house painting
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Excellent post. I couldnt agree more. Painting is an important part of the renovation process.
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Good point, Tim. Yes, we sure do roll up our sleeves and get in there and paint. Its not as easy as most people think! Especially to do a nice job. I'm glad jong made the original point. Sometimes we take it for granted...
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4,698 Posts
I'm hope he comes back soon, i'm sure he has lots of ideas to help us all along the way.
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Actually, to do a painting job properly it takes a considerable amount of time, or at least more time than the typical non-professional painter thinks.
Let's look at a very simple example-- painting the exterior of a front door. Here are the steps and the approximate time involved:
1. Set up-- 10 minutes
2. Clean the door to remove dirt and mildew-- 10 minutes
3. Wipe the door down to remove excess moisture-- 5 minutes
4. Stand around and wait for the door to be dry enough to apply the first coat-- 2 hours
5. Apply the first coat-- 20 minutes
6. Stand around and wait for the first coat to dry to apply the second coat-- 4 hours according to manufacturer's specs
7. Apply the second coat-- 20 minutes
8. Clean up and pack up-- 15 minutes
So we have 7 hours and 10 minutes to paint 1 door. This doesn't include estimating time, getting the paint, or anything else. Of course, this isn't very efficient and few people would want to pay a full day's wages for a professional painter to paint one door. But it isn't done in "no time".
Brian Phillips
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Brian
I never really looked at it that way. I am reconsidering the part above where I told Jong I couldnt agree more. You raise a very good point.
The only part I disagree with is it doesnt take me 15 minutes to clean up and get out. Much less.
I never really looked at it that way. I am reconsidering the part above where I told Jong I couldnt agree more. You raise a very good point.
The only part I disagree with is it doesnt take me 15 minutes to clean up and get out. Much less.
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My thoughts exactly V, I think when Jong comes back, he'll change his mind also.
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Brian
I was just thinking today about adjusting my unit cost for doors. As I said, with quicker cleanup, I think I can get that to an even 7 hours...and thats gonna be per side for me. I have never believed in multi-tasking both sides of the door, and I really dont like to start something new before I have finished the task at hand. You have, as always, broken it down nicely.
I was just thinking today about adjusting my unit cost for doors. As I said, with quicker cleanup, I think I can get that to an even 7 hours...and thats gonna be per side for me. I have never believed in multi-tasking both sides of the door, and I really dont like to start something new before I have finished the task at hand. You have, as always, broken it down nicely.
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Scott,
I actually had 2 points, both of which I think you got. I must admit that I had a very strong temptation to be sarcastic here, but I will resist. In fact, I backed away from the computer and went out to the garden for 5 minutes to let it pass.
If you look at the break down, the actual work time was a fraction of the total time to do the job. To the uninitiated (and that could be the home owner or a new contractor) the "non-work" time wouldn't count. So if someone thought, "It will only take an hour to do that door, I'll charge $50" he will find himself screwed at the end of the day. Or he will screw the customer and not do the job right.
The second point is that such jobs are simply not worth doing. The customer will not be willing to pay what we have to charge, and that is understandable. I tell my customers-- You are paying for our time. You can pay us to stand around and watch paint dry, or you can pay us to be painting another door, or another room, etc. They understand that. They may not want to pay for it, but that's a different issue.
Brian Phillips
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Brian
I was talking about that on the "bidding from blueprints" thread just the other day, how when you breakdown the smallest most innocuous items it can actually be advantageous. The sum of parts is often much greater than what the whole appears to be. You make a great case for thoughtful and thorough estimating, and I think achieved it without hijacking jong's original topic. :blink:
I was talking about that on the "bidding from blueprints" thread just the other day, how when you breakdown the smallest most innocuous items it can actually be advantageous. The sum of parts is often much greater than what the whole appears to be. You make a great case for thoughtful and thorough estimating, and I think achieved it without hijacking jong's original topic. :blink:
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Yeah but how many people do you know that can turn over a bucket of paint and have a spill in a perfect circle??!!
Sage
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Not only is he an excellent painter Sage, he is an excellent spiller. :thumbup:
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I once had a 6' step pitch over on me and I rolled on the ground while hold my paint bucket without spilling a drop.
Another time, I was painting a street light and the base was rusted out and it fell over, sending me to the ground from an extension ladder. I dropped my gallon of black oil paint on purpose in mid air and it landed square on its bottom and did not tip over.
I find those spills to be the best approach to spillage, that way dirty works do not even need to be handled.
Another time, I was painting a street light and the base was rusted out and it fell over, sending me to the ground from an extension ladder. I dropped my gallon of black oil paint on purpose in mid air and it landed square on its bottom and did not tip over.
I find those spills to be the best approach to spillage, that way dirty works do not even need to be handled.
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2,333 Posts
jong,,,,, you rock dude!!!!!! tell me how you do it
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Jong
Nice to see you again. It is so helpful when you stop by and give us tips on painting.
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So, why would you ask that if you have one listed right there in your post. You wouldn't be here ust to spam your sites now would you? :whistling2: :no:
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