How long does it take to paint entire interior of house (hardwood floors, how much)

[md565]

We are under contract on a house, aiming to close at the end of March. Before we move in, we'd like to re-paint pretty much all the rooms in the house, including 3 BR, LR, DR, kitchen, staircase, hallways, and possibly 1 bathroom. The house is about 1,400 sq feet. We wouldn't do the painting ourselves, but would contract someone to do it (and we assume the contractor would hire more than one person to do the job).

Also, does anyone have any idea how much it would cost to paint the entire interior of the house (labor and paint), assuming average to high quality paint?

Thanks for your thoughts. We are trying to budget both money and time needed for this job.

[Pitt Chick]

Depends on how many are working and how big of a job it is (primer? one coat? two coats? trim?, etc).

[donie1]

Also depends on if it needs to be sanded down and mudded before painting. I just brought a old house with wallpaper in every room downstairs. It will take me awhile to take off all the wallpaper and then the glue, then I can start mudding and sanding before I even paint.

[K'ledgeBldr]

My painter could do my houses in 4days- I gave him 5. He would usually have at least 4guys on the job.
Generally it would be something like this;
1st two days- prep and prime walls (spray)
2nd day- prep trim (while d/wall guys did touchups)
3rd day- paint trim (spray)
4th day- Sand d/wall touchups, paint walls (rolled) and clean-up
5th day- (if needed) finish paint and clean-up

We're talking 3400-4200sq/ft two story houses- some even had finished basements (that was 5days for sure).

[Coldjensens]

What size house?

Cielings too or just walls?

Any stairs or floors?

Molding?

How good a job do you want?

What type of primer and paint?

Is there flooring and furniture in place?

Are you willing to accept sprayed paint rather than rolled, brushed?

Do you want it to look good for a long time, or just long enough to sell (these days that could mean a few years).

Are you using one color everywhere? Different color in different rooms? Different colors in each room? You can end up needing four or five different colors in a single rooom, that can really add a lot of time. (wall color, cieling color, trim color, highlight color - FOr eample in our frotn parlor the walls are one color, but the fireplace chiminey box is another color. The cieling is a thrid color and the window and door casements, crown molding, picture rail and shoe molding are a fourth color. If we ever get around to it, we will have a word stencil above the fireplace and rose stencils with plaster roses on the walls. This will make two more colors for a total of six (seven if you count the color that we paint the roses).

What colors? Bright bold colors are harder to paint, take multiple coats and tend to run a lot. Red is the worst that I have ever tried to use. Bright Yellow and dark blue also gave me problems.

How many hours can the painters work each day?

How far away is the nearest painting supply store?

DO you have pets?

[Pitt Chick]

Nice list Coldjensens!

[md565]

Thanks. This is really helpful. Anyone has any idea roughly how much this would cost? I know it depends on a lot of factors, but I'm looking for a ballpark number. Again, the house is about 1,400 sq feet. Thanks!

[dedratermi]

Originally Posted by md565

Thanks. This is really helpful. Anyone has any idea roughly how much this would cost? I know it depends on a lot of factors, but I'm looking for a ballpark number. Again, the house is about 1,400 sq feet. Thanks!

I don't think you're listening. The answer is: it depends. Talk to an actual painting contractor in your area to find out what it would cost. They give free estimates and I'm sure you can find a dozen different contractors that all want your business. Nobody on this forum is going to be doing the work so why would you want an estimate from here?

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by md565

Thanks. This is really helpful. Anyone has any idea roughly how much this would cost? I know it depends on a lot of factors, but I'm looking for a ballpark number. Again, the house is about 1,400 sq feet. Thanks!

These days, everyone does free estimates.
That is what I would recommend, prices can vary greatly, due to location, etc.....
There are too many variables, you know?
I could toss out a #, but that might not be the going price in your part of the country.

[md565]

Coldjensen, great list of questions! Let's see:

What size house? 1,400 sq feet

Cielings too or just walls? just walls, I think

Any stairs or floors? No

Molding? No

How good a job do you want? Decent job. We don't want it to look cheap, but don't want to spend top $

What type of primer and paint? Not sure. We started looking at different brand and like Martha Stewart and Behr.

Is there flooring and furniture in place? It will be empty. We will refinish the hardwood floors in the living room prior to painting.

Are you willing to accept sprayed paint rather than rolled, brushed? Don't think so.

Do you want it to look good for a long time, or just long enough to sell (these days that could mean a few years). We want it to look good for a while--we're the buyers.

Are you using one color everywhere? Different color in different rooms? Different colors in each room? Different colors for different rooms.

What colors? Very neutral colors (cream, beige, off white).

How many hours can the painters work each day? We haven't contracted anyone yet. The house will be empty, so however many hours needed. I assume 9-5pm.

How far away is the nearest painting supply store? Within 10 miles

DO you have pets? No.

Thanks!!!