$6500 to paint 1400 sq ft house in Raleigh, NC?

Question

Just curious is this a fair estimate? High? Blowing smoke (no way it can be done for this price)?

• Remove the popcorn ceiling, patch, prime, and paint white.   All trim, base, and doors we will prep, prime, and paint white. 
• Remove wallpaper, prep, prime, and paint to the color of your liking.
• In this price we are including the paint and whatever is needed to prep.

David Robertson · Answer

There's a lot more than just "paint" in this estimate it appears.  Here's a few reasons I don't think $6k is unreasonable:

• Removing a popcorn ceiling and retexturing is generally about a $1/sf by itself (1,400sf x $1.00/sf) = ~$1,400
• Removing wallpaper can be labor intensive and can require additional wall prep.  If there is wallpaper throughout the house this could easily be a thousand dollars or more.
• Painting all trim, base and doors is very labor intensive work.  If the existing trim and doors have a high gloss lacquer coating the painter will likely need to sand and prep all of the woodwork.

If you were just painting walls and ceilings and touching up trim I would expect to pay around $3,000, but with the additional $1,400 for ceiling retexturing, and $1,000+ for wallpaper removal and additional labor to sand and prep all woodwork the $6k quote doesn't seem too unreasonable.

The only way to know if the quote is high is to get 2 other quotes from other painting contractors for comparison.

Marco G. · Answer

@Ray Brown wall paper removal is labor and therefore cost intensive.

Le Jia · Answer

I am assuming this price includes the paint. That is about $4.65 per sq.ft. It cost about $2.55 per sq.ft including paint with minor repair for walls and trim in VA area based on the contractors I have used (I might have paid the higher price). I would add 30% - 50% of this cost if additional prep works are necessary. So, I am looking at $2.93 to $3.825 per sq.ft for just the Walls and Trim. Add $1 for the ceiling treatment is reasonable. So anyway from $3.93 to $4.83 per sq.ft is a reasonable price to me.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Yep, you can install 1/4" over the existing....I found it easier to just have the drywallers apply a skim-coat on the ceiling which technically 'encapsulates' the asbestos....

Christian Hansen · Answer

Yes thats reasonable, but as with all jobs be VERY clear about what the expectations are at the end. Scope of work, ie: surface should be totally smooth, paint quality?, cleanup - will they make sure everything is covered so theres no spills etc. It all seems like common sense until the end of the project and sometimes it isn't. Theres such a wide range in quality of work these days so just make sure you feel like you are all on the same page. BTW, Theres paint shortages so confirm that they have a good source even SW has been tight on some of their products. Good luck!

Hershel Jacob Hawkins · Answer

Almost cheaper to have new sheetrock installed and painted...

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

IMO, with the wallpaper removal AND the ceiling (which will have to include re-texturing), that price is low. You could pay $8k real easy....I've had this done a lot...

Ray Brown · Answer

@David Robertson, thanks. I thought it sounds fair as well. I will get other quotes but just wanted some quick feedback from the BP community. The wallpaper is only in the kitchen, but yeah... it's been there for like 25 years so it's nasty :-)

$6500 to paint 1400 sq ft house in Raleigh, NC?

Most Popular Reply