Wallpaper installation costs - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

premierpainting · 06-04-2005, 08:01 AM

We are painting the interior of a new house. Two rooms require paper, which we don't do. Got a friend to install. One room used 8 double rolls...the other was a bath and required 3 triple rolls- at $30 a roll. When the job was completed (in 10 total hours by one man) the bill came to $1,140.00. Call me crazy, but I think that I am in the wrong biz. $45.60 a roll. We prepped the room, applied the sizing, painted all trim and ceilings. He walks with $114 an hour. ProWall do you think this is normal charge or do I ask him where the heck he came up with these numbers?? Maybe he uses glue fortified with gold...LOL
Let me know what ya think-
Kevin

**ProWallGuy** · 06-04-2005, 08:21 AM

25 s/r in a 10 hour day is good production. Did he do a good job? Is everything tight and seamless? Was he on time, and fit in with your schedule? Was the homeowner pleased? Was it high-end $$$ paper?

Good paperhangers are a dying trade, and most of the top ones deserve every penny they make. Regardless, we never charge by the roll, only by the job. My costs when broken down would probably come in around $30-$40 a roll too. If he charged $30 a roll, then where does the extra $390 come from? A 5 of paste only goes for $25, and blades don't cost much.

Did he bid the job before hand, or was this sprung on you at the end?

Can't really say if you got taken or not.

premierpainting · 06-13-2005, 05:01 PM

The price was sprung at the end. Cheap paper and it was pre-pasted. He is good at what he does except for realizing which end is up. I walked into the bathroom after he hung two sheets and said, "what do you think this design is?" When I looked at the paper on his table it was clear that the design was grasshoppers. He had hung two sheets upside down. I guess that happens to everybody- once
Thanks for your response
Kevin

AAPaint · 06-13-2005, 06:42 PM

Remind me NOT to use this fella when I need to sub out some paper......sheesh!

**Teetorbilt** · 06-13-2005, 07:48 PM

I pay $18-28 per roll. Much depends on application, a boat is a bathroom only bigger and worse as they often have compound curves. Many times, the roll price is thrown out the window.