Comparing Painting Bids Is Difficult
If you are like most homeowners, you will typically get 3 and sometimes 4 estimates before selecting a service company. It makes perfect sense and it shows you are making sure you get good value. When you compare most bids, installing windows, carpeting, plumbing, roofing, and so forth, it can be relatively easy to organize your bids and pick a winner. This is typically because so much of the cost of those service contractors a mix of labor and material (sometime 50%). In other words, there can be less variables. When it comes to comparing painting bids, you might need to have a magic wand, say the magic words and hope you pull out a good choice from the magic top hat. Painting is one of the few industries that has many variable and is one of the most complicated services to estimate accurately. Let me explain why below.
Painting Mostly Involves Labor
Even if your painter is using premium paints, material cost is not much more than 20% of the total job cost. The majority of a paint job is labor cost. For example, if a painter is painting an interior door (1 side) it might take him/her a solid 30 minutes to prep and paint it. Lets assume the contractor's hourly rate is $60. That means it would cost $30 of labor to paint the door and possibly $4-5 worth of paint. So the selling price to paint that door would be $35. The key is making sure you are comfortable with the painter(s) doing the work. Ask yourself, is this painter good at painting? Is he efficient with his time? Does he work quickly and consistently throughout the day? You can find answers to those questions by checking on a companies' references.
Painting Has Many Variables
The other reason painting prices can be all over the place is that painting has many variables. Each home is unique. A window in one home might require little or no prep and no change of color and cost $45 to paint. A window at your neighbor's house might have cracked paint, need additional sanding and needs 2 colors applied, not 1. This actually happens quite often! The price to paint the same size window might be double the cost: $90. However, sometimes an estimator will miss the details. I've actually seen paint estimators walk through a home in 5 minutes, write down a price on a business card and walk out. You think it is possible that the estimator may have overlooked some additional prep work? 9 times out of 10, he is missing something. What will happen is once the job is started, he will realize his mistake and either not finish the job or ask for more money. The devil is in the details. Every home requires a certain amount of careful masking, covering, prep work and painting. The cost will be based on how much time an estimator believes it will take to do a quality job. If one price to paint an exterior is $2,000 and the other is $4,000, I can guarantee you that the more expensive painter does not have $2,000 extra of profit in the job. That estimator is looking at all the variables of the job and realizes it will take his staff X number of days to complete the job right. I've met hundreds of painters over the years and never once heard an owner tell me he is charging too much for his work. Most have told me they don't make enough. So a professional painter, with a good estimating system (someone who is thorough) is a benefit to you. This is something we at Chism Brothers take very seriously. We've spent hundreds if not thousands of hours fine tuning our estimating system and computer programs. We make sure that every estimate we look at is carefully bid. We walk through all the steps it will take to paint someone's home the right way. The benefit to our customers is they will not be getting hit up with change orders. We know what it takes to do the job right, and there are no hidden fees.
So there you have it. comparing painting bids may be difficult, but the key is making sure you select a contractor that has a good reputation in the industry, is thorough in his/her bid process and guarantees the work. Don't always go with the lowest bidder. It can end up costing you more in the end and providing a headache. As always, call a few references and ask them a few questions you might not ask the contractor. Chism Brothers Painting is known for producing high quality paint jobs. Our staff are trained craftsmen. Our prices tend to be higher than a number of competitors in San Diego, but not outrageously higher. You get what you pay for, and we try to make sure that our work, in the end, is worth every penny.
