How can I find out how much to charge to paint a house?

Answer 1

Just call a painter and ask him to give you a price on your house. He'll come out, give you a price. Than you'll have an idea what to charge....
But, before you do. You might want to know how good you really are at painting. If you just want to slop it on, fine. But I'd practice before you start a business. I work in the construction business. I restore old homes. Painters come in all shades. Horrible to excellent. Detail is where you make real money. Prep, Prep, prep.

Answer 2

You have to figure several things.

Materials. How much does the paint cost? Brushes? Safety materials? Removal of trash? Figure these things in, or request that the owner of the house you are painting purchase all materials for you and have them ready for when you get there. Be prepared to provide a list that includes specific product information.

Insurance costs. Hopefully you have insurance for your safety. Build this cost into your salary.

Figure out what the going rate is in your area for the work you do. The best way would be to speak with other painters and ask them what their per hour rate is. Then you'll know what you can be in the ballpark for. Most people charge between $20 and $35 an hour, depending on where they are in the country. Painters in upstate New York are probably not being paid the same rate as those in Kentucky.

If you require a second person to do the job, you'll need to figure their salary also.

Miscellaneous: do you have to get a permit? buy something on the fly that you'll need to be reimbursed for? call in someone for a specific duty -- dealing with a loose electrical wire, for example; this isn't something that can be estimated, but after a whole bunch of houses you'll have a good idea of the range

Estimate how long it takes you to paint. Complicated houses require more time, simple houses require less. Be honest and as accurate as possible.

Give the home owner a written quote. Inform them of how much you charge for your services per hour. A good rule of thumb is always add 10% because things can and do go wrong during projects. If you discover that while you're working the project that you'll come in over budget, make the homeowner aware of what is going on.

Your written quote should look something like this:
(I've made up the numbers. Yours should reflect actual costs.)

Materials: $200
Work done: 35 hours at $25/hr = $875
Miscellaneous: $25
Total: $1100

Remember not to damage anything you shouldn't be damaging. If you take out their satellite dish, you may be responsible for repairing it. That will cut into your earnings.

Answer 3

tray is right in addition every house is different you can take two houses the same style only one has sound paint and a good base the other has peeling paint and maybe some roted wood the one with the peeling paint is going to take a lot more time so that has to be taken in to consideration It will take some time too learn how to estimate but as you go along you will get better try to do a time study on your first house measure a wall out look at your watch mark down the time when your finished with the wall mark down your time see how long it took you say the wall is a 100 sq ft and it took an hour and you were charging $ 25 hr labor divide that $ 25 by 100 that would be$.25 per sq ft labor than add material

Answer 4

If you're asking this question, especially here, you should reconsider charging someone as though you're a qualified painter. Is it really fair to the consumer that you to have such an obvious lack of knowledge and experience? Work for a painting contractor for a few years and learn the trade. Anyone can use a paintbrush, pipewrench, etc.; but working 40+ hours a week for years at a trade is what makes a person a true craftsmen qualified to charge consumers their hard earned money for their services. Real pros charge more, but their knowledge and experience is why.

Answer 5

Puckhead has some good notions. With all due respect to you, you should have some basic skills, especially as it regards getting paid, and making the customer happy.

I've been at this a long time, and initially probably "ate" some jobs to get established. I also do "Charity" jobs for people I know or care about.

If you have the skills to assume the customer will be happy, perhaps even recommending you for more work, then you should consider what you think you're worth and what might be fair to both of you. NEVER should you strictly allow the customer to set a price. Certainly you might negotiate but NEVER ask,,,"Um, what do you think it's worth?" OR "How much can you afford?"

In one instance I charged $12,000 to paint a 3 story 6000 sq. ft. house. I've also done single story for as low as $1200. It pretty much depends on your goals.

If you have to rent equipment, especially for a difficult job/area to access, you should add those costs to the initial bid. You cannot however expect a customer to pay for equipment you should likely have, such as brushes, roller handles and covers,,,BUT you can charge for consumables such as caulk, etc.

You should also assess each customers budget and need to paint. It may be that you low bid and get a job that costs you, or overbid and lose a job. BTW I might over bid a job I'd rather not take, but if the bid is accepted, both end up happy.

You might also consider what income you'd make at a skilled job in a factory or whatever, and apply that to how many hours you think the paint job will take you to complete.

You should also explore the possibility of a general bid, but ask if TIME and Materials suit the customer.

I'll give you another example and let you do the math.

In my life I've painted a lot of mobile homes. An average size has been 12 x 75 (figure the square ft. of paintable surface). I never bid any job that size at less than 40 hours, but usually finish in under 25. If I offer some of the math, and assume $20 per hour might be a fair price, I charge $800, and finish in a time span that equates to $40 per hour. No one has ever been unhappy in all my years in the trades.

Steven Wolf

Answer 6

A licensed painter will charge between $1.50 to $2.00 a sq ft including paint. This would be for two colors body of house one color and eaves and trim a second color. 2500 sq ft house would be between $3750 to $5000

Answer 7

It depends on your experience, how long it will take you and if you carry insurance. You cannot expect to get the same rates as a professional if you don't have the same expenses.

Answer 8

go with puckerhead

Answer 9

go to http://www.homedepot.com or http://www.lowes.com