“How can I get commercial painting services near me?” That’s a question that won’t probably lead you to a single, simple answer. Finding for commercial painters take a lot of work, and one of the things that you should not forget is to study their estimates.
An estimate is given to you (as a client) after a painter inspects your property. For many commercial painters, the more complete and accurate the estimate, the bigger chances of winning the job. And for many clients, on the other hand, cost is probably the biggest concern. So, if they think that the estimate is complete, accurate and meets within their budget, then they will hire that contractor.
If the contractor provides an estimate that’s below than the average pricing, it means that they won’t be able to make money. But if they otherwise offer a way too high estimate, then they won’t win the job. Sure, low pricing means that contractors will get lots of jobs, and you will be tempted to hire such contractors because of their low estimates. But this will do your business more harm than good.
While it’s a fact that contractors work to earn a living, you want nothing less than a satisfactory paint job – of good quality, no less. Some contractors cheat on their estimates just to appear competitive – beware of such contractors.
When estimators that you’ve invited come to your property, they should be complete with their own equipment. They should not borrow anything from you such as a measuring tape or a step ladder.
The following are the typical guidelines that most contractors follow when assessing your property before working on their estimates:
1. Measuring the size of the space
Estimators need to know the square footage of a space by measuring its length and width of the walls, and then multiplying them. Next, they add the resulting product to get the total square footage.
However, not everything in the room should be painted because there are doors and windows. For this, estimators subtract the doors and windows from the total square footage.
For instance:
– Your room has a total of 700 square feet, with one door and three windows.
– The door measures 20 square feet
– Each of the three windows measures 15 square feet. So, 15 square feet x 3 windows = 45 square feet.
– Subtract the 20 square feet and 45 square feet from the total square footage of 700:
700 – 20 – 45 = 635 square feet.
Therefore, you will paint 635 square feet of space.
2. Determining the amount and cost of paints needed for the space
Now you have the square footage of space to paint – which is 635 sq. ft. – then you must determine how much paint you are going to buy.
Typically, a gallon of paint is enough to cover 250 square feet of space. If you have 635 square feet of space, then divide 635 sq. ft. by 250 sq. ft.:
635 / 250 = 2.54 (which means you will need roughly two and a half gallons of paint)
Obviously, the bigger the space, the more paint you will need. It also goes the same for textured surfaces.
3. Determining the labor cost
For painting companies, determining how much they should pay for their workers is just as important. A typical day of work from the contractor will cost about $500 or $600. However, the rate still depends on how many workers are assigned on the project.
For instance, two painters are assigned to your project and are required to complete 2,500 sq. ft. in two days.
If you have 635 sq. ft. of space needed to be painted, divide 635 sq. ft. by 2,500 sq. ft. = 0.25.
The result will give you an idea how much you will pay to the workers. In this case, if you get 0.25, it means that you will pay the two painters a quarter of a full work day (about $200).
4. Determining the cost of paints and supplies
Prices of paint products depend on the brand, color or quality. Price range from $20 to $50. In this case, you will need two gallons of the best-quality paint you can find, which means:
2.5 gallons x $50 = you will have to pay $125.
There are also supplies and materials needed for the job like brushes, paint rollers, drop cloths, painter’s tape, primers, caulks, paint trays, etc. Using good quality paints and materials will lead to a good-quality paint finish.
Let’s say you want your paint job to look best and long lasting, and you want nothing less than the best materials. It’s expected that you should pay a little more, but the good results are going to be worth it:
A set of brushes – $30
A set of rollers – $30
Caulking – $10
Drop cloths – $20
Paint tray – $15
Painters tape – $15
5. Determining the overall cost of the job
The typical formula of figuring out the total cost of a painting project is as follows:
Cost of paints + labor cost + cost of supplies and materials = total cost.
In this case:
$125 worth of two and a half gallons of paint + $140 worth of supplies and materials + $200 worth of labor = $465 total cost. That will be the rough result of the estimate.
Remember that the computations above are only for illustrative purposes, intending to demonstrate how painters typically estimate a space to be painted. There are other factors to be considered such as additional paints on trim and baseboards, and other architectural details. Even fuel and insurance are also factored in if you want to get a more realistic estimate.
“Do I really need an estimate to get good commercial painting services near me?” Of course. Without a correct and accurate written estimate, you will never have an idea how much you are exactly going to pay for the workers. Without a written estimate, contractors can even cheat by adding “hidden” charges that will put an unnecessary dent to your budget – and you don’t want that to happen.