What should this small job cost?

[Mitsu3000gt]

I really have no sense for what something like this would cost, so I would appreciate some input. I have never paid anyone to do any work before in my condo. I need some extra work done in addition to the flood repairs being done to my condo unit, and I am unsure if the quote is reasonable or not. The most convenient thing to do by far would be to have the restoring contractor do the work, rather than bring in different people.

This is what I need done:

1) Paint small bedroom 8 X 10 X 9 ft (LWH)

2) Paint a single wall (12ft wide, 9ft tall)

3) Re-stretch some carpet in one room to get rid of a ridge in the middle

I was quoted $1200 + GST. To me that seems way high, but truthfully I have no sense for what a job like this would cost.

Any insight on what that job is worth? I don't want to do it myself, but I will if it will cost me $1200 haha.

[TL911]

I would say approximately $200ish for supplies and approximately $600 for labor...But I would do it myself and save the money...But that being said...keep in mind painters are expensive.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I might just do it myself, even though I don't want to. That will always be the cheapest way.

As best I can tell, I'll need about 2 gallons of paint, some rollers, and a brush ($100?). Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Someone who knew how to pant could probably do the entire thing in 1-2 hours tops (no weird angles or anything, just a rectangular room + a rectangular wall, and baseboards are off already). I just can't see how it costs so much haha. Are painters $200-300/hr these days? Jeez. I'm in the wrong business haha.

My parents had the entire main floor of their house (approx 2000sq ft living space) painted for $1200 including materials and 2 coats.

As for the carpet stretch, I imagine it would take someone who knew what they were doing 10 minutes, but that I am unsure of. I suspect they will need to cut a small strip off one side, and re-kick it.

[ercchry]

its an alberta thing... anything house related has massive demand, guys are busy, if its a small job they will just throw out crazy numbers... if you take it great... if not, well they are busy anyway

panting a wall is pretty hard to fuck up, i'd just do it... carpet thing? yeah im not too sure... but at those numbers i'd dyi some hardwood :rofl:

[ExtraSlow]

Small jobs will cost much more per hour than large jobs. At least double.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I asked for a breakdown on the $1200, maybe I was unclear about something, or maybe the carpet re stretch is a much larger portion of the cost than I expected. Thanks for the input. If it's really $1200 though I'm doing it myself haha. As far as I can tell this would take someone in the business 2 hours tops.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Get them to break it out (paint vs. floor) if you want more clarity into your number,

Your paint is going to be min. $500.00 I would think. You're doing +/- 430 s.f. and your carpet stretch, how much work is ACTUALLY required? Do they need to pop off the millwork base to do it? Is it really as simple as it sounds? When floor installers are busy, it's hard to get them to screw up half a day from a good paying job to go do shit work and, who can blame them really?

Look at the breakdown, it may not actually be that bad.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE
Get them to break it out (paint vs. floor) if you want more clarity into your number,

Your paint is going to be min. $500.00 I would think. You're doing +/- 430 s.f. and your carpet stretch, how much work is ACTUALLY required? Do they need to pop off the millwork base to do it? Is it really as simple as it sounds? When floor installers are busy, it's hard to get them to screw up half a day from a good paying job to go do shit work and, who can blame them really?

Look at the breakdown, it may not actually be that bad.

Baseboards are off, furniture is out. The floors are bare concrete right now, they don't even have to be that careful.

It is a single rectangular 8X10 ft room and a single 12ft wide wall in another room. My ceilings are 9ft high.

The only work required would be strictly painting the walls, no annoying micro-work, weird angles, or anything like that. There is one window in the bedroom that would need to be taped off or painted around.

These guys will already be in my house replacing carpet in another room (covered by insurance) and painting my main room (covered by insurance). I just wanted them to do a couple extra things while they're already in my unit. It's less of a separate job, and more like an extra 2hr of work in the unit they will already be working in.

I was expecting roughly $500 for the entire job, which I would happily pay. If nobody wants to take the job though, then I understand why maybe they are quoting so high.

[GTS4tw]

Here in the Okanagan I would charge you approx $600, so I would expect more in Calgary, but double is quite steep. I would want high quality paint and a perfect job for that. Around here there are plenty of people doing $400 for 2 rooms of painting. This is an easy do it yourself project, the carpet kicker can be rented at home depot, and the paint (General Paint Breeze = happy) will run you around $50, in fact tell them thats what you will pay as retail will be closer to $100. Buy a good Purdy brush, also at home depot, and clean it well after, keep it in the original package, you'll have a brush for life.

Let me know if you have any painting questions and ill walk you through it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by GTS4tw
Here in the Okanagan I would charge you approx $600, so I would expect more in Calgary, but double is quite steep. I would want high quality paint and a perfect job for that. Around here there are plenty of people doing $400 for 2 rooms of painting. This is an easy do it yourself project, the carpet kicker can be rented at home depot, and the paint (General Paint Breeze = happy) will run you around $50, in fact tell them thats what you will pay as retail will be closer to $100. Buy a good Purdy brush, also at home depot, and clean it well after, keep it in the original package, you'll have a brush for life.

Let me know if you have any painting questions and ill walk you through it.

Thanks, that helps. That is also much closer to what I was expecting (hoping) to pay. Unless the carpet kick is $500, I think he's a bit high on the quote. I will let you know if I need a hand choosing materials if I end up DIY.

