# how do i charge.......



## bwalley (Jan 7, 2009)

crystaldwn78 said:


> Hello, i am sorry in advanced if there is a similar thread already started. I am starting a new business right now and am very confused on what to charge. I have been doing this for the past 7 years but i have always had the help of my husband. I no longer have his help and want to venture on my own. My husband was the one that always did the bidding on the jobs and even then, we did not make very much money. The last few months that i have been doing this on my own I have been blind bidding. I just look at what I'm doing and think " how long is this going to take me?" Well now that I am starting a 'real' business, I want a definite way for doing a bid. I know a couple of paint contractors and I have asked them what they charge and they have said about $1 a SF. I have heard that from a few different paint contractors, then today I talked to another one, that I know makes some really good money, say that he only charges .40 a SF. now to me that doesn't sound high enough. To begin with I am going to be concentrating on apartment buildings. It would be much appreciated if I can get som suggestions and feedback on how to charge or how much to charge, by the square foot for walls, ceilings and trim. Thank you so much in advance.


Posting your location would help.

When the contractor said $1 per ft2 did he mean floor area or on the wall?

1 coat, 2 coats?

There are many variables.

In apartment painting the best bet is to find out what the others are charging, they are usually paying by the unit not the square foot.

Apartment painting is production work, spray and go onto the next unit, quality is not that big of a deal.

When I used to hire painters to do apartments 15+ years ago we would pay $65 for a 1 bedroom and $85 for a 2 bedroom and we supplied the paint, David and Linda were good painting apartments and made a lot of money because tey were very efficient but when I hired them to do a house, they were out of their league.

Apartments are hard to get into and they don't pay very quickly, many of them are also very cut throat, you can be doing a great job and the next painter can come in $5 a unit cheaper and they will drop you in a heartbeat, I am always loyal to my subs.


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## WisePainter (Sep 16, 2008)

Fake it until you make it.


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## camaroman2125 (Apr 13, 2006)

> Apartments are hard to get into and they don't pay very quickly, many of them are also very cut throat, you can be doing a great job and the next painter can come in $5 a unit cheaper and they will drop you in a heartbeat, I am always loyal to my subs.


When I did some apartments up in Michigan a few summers ago it took be between 90-120 days to even get paid. So in the mean time I was having to use my own money to supply materials. Never again will I do apartments. This is just my opinion after doing it.


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## base (Apr 16, 2008)

what you really should do is find a few good painters to work for you cheaper than what you charge for the job.


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## frankthepainter (Feb 12, 2009)

hi crystal my name is Frank and i just read what you were asking i have the same problem for bids on apartment buildings i guess it should be less then private clients, it depends also where you are located 

Frank


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## Chollie (Feb 12, 2009)

Apartments are low low margins. Years go, I worked for a company doing apartment repaints. Us painters were each given a small airless and 5's of paint for our own car. Then we were give the addresses of 2 two bedroom units which each painter had to do by himself each day, wich included semi for the kitchen and bath. Forget any type of repairs of any water damage or dead animals in the place. Blow and Go. The owner probably charged a couple hundred per. That gig didn't last long for me.


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## frankthepainter (Feb 12, 2009)

*apartment bid's*

okay, Crystal here is a update from me Today i went to an apartment building to look at a studio,1 bedroom and two bedroom aptmnt. for a bid.

The previous painter was very undependable the prop-manager said, so with the sizes of the room i went home to make my quotes, but after reading on the net about how bad it pays, i decided to call the manager with the bold Question how much the other guy charged, i got the shock of my life. 

With paint included it was $150 for the studio the paint that i need alone is flat for the walls, semi gloss for the trim/doors and satin for the kitchen and bathroom. 
So i estimated 3, 1 and 2 gallons total price round $108 so i would make less then 50 bucks for at least a whole day of work. 
First i was happy by getting to do apartments but now I''m not so sure anymore.

I am going to charge at least $350 on this studio and if they don't like it they can do it them selves or rip off another painter.

A lot off people don't get it how time consuming painting is I will for sure mention it when i give the quote. 

good luck with your bid's FRANk:thumbsup:


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

frankthepainter said:


> okay, Crystal here is a update from me Today i went to an apartment building to look at a studio,1 bedroom and two bedroom aptmnt. for a bid.
> 
> The previous painter was very undependable the prop-manager said, so with the sizes of the room i went home to make my quotes, but after reading on the net about how bad it pays, i decided to call the manager with the bold Question how much the other guy charged, i got the shock of my life.
> 
> ...


 Apartments have to be worked different than a regular repaint. Apartment painters would paint that studio in an hour and a half = sprayer.


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

Now that I have seen Crystal pic I apologize for my comments earlier


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## Brock (Dec 16, 2007)

Was wondering who was going to go down that road first.


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

Brock said:


> Was wondering who was going to go down that road first.


Mama ain't raise no punk I speaketh the truth always:thumbsup::laughing:

I am writing an how to paint apartments and make a profit guide for her tonight


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## Brock (Dec 16, 2007)

They are gong to have to upgrade the megabytes for this members PM mailbox I have a feeling.


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

Brock said:


> Was wondering who was going to go down that road first.


 LOL i am surprised it took two days though.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

Could be a 50 year old man who knew the best way to make you fellas spill the beans about the business was to pretend to be a chick.


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## frankthepainter (Feb 12, 2009)

hee sean i forgot to mention dat the trim and doors have to be painted also so no spray paint job would work , i dislike spraying anyways delivers a bad job and the costs are more plus that is for lazy painters . 

