[The Cutting Edge]

If working on my own, I prep and repaint a 3 bedroom apartment in 15 days as a guide, if including all woodwork. If they want it faster, they can hire someone else.

But I would never do hourly rates, don't need to work for clock watchers. One thing I'm willing to do is do longer days and/or weekends to finish quicker. But will never try to speed up the actual pace of the work. A job takes as long as it takes to do it with a happy heart.


But back to your case, you were desperate for work, and there are low-lifes out there who will take advantage of that. Next time don't do hourly rates, but give a fixed price with a written quote.

15 days huh? For me that would come to about $5700 or so with materials. You must be in a very exclusive area. No one around my areas gonna pay me that to paint an apartment. 5 days even with the trim tops for me.

 

[The 3rd Coat]

2 bedroom apartment repaint just walls and ceilings 3000 + tax. Price for woodwork depends on the details, usually ends up around the same as walls and ceilings, so 6 grand for a 2 bedroom apartment all up. That's what I need to charge for what is involved in doing an honest, thorough job. What other painters charge I could not care less. And if the client cannot afford an honest, thorough job, they are more than welcome to find someone cheaper.

 

[Gough]

2 bedroom apartment repaint just walls and windows 3000 + tax. Price for woodwork depends on the details, usually ends up around the same as walls and ceilings, so 6 grand for a 2 bedroom apartment all up. That's what I need to charge for what is involved in doing an honest, thorough job. What other painters charge I could not care less. And if the client cannot afford an honest, thorough job, they are more than welcome to find someone cheaper.

At those rates, I think Driftweed is already looking at immigrating.

Those prices are in AUD, right?

 

[The 3rd Coat]

Sorry I meant walls and ceilings, not windows.

Yeah AUD. But my prices are not necessarily indicative of what painters generally charge here.

Remember that the minimum wage is about 17 bucks, cost of living is through the roof, a decent worker will be on at least 30 bucks hourly rate, though that's without any benefits. Most painters here are employees paid as subcontractors, which of course is illegal.

And then of course one man bands can always be more expensive than crews, simply cos there's more of a personal rapport and the client knows exactly what he's getting.

When I say apartments, I'm just referring to dimensions, not so much about them being rentals of low standards. I only work for owner occupiers. 1 furnished bedroom with woodwork cannot realistically be repainted in less than 20 man hours, or up to around 35 depending on the scope of woodwork and prep involved.

But then again, I'm the only painter I know that actually washes interior surfaces as part of the prep, so I shouldn't doubt when people claim they can prep and paint a bedroom in a day.

 

[beedoola]

50 nails holes...lol that what, 15 minutes? An hour at best to remove outlet covers....

Dude, you are in way over your head. 9 days? Are you serious? If you can't do an apartment a day you are sunk.

Be glad you STILL have a job after your first unit.

We do section 8 housing, I WISH nail holes was my only worry haha.

Graffiti, crayons, candle wax, incense residue, dryer lint, grease, hairspray, the occasional body fluids, medical waste, nicotine damage of every degree, wallpaper applied with Elmer ' s glue, tack paper on walls, thumbtacks, staples, stickers, lipstick, need I go on?

And yet none, not a single one of the aforementioned items slows us down. You learn very quickly the power of fast drying primer.

You need to step back and take a long hard look if you really want to enter the production painting world.

Maybe with section 8 it is easier to fly through the painting but I don't think many could finish a whole apartment by themselves in a day.

 

[propainterJ]

15 days to repaint a 3bedroom apartment?

Really????

Are you stripping all the paint off the woodwork first?

My goodness,15 days,ao you charging about $5,000.00 to repaint a 3 bedroom apartment?

 

[HJ61]

Going rates in Portland must be really low if $1.47/SF is not reasonable for walls and ceilings. Yes, the job did not warrant a sprayer, especially an inexperienced one. If you painted any trim they got a deal, if you cleaned anything they got a deal. But don't accept less than your invoice unless you really need to keep this relationship intact. Don't expect to get anymore repaints from the client either way .

 

[propainterJ]

Bethany,did you get paid?

 

[papernpaste]

http://homewyse.com
I wish that this site was up on the "net" when I first started painting. I wouldn't have burned myself as much.
If you navigate your way to interior painting under the "installation" tab, you'll navigate to the bottom of the next page at the bottom (scroll down and look on the left).
You can plug in your zip code and square feet and it will kick out numbers, LOW and HIGH, for labor, materials, and paint.
Other areas of this site will show you the same for drywall repair, ceiling painting, and, elsewhere on the same site, you can computer estimates for just about anything imaginable that has to do with your own home or whatever.
You can adjust your own numbers, using this site as a guide, taking into account your experience and the complexity of the job. Hope this helps.