Is there a general formula for calculating paint quotes? That seems like it would be a fairly standard thing ($0.50/sq ft or something like that?) I have 828 sq ft of wall that needs to be painted.

[tirebob]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


As best I can tell, I'll need about 2 gallons of paint, some rollers, and a brush ($100?). Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

There are other things as well, especially if it is someones business. Tape, rolling pans, drop cloths etc as well are needed to do the job itself, and most companies who do this kind of thing are not buying cheap brushes, drop cloths etc. The company probably also has business insurance, a truck, maybe a trailer, storage/warehouse space etc all which add to the costs you don't see up front.

I am not saying it doesn't seem a little on the expensive side, especially if the guys are already there doing work, but this is Calgary for sure and employees are not as cheap as other places, and they are probably not starving for work so they likely have the mindset that they could be making more money doing a bigger job somewhere else, so why waste their time doing a small job for cheap. Quote what makes them real money and walk away to the next high paying job if you don't accept the quote...

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


Thanks, that helps. That is also much closer to what I was expecting (hoping) to pay. Unless the carpet kick is $500, I think he's a bit high on the quote. I will let you know if I need a hand choosing materials if I end up DIY.

Is there a general formula for calculating paint quotes? That seems like it would be a fairly standard thing ($0.50/sq ft or something like that?) I have 828 sq ft of wall that needs to be painted.

The carpet kick should be very easy if it is just one edge, rental is probably $20 a day.

As for quoting, there are too many variables in painting. I don't quote by the square foot and really don't know a price for sure without looking at it but this sounds simple and you described it well. 2 coats in that area would take one man approx 4-6 hours depending on skill, plus another 30 mins max for the carpet. Red or yellow paint will cost more and the condition of the walls is a factor.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by tirebob
There are other things as well, especially if it is someones business. Tape, rolling pans, drop cloths etc as well are needed to do the job itself, and most companies who do this kind of thing are not buying cheap brushes, drop cloths etc. The company probably also has business insurance, a truck, maybe a trailer, storage/warehouse space etc all which add to the costs you don't see up front.

I am not saying it doesn't seem a little on the expensive side, especially if the guys are already there doing work, but this is Calgary for sure and employees are not as cheap as other places, and they are probably not starving for work so they likely have the mindset that they could be making more money doing a bigger job somewhere else, so why waste their time doing a small job for cheap. Quote what makes them real money and walk away to the next high paying job if you don't accept the quote...

So true, its amazing how few people look into business licenses, insurance, wcb coverage, references, etc, then people quote half what you charge and they wonder why you are so "expensive". This is absolutely vital in painting, trust no one without paperwork. It is an inexpensive thing to get into if you are a hack.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


The carpet kick should be very easy if it is just one edge, rental is probably $20 a day.

As for quoting, there are too many variables in painting. I don't quote by the square foot and really don't know a price for sure without looking at it but this sounds simple and you described it well. 2 coats in that area would take one man approx 4-6 hours depending on skill, plus another 30 mins max for the carpet. Red or yellow paint will cost more and the condition of the walls is a factor.

The carpet has a roll in it, in the middle of the room. The edges rise up as well as it gets closer to the baseboards. Basically it seems like too large a piece of carpet was installed originally. In my mind I picture them cutting a few inches off one side, and re-stretching it back down.

I've asked for a price breakdown, maybe the paint itself is in the $600 range and if so, I'll just get them to do it.

4-6 hours is definitely more than I'd have thought to paint that size, so it looks like I was wrong about that.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


The carpet has a roll in it, in the middle of the room. The edges rise up as well as it gets closer to the baseboards. Basically it seems like too large a piece of carpet was installed originally. In my mind I picture them cutting a few inches off one side, and re-stretching it back down.

I've asked for a price breakdown, maybe the paint itself is in the $600 range and if so, I'll just get them to do it.

4-6 hours is definitely more than I'd have thought to paint that size, so it looks like I was wrong about that.

Have to drive to customer house, set up, fix holes, sand holes, clean up dust, cut in first coat, roll first coat, sand/ small re-repair, cut second coat, roll second coat, clean up, drive back to base/next job.

Plus they came and gave you a "free" quote. :devil:

edit: Honestly it would take me maybe 2 hours total, but employees dont quite work that way, and you arent going to get a pro doing a job that small, it will be someone putting in hours.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Originally posted by GTS4tw
Here in the Okanagan I would charge you approx $600, so I would expect more in Calgary, but double is quite steep. I would want high quality paint and a perfect job for that. Around here there are plenty of people doing $400 for 2 rooms of painting. This is an easy do it yourself project, the carpet kicker can be rented at home depot, and the paint (General Paint Breeze = happy) will run you around $50, in fact tell them thats what you will pay as retail will be closer to $100. Buy a good Purdy brush, also at home depot, and clean it well after, keep it in the original package, you'll have a brush for life.

Let me know if you have any painting questions and ill walk you through it.

Follow these rules and you are good to go, can call yourself a real man and save yourself more than you make in a day or at your real job. Remember you're paying the pro painters in after tax dollars. You'll need all the paint gear for later in life and you are learning a new skill. Just don't go cheap on the paint, brush, roller, tape or drop cloth.