What to charge for painting this townhome?

Questions & AnswersWhat to charge for painting this townhome?
Lisa asked 10 years ago

Paint 3 bedroom, 1 and 1/2 bath townhome, 1100 sq. ft, doors and trim. Cabinets in kitchen and bathroom are not to be painted. Bedrooms are approximately 10 X 11. Sheetrock needs to be repaired in 4 areas, (3) 4X4 & (1) 2×2.

2 Answers
M.A.C. Painting answered.

Rough Estimate

Bedrooms, = $125.00 $150 with ceilings, same color. x3= $375.00 w/o ceilings

Full Bath= $100.00 W/O Ceilings
1/2 Bath = $75.00 W/O Ceilings
Drywall repair = 3x 4×4 = $75.00 tape and mudded. per patch mostly around $250 for all three. The 2×2 patch would be around $50.00

So total would be around $850.00 depending on paint. Could go as high as $1,200.00 with a good paint. Would not go higher than $1,200.00 and no lower then $600.00 without paint.

Hope this helps.

JT Creations, LLC answered.

If these are the prices with which I am competing, no wonder I can not make a living. I must have $200.00 per day to cover my living expenses. This translates to charging for repaints as to how much I can get done in a day by adding $200.00 plus materials plus profit.

Looking at the job I would figure how many days to begin. This I do by figuring walls with 2 coats as a half day. Ceiling as a half day. I figure 2 gallons of wall paint and 2 gallons of ceiling paint per room. Some profit is derived when I have multiple rooms the same color. For example, 1 room will use 2 gallons while 2 rooms will use only 3 gallons thus saving the purchase of a gallon.

For trim you must paint some and actually time yourself. Time yourself on each door and each window and then you will be able to extrapolate that to know how many you can paint in a day. Then revert to how much money you need to live for a weeks worth of work.

The only reasons we painters don't make money is by not knowing how long we take to paint something or letting someone talk us down on our price when we knew better than to start with.