Painting an interior of a house (houses, to buy, contractor)

[NewHomeHappy]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

the house im buying needs to have much of it painted (living room, dining room, laundry room, master bedroom, basement, 2nd floor hallway). i dont know anything about home improvement and my wife and her mother painted our last apartment. what are the general expectations for what a painter does? i believe the number of coats is an issue. i didnt give a lot of detail but i would love to get an idea of cost and how long it will take. the house is about 3k square feet.

I've read all the good advice you have received so far. The three estimate deal is on point. The brand of paint is paramount. We are die hard Benjamin Moore loyalist. As for your situation of high ceilings, I suggest that you paint the rooms with the low ceilings yourself. This will save you a ton of money. Hire a professional to paint only the rooms (I'm guessing the foyer) with the really high ceilings. If you screw up the walls in your foyer and hit the trim near the ceiling, you will notice your mistakes every time the sun shines on it. We noticed it several times when house shopping. Painting a bedroom or bathroom yourself is cake. Just takes time, patience and a little money.

[RobRiguez]

I used a local handyman about 5 years ago to do my first floor (very nice Greek Guy working on his own, always busy, always see him around the neighborhood), we discussed types of paint, we already had colors picked out. Since there were no "repairs" needed (all fresh drywall) it was fast and cheap IMO. About $2400, Benjamin Moore paint included for the entire first floor. Diffrent color walls in almost every room. Approx 1200sq ft with 8foot ceilings, 20ft in the entrance. Kitchen, very small bathroom, living room, den, dining room, including 5 doors (doors are a PITA), ceiling and bottom molding. He did a primer coat on everything. Came back and did single coat. Came back and did final coat. 3 days. one guy. All by hand. Done.

DM me if you want his info, not sure how far north he is willing to travel. We are in Edison.

[RUNYYfan]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

so you figure i get like 3 people to come over and give estimates? i want to do this job as soon after the closing date as possible so it can be done before any furniture is in and i can move in quickly.

Pretty much. Since the furniture won't be in, I'd say that'll knock off some of the cost.

The other thing to check on is whether they carry their own insurance, workman's and liability. If they don't, run away.

[DFBonnett]

OP,
There are too many variables to be able to offer an accurate assessment of cost and time. Get three estimates from contractors you get by referral from friends and neighbors or by those local painters advertising in the local free driveway papers. These guys make their living from repeats and referrals so they have to stand behind their work. Avoid major newspapers and the phone book as sources.
Ask questions and get it in writing. In addition to the brand of paint specified get in writing which line of paint within a brand. All paint companies make several lines from first line residential to warehouse and garage paint.
Ask to see their business license. That won't tell you much except that they had the $75 for the license and that they have the mandatory liability coverage to obtain the license.
Don't be sucked in by the low bid. Ask who is going to do the work. Some guys will drop off a crew of illegals at 8:00 then pick them up at 4:30. Others will book the job then subcontract it out to whomever will work the cheapest.

[icibiu]

Originally Posted by NewHomeHappy

Painting a bedroom or bathroom yourself is cake. Just takes time, patience and a little money.

I beg to differ! I LOVE painting and have done lots of rooms over the years, all it take is a friend to mearly SUGGEST that they want to paint and I'm over thier house in a heart beat paint supplies in tow! BUT there are two types of rooms I HATE to paint, bathrooms and closets! It's so small in there you don't have much room to spread out your supplies or get good leverage on your pole. Plus closets with built in shelves have so much surface area and bathrooms have so many different things to work around and tape off and getting behind the toilet? PITA

I would suggest to the OP to pay to have the rooms with the high ceilings and the bathrooms (if needed) painted by the pros. If you can be home so you can 1) make sure they are doing it right and 2) so you can see how they are doing it. Painting really is THE easiest home improvement job out there so unless your filthy rich it's easy to save money by doing this yourself.

