Painter Required (how much, house, buy)

[thedreamteam]

We are a cosntructing through a builder and the standard paint being offered is white. The upgrade to taupe or other similar color is running quite a bit more. not sure why as it's just a different shade of the same paint that we've asked for??

We are thinking it might be more cost effective for us to take possesion and hire our own painter to slap on another coat. Approx how much should it cost us for 1 coat of decent paint for a 3500 sq ft. house?

[wit-nit]

Builders use el cheapo contractor quality paint which is the lowest quality and the most profitable to them. Many even dilute the paint to extend their coverage and profit.
You really need two coats to have a good quality job and you need to get good quality grade paint. We used Dunn Edwards paint and the paint cost about $32.00 per gal. They can also tell you how much paint you need for your sq ft of house coverage.
I would personally let the builder finish the house, then do the color change painting myself or hire a licensed reputable painter. You then will get a professional job and won't have to hassle with the builder to re-do their mess.
Get bids from 3 different paint contractors to see what the average cost will be... and check them out with the Registrar of Contractors and the Better Buisness Bureau.

[Alex Perry]

Originally Posted by thedreamteam

We are a cosntructing through a builder and the standard paint being offered is white. The upgrade to taupe or other similar color is running quite a bit more. not sure why as it's just a different shade of the same paint that we've asked for??

We are thinking it might be more cost effective for us to take possesion and hire our own painter to slap on another coat. Approx how much should it cost us for 1 coat of decent paint for a 3500 sq ft. house?

Answer to your question: I would need some more info to give you an accurate answer. But I will do my best:

Generally a white house will need only a prime and 1 coat of paint.

Any other color will require 2 coats of paint. Unless you have the primer tinted to match the color of the house. Most people are not aware of this and it sounds like a good reason to up the price on your estimate.

How much should it cost to paint a 3500 sq. ft. house?

This depends on a lot of factors.

1. How long has it been since the last paint job?
2. Is the current paint job chipping and cracked? And to what extent?

This is the key question.
Sometimes the prep work (sanding and scraping can take longer than
the painting

If it is in bad shape the cost goes up significantly

3. If the house is not in bad shape currently you might be able to find someone to paint your house for as low as 8K-10K

4. If it is in bad shape and or you want a long lasting paint job, with 2 full coats of latex will do you might be looking at 15-20K

5. Also concider what brand of paint you use, Benjamin Moore and other top end paints all carry contractors grade paint, which will generally save you alot of money about 30%. It has been my experience that the contractors grade is just as good as the regular, most customers are simply not aware of it and buy the more expensive stuff. What ever you do do not buy Lowes or Home Depot brand paint. It simply wont last.

I would be happy to give you an estimate if you are interested
check me out at pyramid-painting.com

[observer53]

I had the interior of my house painted about five years ago for 2400. 2000 square feet, 19 interior doors, vaulted ceilings everywhere. What was on the walls was cheap 18 year old builder bought flat paint. I used a variety of colors, some only needed one coat to cover properly, others needed THREE. The contractor had no idea that would happen ahead of time, so I'm sure he didn't make as much on the job as he expected. Looked great when it was done, though. They used Dunn-Edwards paint, don't remember the type name, that has a very slight gloss. Much prettier than flat.