is what I have always painted interiors with including my own house. And then I use Pro Classic for the Trim.

If you are not used to painting or physical work in the trades painting a whole house, interior could seem like a big job, but coming from a tile contractors perspective, I look at it as a couple weeks vacation.

Painting interiors is so freaking relaxing especially if you have air on in the summer. Crank up the tunes and just start hopping room to room.

Being a tile and stone mason I look at painting as pure hell.

 

[Red Ryder]

Being a tile and stone mason I look at painting as pure hell. Today started out a simple repair. Now a major problem and remodel

 

[burntfrijoles]

I would say that they're somewhere between $10-14,000 too high for 3200 sq ft

 

[GGardner]

I’m buying a house, and we close in a couple weeks. Thought “this is (hopefully) the last house we’ll ever buy, lets get the interior walls and ceilings painted by a pro before we move in.”

We just wanted bright white throughout, nothing fancy. The current owners were kind enough to allow painters to look over the house and give us bids.
We got 2: $20k and 10 days to complete for both!?!?!

I realize it’s a 3200sf house, but WTF is going on? 5 years ago we had the walls and ceilings of our 1500sf house painted for about $3,000 in 3 days.

I was a mid-loss property adjuster for one of the largest insurance companies in the US, so I’ve estimated millions of dollars of home repairs, and worked hand-in-hand with contractors for a decade. Paint was NEVER this expensive. It was usually one of the cheapest trades.

I was just truly shocked at the estimate. 35 gallons of paint at $90/gal = $3150
That means they are charging $16,850 for labor. Figure 10, 8 hour days = 80 hours. That equals $210/hour in labor (if my math is correct)!!!

I understand overhead and profit, and I get there’s been significant inflation the last couple years, but $20k to paint the walls and ceilings of a 3200 sf house?

Deep breath. Looks like a paint roller and cutting brush are in my imminent future. But on the bright side I’ll likely save myself at least $17k.

Does it have crazy high cathedral ceilings or something?