I have just started a painting business and would like your help in determining how to estimate a job, is there a formula?
TT Says…
Bid $50.00/Hour x8 hours/Day= $400.00/Day Add $50.00/Day for Travel, Material (No Paint or Primer, Customer Buys That) and you have $450.00/Day x However many Days you think job is going to take. Don't forget to factor in , Preping (If extensive prep work is called for, charge customer Add'l $50.00/Hour (above and beyond the Day and Travel Rate) Tell the customer, the more they do to prep walls before you paint, the cheaper their paint job will be. Tell customer, you only work with quality paints. You will target the market you are after as a professional painter. Leave the grunt work and results to the day laborers. I tell customer, you might not like my price today but, after you are aggravated and disappointed by your cheap choice, call me. My initial price would have been a bargain but now, my repaint to fix your mess is double. Never fails. Also, appeal to customers sense of "this is your home, not a rental." Works every time. Good Luck!
I have seen many of you all pricing at .35 per foot. How can you stay in business. I have quoted .60 for 1500 sq/ft, new construction, and they supply paint,and between 1.25 and 1.40 if I supply Hi quality paint. At .35 for a 1500 sq/ft home is $525. You have to figure paying help, insurance, gas, time, and Murphy's laws. With you all shooting .35 out there I know I will not be hurt because at .35 a foot you would get laughed at because they would think you were nuts.
$333.50, this is 1 coat walls only without heavy repair. I'm figuring on 3 gallons of good paint for a good coat and a little left over for touch up.
Of course there is more to it than this. Is this smooth wall or textured? What color are the walls now and what is the new color? Do you have a sheen preference? Is there furniture in the room? Is there any large holes or cracks that need repair?
Everything affects the final price one way or another.
PRESENTATION, PRESENTATION! We present to our customs that quality out does quantity. 90% of getting the job is how you deal with the customer during the bid. If people choose others, then I didn't do my job selling it!
Our business is strictly by the day. We as painters can look at a job and say, ah 3 days or 4 days…. knowing that our company takes in $500 a day it makes the math easy. However, as we know, we run into all kinds of issues along the way and have to explain to the customer that its a bid, and it can change!
That's my 2 cents! http://www.kotapainting.com
