Painting Trim Bid

BattleRidge

SO i am actually a sider and just finished a building and the GC said hes lookin for a bid on the trim. Its just mirtec so its nothin amazing but I don't really know what painting prices are at all. I want to bid high but not rediculous. I'm in Montana to so remember our prices are probably a bit lower.

slickshift

Ummmm....dude....do you really think you should be charging what a professional painting company charges?

No offense...I appreciate your question and all, but look at what you are saying

"I'm not a painter"
"I want to charge what premium quality professional painters charge"

And then there's #2
Which should really be #1
There is no such thing as a going rate
Call three (actual) painters to bid on the job, and you will get three different prices
Why?
Each one has it's own overhead, production rates, material costs, quality level, etc. etc...
I'm not busting on ya because your a sider, I'd say that if you were a n00b painter too...it doesn't matter...it's all the same

We don't all look into a big book that tells us what to charge
Using someone else's numbers is a poor idea
If you you don't know what to charge (for something basic like that), that's the first clue you shouldn't be charging what I do

THE ACTUAL FORMULA
Figure out how long it will take you (man-hours)
Figure out what you need per hour (labor, overhead)
Add materials
Add a little profit
Voila!


Now, even if I lived in your town, my numbers are going to be way different than yours

__________________
Signature Quote

Quote:

Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

American Paint

Every one thinks they are a painter, all YA need to know is how much to charge
AP.

Thepaintman

I couldn't have said it better Slickshift. Thanks for the post!

Jerry

BattleRidge

I've painted 4 years as an employee, painting very high end houses, I know how to do the job, I would tell them I didn't otherwise. As far as Painting a little trim? As long as you can cut in edges decent you are fine. Where im from like 6o percent of siding crews paint their own trim anyway.

As far as thinking Im a real painter? Just because I don't mask houses off and fly thru it with the normal spray and pray attitude doesn't mean you can't paint well.


When I started painting I was 14 and I was painting trim three weeks after getting the job. Things really don't have to be as complicated as "profesionals" want them to be. If people ask me about drywall, roofing, siding, and framing I could tell them about what I get. Not. Unless you live with a hammer and screwgun you should guve up. I just want to hear what you would do, in my situation.

slickshift

Really...I'm not kidding...I'm not busting...
I don't give a flying crap what anyone else is charging


(well, OK, I can find it interesting, but it doesn't affect what I would charge)

__________________
Signature Quote

Quote:

Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

Steve Richards

Anyone and everyone can paint. Just ask them.

Good luck, Battle Ridge.
Figure out how long it will take, and how much you wanna make per hour.

If you don't know how many hours it will take...then how can you expect us to know?

Thag

Stick with being a sider brother. Leave the painting to the painter.

paintr56

Slickshift gave you your answer. If you have four years of experience then you should have a real good idea how long this job will take. How much do you make an hour siding? Multiply it out and material and sundries. I have been doing this since 74 and most of the painters I have known that used a going rate spent years complaiing they never made money and then went out of business.

Jim

PS what is the going rate to side a house?

BattleRidge

I just bid it at 45 per hour for 2 days in the end.

Here on conexal mexis do it for .90 a sq ft. High end big companies do it for 1.50 a sq ft. I go about 1.25, and 1.35 for high stuff. But you go 30 miles towards big sky you get 2 bucks easy, and 30 miles the other way, and no one gets more a 1.10.