Frank


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

I guess I am a lazy painter then because if I can spray then I will. I didnt buy a sprayer just to get the free t-shirt that came with it. How would spraying cost you more ??? Any lost material should more then be made up for in less man hours.


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## precisionbuild (Nov 17, 2008)

frankthepainter said:


> hee sean i forgot to mention dat the trim and doors have to be painted also so no spray paint job would work , i dislike spraying anyways delivers a bad job and the costs are more plus that is for lazy painters .
> 
> Frank


:blink:


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## sparehair (Nov 21, 2008)

So my conundrum is the fastest way to do a two color apartment repaint trim walls ceilings. I usually mask, shoot the trim, shoot walls and ceilings with a shield, then cut in walls to trim and touch up. I've got a two bedroom/kitchen cabinet and trimwork job down to two days. Anyone have a better way?


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

sparehair said:


> So my conundrum is the fastest way to do a two color apartment repaint trim walls ceilings. I usually mask, shoot the trim, shoot walls and ceilings with a shield, then cut in walls to trim and touch up. I've got a two bedroom/kitchen cabinet and trimwork job down to two days. *Anyone have a better way?*


Sub it to Crystal for $150?


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

frankthepainter said:


> hee sean i forgot to mention dat the trim and doors have to be painted also so no spray paint job would work , i dislike spraying anyways delivers a bad job and the costs are more plus that is for lazy painters .
> 
> Frank


A quality spray finish is a much better finish than a brush or roller. Spraying isn't really being lazy. The trick is being able to do both spray and hand work. Then it comes down to what is most practicle for the paticular job. It is not always practicle to do all the prep work and clean up involved to spray. Sometimes the best thing to do is to dip the brush. 



ModernStyle said:


> I guess I am a lazy painter then because if I can spray then I will. I didnt buy a sprayer just to get the free t-shirt that came with it. How would spraying cost you more ??? Any lost material should more then be made up for in less man hours.


Don't get upset it is just one guys statement.
Here is the deal you stick with what you know and a lot of people hate change. My father inlaw got me into this gig and it took many many many many spray jobs before he warmed up to me using the sprayer. Now when it comes to trim or ceilings he wants it sprayed. 
For things out of the norm has to be pursuaded that it is the best way.
A lot of spray guys out there do not know how to properly work a brush and roller and without their sprayer they are kind of screwed. Just like Frank here probably does not have much if any spray experience so to him he steers clear of it and feels that it is cheating or a inferior way of painting. 
The thing about this job is you have to always be looking for a better way to improve things. Once you stop doing that then you are in a rut.



rbsremodeling said:


> Sub it to Crystal for $150?


LOL good one.


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## Dustyrose (Feb 13, 2009)

The truth is we can't tell you what to charge. Every market is different. A guy in New York is going to charge much more then the guy in Toledo. A contractor with employees is going to charge more then someone doing it solo. 

You have experience in painting. Forget the square footage. Figure out how much you need to make an hour and go from there. If you know you can knock out a room in 4 hours and you want to make $20 an hour bid $80 plus cost of materials. 

In the beginning you'll will win some and loose some. It's a learning process. Get insurance apartment managers won't hire without it. GO FOR IT!


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## Al Truistic (Nov 19, 2004)

Dustyrose said:


> You have experience in painting. Forget the square footage. Figure out how much you need to make an hour and go from there. If you know you can knock out a room in 4 hours and you want to make $20 an hour bid $80 plus cost of materials.


You are kidding right? 

That sounds like a formula to make $10 an hour. Do you magically appear at the job site? Are your materials teleported to the location and apply themselves without tools? We will assume that jobs just fall out of your  and that the insurance fairy is taking care of you.

Your formula means you make $80 a day gross, because at 4 hours you have no time to schedule another job, at this rate you will be on craigs list offering to paint for beer money real soon.


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## WisePainter (Sep 16, 2008)

It would appear her "Old Man" has returned...
She hasn't.

Back to work, the eye candy has left.**

*

*this is what I tell my guys after a woman has left the work site.


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## Brock (Dec 16, 2007)

WisePainter said:


> It would appear her "Old Man" has returned...
> She hasn't.
> 
> Back to work, the eye candy has left.***
> ...


 
We are going to miss her. It was nice while it lasted.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

I consider myself eye candy, so cheer up, I am still here.


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## outsidethelines (Oct 19, 2007)

LOL, you guys do add entertainment to a dull day, I'll give you that. But, more than likely, she is out working while you old farts are sitt’n around scratch'n and belch'n and the good Lord only knows what else. I think that it is so cute that the one thread that has gotten the most attention is the one started by a young lady. Well, boys will be boys after all, LOL

Crystal, if you return to view all these horndog's comments, and make your way down to my "reply," I want to say; boy do I know what it is like to be in your shoes. Best thing you can do for yourself is network like crazy and get as much info as you can from people in your area. They will take you seriously if you hold your head high and let them know you won't take any crap. That includes the f's at the paint stores as well. Just keep asking people till you get the answers you are looking for. BTW, if you believe you are a good painter, get away from the apartment gigs. We can paint as well as any of these guys and while many are out of work; I have more contracts than ever before. No lie. Keys to success: Integrity and Professionalism.

In all fairness though, the advice you guys have provided me has really helped me. So, I do appreciate you, and please keep the advice coming. I have a daughter to put through college and a mortgage to pay...and bills, bills, bills... Seriously


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