As for some tips 1) DO NOT skimp on materials, when you go you will see roller pads for $2 and roller pads for $15, go for the $15, you'll get a much nicer finish in the end. Same with paint brushes, go for the good ones. My favorites are "Purdy" make sure you get the ones with the angled bristles so you can do the trim and corners. Also go for a good quality roller frame it makes a huge difference on how well it rolls and how easy it is to remove the roller. You can skimp on the extension pole to get up to the high parts of the wall, and actually you might just be able to use a broom stick if you have the brooms with the screw off base. Also paint stirrers are free at the store, get a BUNCH you can use them to stir the paint (duh) and the end with the little notch is perfect for getting excess paint off the rollers and paint brushes. If you want you can spend $$$ on the canvas tarps, they are great since any paint you spill dries up and you won't step on it later and track paint all over the place but I use the plastic disposable ones since they are A LOT cheaper, just be extra careful not to step on paint. One of those painter edgers is also essential so you don't get paint on the ceiling which looks terrible these are like $10-$15. You'll also need blue painters tape, you have a lot of rooms to do so just buy the value pack instead of one or two rolls or you'll have to keep going back to the store for more. Once you've invested in good supplies take good care of them and you can do room after room with the same brushes and rollers. Wash off the brushes as soon as you finish for the day and the rollers you can put in pringles container with the lid on in between coats of the same color but give them a good wash if you are going to switch colors.

Also don't skimp on the paint or the primer, get the good stuff, it really makes a difference. For the red room I'm sorry to tell you but you're probably going to have to go with a color since red is very hard to get rid of. When you buy your primer have the store tint it with whatever tint color works for your new color (when you paint red they tint the primer pink, a lot of other colors they tint grey or blue). Someone else suggested painting the room black first, i'm no pro but I wouldn't go that route, painting something black is a royal PITA, for a car where they stick it in a room and spray it I can imagine it is easier but with rollers and a brush? Not fun.

Spend a lot of time on the prep work, like making sure the walls are clean and even and taping off the trim work. If you have baseboards "wrap" them in newspaper then put another sheet on top a leave it loose angled towards the floor to catch splashes. And make sure you do a good job laying down the tarp and securing it so it doesn't move around on you. Once you do the prep work the painting itself is super easy and goes very quickly and IMHO very relaxing.

GL

[CaptainNJ]

thanks guys, im very happy that i made this thread. i wish i could do this myself, but im not handy in the least and the last thing i want to do after a long day of work is paint. my wife and her mother were nice enough to paint my first apartment but my wife is pregnant and this is a bigger job.

[njkate]

I hate totally detest painting...if you can afford it, hire a painter jmo

[icibiu]

Hey I feel ya, if you're lucky enough to have the $$ on hand to farm it out then why not. Just don't let them take you to the cleaners on it now you have a little bit of an understanding of what work is involved and how much supplies amd materials cost so you will know if a quote is ridiculous and what some of the fast ones a pro might try to pull on you. (I always feel lost when i have to take my car to the shop)

Also, since your wife is pregnant (congrats!!) make sure if you plan on her not being around while the work is done.

[CaptainNJ]

Originally Posted by icibiu

Hey I feel ya, if you're lucky enough to have the $$ on hand to farm it out then why not. Just don't let them take you to the cleaners on it now you have a little bit of an understanding of what work is involved and how much supplies amd materials cost so you will know if a quote is ridiculous and what some of the fast ones a pro might try to pull on you. (I always feel lost when i have to take my car to the shop)

Also, since your wife is pregnant (congrats!!) make sure if you plan on her not being around while the work is done.

thanks.

i do have the money available, but i also want to hold onto as much of my money as possible. thats part of the reason why i have money available. i appreciate the detailed post, id like to buy the materials myself that the painter will use.

[icibiu]

Don't buy materials if you are having a pro do it, they may have a supplier that gives him a better price on the paint than you will get at a box store. And if he really is a pro he should have all his own brushes, tarps, rollers, edgers etc. You can try and save some money by applying the painters tape yourself but this really is the labor intensive part of the process so since your spending the money any way let him do the work!