2 Paint questions

[desgnr]

Which interior paint is best for 1 coat coverage ?

What do think a Painter would charge to paint an average room ? Say 15x 12 ft.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 8/29/2009 2:10 PM desgnr spake thus:

You'll get as many answers as responses to a question like that.

Depends; where are you? UK? US? Northeast? Southwest? Professional painter? Handyman?

[Ed Pawlowski]

None are truly 1 coat.

$472.15.

[ransley]

The most expensive, probably the 60$ a gallon B Moore Aura, How much to paint a room, thats like asking how much is a car.

[LouB]

Behr from Home Depot

Painter cost depends on your location and if you want a real pro.

[benick]

Rarely if ever does one coat cover well enough no matter the paint brand , especially if there is ANY color difference or touch ups to repair holes , dings and dents in the drywall...Any good pro will probably tell you the same thing...2 coats...Labor varies by region BUT there are alot of unemployed painters right now so a good deal and a good job is likely if you ASK around and not just call the one with the biggest Yellow Pages ad...Then there's always the hack down the street that will do it cheap in one coat , do it and then you will be on here complaining that it looks like crap and asking what to do about it...You tend to get what you pay for......

[Red Green]

"desgnr" wrote in news:h7c5fo$22h3$ [e-mail]:

Well there's the crack head painting a roach motel rental unit

- and there's -

Historic landmark quality where even the color is custom made and approved by historians.

Probably at least a hundred bucks between the two :-)

[cshenk]

"desgnr" wrote

There are many variables here but without knowing more, this is almost impossible to answer.

If you are basically refreshing to same color paint (not changing colors), most medium grade paints will work ok if you didnt have to patch walls so have alot of spackle to cover, or crayon marks to cover etc. (with crayon, you have to remove as much as possible and use a base coat primer to prevent bleed through later). For any color change, except perhaps eggshell over dingy white, you will probably need a primer coat.

Area dependant. Also depends highly on how much you are willing and capable of doing first.

In my Norfolk VA area, USA, about 25$ an hour excluding ceiling work (that is a bit more). If I move everything out of the room and pre-tape it all (any my pre-taping meets or exceeds their standards) and agree that I take the tape down and do the cleanup including any touchups if the tape caused imperfections, the rate would go up but the overall cost would be less. Reason is if the job is too short, they have to charge more per hour to make the trip profitable. I would go with 2 rooms instead and get the 25$ rate for 6 hours. This is besides the cost of materials and paint. Call it about 225$ with materials? With them doing the taping and removal, add about 1 hour labor, more if you have lots of fancy stuff like a fireplace to protect.

If you do not know what you are doing, let *them* tape it!!! If you try and it's not perfect, they will charge you to remove your taping job and reapply their own. There's a skill required to do that part 'right' and believe me, they can do it faster than you can.

So you see, too many variables to really answer. At least I can show how the hours and labor tend to work out.

[ransley]

To really know subscribe to consumer reports, they have ongoing yearly paint tests.

[cm]

Both Behr and BennyMoore have a paint that will cover in one coat. Very expensive.

We are in Arizona and we would charge about $300 plus materials for the average room that size. There are many variables that could affect my estimate one way or the other.

cm

[norminn]

I've never found a paint that covers well in one coat. There is a lot to be known about your plan that would help to guide you, such as:

Which room? I like alkyd ("oil based") semi-gloss paint for kitchen and bath because it is durable and easier to clean. In all rooms, I use it for trim and doors because latex scratches/dings too easily and is impossible to sand when repainting.

Any new surfaces or damage? Need to prime new wood and drywall, special latex primers for new drywall.

Dark colors to cover with light? Probably require more coats.

Smoke or oily stains? Even after thorough cleaning, stain-blocking primer (any good name brand) to isolate stains so they don't bleed through.

Clean wall with light color flat paint? Paint it with good brand of flat water-based paint. If you are covering a light color with a very deep red or blue, you likely will need more coats and the instructions for the color will advise same.

Wall or trim with glossy enamel? CLEAN, sand lightly to de-gloss, PRIME, and use alkyd semi. Gloss paint is very difficult for a newby to use and get a decent, smooth finish.

Always wash and dry surfaces well, vacuum sanding dust. Pay special attention to areas that get fingerprints, such as door edges and around wall switches.

I always use name-brand paint stores, and they have always had experienced, knowledgeable staff to answer questions.

Look at paint and check prices for supplies (GOOD brushes and rollers) and read some instructions on paint co. websites so you know what you want before contacting contractors for bids.

Our living and dining rooms were painted by a contractor in 2001, roughly twice the size of your room and incl. trim and louvered doors. About $400, Florida. A wild guess, with folks short of work and you purchasing materials,would be $200.

[SteveBell]

I usually charge $1.25 per square foot for labor on an easy job. That's wall width times height, not taking out doors and windows--gotta cut in around all that trim, ya know.

If you have lots of junk you want me to move, lots of nail holes to fill, or visibly dirty walls, I raise the price to cover all the extra work.

So my rate would be: ((12x8x2) + (15x8x2)) x $1.25 = $540.00

A gallon of good paint will add about $30.00.

If you don't like those numbers, I'll work for $40 per hour. At that rate, sometimes you come out ahead, sometimes I do.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Then you get the idiots that say "I don't make $40 an hour so why should I pay you that much?" That sounds like a very reasonable rate.

My grandson just finished painting a few rooms for his aunt. He is unskilled, un-insured, has no truck, no tools, cash payment and worked for $12 an hour. He probably took 50% longer than a pro too, making the actual rate closer to $18.

[Bonnett Decorating]

Forget 1 coat coverage if you have any standards whatsoever.

How high is up? Too many possible variables to begin to guess.

[SteveBell]

People who object to the hourly rate get a polite offer to work by the square foot. If they think it's still too expensive, I give them the name of a bigger painting company. Some of them call me back, some don't.

As his skill level rises, so will his rate.

Few people want me to work by the hour. All the other firms give them a firm quote, so they want that from me, too.

[KLS]

I totally disagree.

I totally agree.

[KLS]

Benick is totally right in my experience. Two coats is the way to go, and it doesn't take that much extra time. I always do two coats after seeing the half-assed results throughout my house of the previous owner's time/$$ saving efforts to do just one coat, and the walls look immensely better. Also, you really do get what you pay for, both for materials and labor. I do my own painting, and for the first floor walls that the world sees, I go with the good stuff, like Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, Muralo. I also have gotten very satisfactory results from Lowe's Valspar line (and I avoid Behr from Home Depot) in cases where I didn't want to spend so much on the paint.