I’ve been painting houses since 1990 and every painting job always starts with an estimate. Now as a painting contractor, I may look at a painting job costing differently than clients. That’s why I’ve written this blog to let clients know what factors affect a painting job estimate in Marin County and San Francisco Bay area.
How complex will the painting job be?
Whether it’s a residential painting job or a commercial one, the architectural style is a good indicator of the job complexity. Is it a 1500 sq ft. single-story bungalow like an earthquake shack, a Queen Anne, or a shingle-style structure? Or is it more of the 5000 sq ft. Streamline Moderne, brutalist, or contemporary building downtown? Naturally, the way your home, office, or building is built will let a painting contractor know the complexity of the painting job.
A brutalist building with a wide flat concrete area will be a bit easier but just as challenging compared to say, a Beaux-Arts building with its highly decorative surfaces that needs more attention to detail.
How many gallons of paint will be used? How much is a gallon of paint?
Knowing the house style and surface area now gives me as a painting contractor an idea of how much paint might be used for a job. A 1500 sq ft home might need 10 gallons while a 4000 sq ft. office will take about 25 gallons of paint.
Painting Leads gives a good estimate of paint prices ranging from $15 – $80. It also depends on the quality of paint and the variety of colors you choose for the painting palette.
How much labor is it going to take?
In an ideal situation where we’ll just show up and paint, a 1500 sq ft. house built in an earthquake shack or modern style might take 2 full days with a two-man team while a 5000 sq ft. commercial building may need a 5-man team.
However, there is still prep work to do, architectural details that might need more care and attention, or tree branches and flower gardens that slow down our progress. If it’s a commercial painting job, there might be office furniture and equipment to move or access difficulties if it’s a multi-story building or house.
Now, if an experienced painter of mine costs $800 a day, and the work takes 2 days, that’s already $1600 for labor for one guy alone. One has to be very careful of this factor for a painting job estimate.
What is the best way to get a painting job estimate?
Again, based on my 30 years of experience doing house painting in the Mill Valley, Marin County, and beyond, painting job estimates are best done after a physical inspection of the property. This way, we can discuss thoroughly the specifics of the painting job as no two painting jobs are alike except if it’s for the exact same building.
So go ahead and get in touch with us, let us know the specifics of your painting job and we’ll give you a good estimate of what it costs, free of charge!