I am just starting a painting business and I'm trying to figure out how to charge for painting for example a mantle or cabinets. I know wood cabinets will need a primer and two coats of finish. Also on how to charge for windows that have several rows of mulls that need to be painted like a 4 over 4. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Clough

How long do you think that it would take to paint say the area of one window (two panes of glass) wooden mulls going through and separating the panes of glass?

JackButler84

Are you talking about a single window with a wooden mull seperating the top from the bottom? To paint that along with the molding on the outside I'd say about 15-20 minutes if its about 5' height by 3' across.

Clough

Either that, or those that separate the panes of glass into four or even six panes.

Clough

How much are you paying a painter per hour? And, how are you figuring what you make on a job if you aren't doing the painting all of the time but are doing the owner part of the business?

JackButler84

I take it you're not a business owner .

Clough

You can give a customer an estimate for painting the mulls by figuring how much total time it will take to prep and paint them based upon what you are paying the painters per hour. You could arrive at an average price that you would simply use with all customers then, no matter the window sizes, (there would be exceptions of course, but these would have to be extreme) since word does get around as to how much a painter will charge for certain jobs. This would help to alleviate any confusion, should there be any referrals for you from previous customers to their friends or others.