[andymans136]

Would anyone be willing to help me figure out how long it would 3 dedicated guys to paint a home with the following measurements? I figured out the square footage by each room. I hope I did it right by taking the lengths around the room e.g.. 15' X 12' X 15' X 12' X the wall height which is 8' and got 432 then I added the ceiling area which is 180. So long to the short of the story, the total area I came up with for the house was 5718 sq. ft. The request of the homes' owner is 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of paint. The colors are all whites and off whites. This doesn't include the trims or the doors, but this much would be a great help. Thanks A.M.

[Clough]

Hi, andymans136!

How is the primer and paint to be applied to the walls and ceilings - rolling or by spraying?

Do you also have a plan as to who is going to be doing what in the painting process? If more than one person is painting, it goes a lot faster if one person does the cutting-in and the other person follows right behind to paint the larger area around which has been the cutting-in.

Are the surface areas to be painted perfectly flat and not textured in any way or have any other things that need to be done to them other than priming and painting?

You've already mentioned trim and doors. Will you also be painting them? If using a brush on doors and trim, it can take longer to paint them, for a number of reasons, than it does to paint larger surfaces.

Thanks!

[andymans136]

The "plan" we were thinking was forr maybe all of us to start and get a couple of rooms cut in and then someone come behind and start rolling the primer/paint. We will, if we do the job, will be rolling and brushing the whole house.
The whole house is just painted flat, not textured. The house will be finished by a drywall company, so all that needs doing is the painting.
The trim does need to be done. It is amixture of old and new as this home is complete reno. Here's the problem though; the old doors and trim are either douglas fir or heart pine. Why any one would cover this beautiful stuff is beyond me. There are 14 or 15 windows,allof which are about 34X60's, 10 doors,which are 30X78, and about 400 feet of the original base board which is 7".
Thanks again! A.M.

[cyberheater]

Okay, I used to do this, so I will give a little input.

Do not take out for any windows or doors. You have to cut in around them, meaning just as much work. The only reason you consider the windows and doors would be for paint calculation.

Cutting in a couple of rooms first then having someone roll behind you is perfectly okay.

If the sheetrock is new (previously unfinished) you can save a little by buying a primer that is for new sheetrock, but if it's even amount of new/old walls - get regular primer.

When it's a whole house: every wall, then the out exterior sq. footage may work for your final sq. ft calculation - if there are tons of perp. Walls and partions. If it is pretty choppy, then go with your interior walls:
ex: 10 foot wide x 8 foot tall (to ceiling)
A wall room: 10 + 10 + 6 + 6 are your walls widths then times that total by your height of you walls. 32 x 8. Again, don't take out for windows or doors unless they are very large. Cutting in all windows and doors takes more labor time. The only reason to do this is to figure out how much paint you will need.

If you have a lot of prep work on the walls, you will want to add that to your time/materials. If you have ceilings, add 15% on top of your normal sq ft wall price. Overhead work is more.

You do add for trim. If it's a different color, then you need to add for LF cost to paint all trim. 7" base is at least 45-50 cents per foot.

Do not use FLAT paint. Use an eggshell finish. It is still flat, but it will cover better and quicker. Flat is out in most situations. It is also easier to clean. This will help both on your labor and on the homeowner. It cost's a bit more, but you more then make up for it on labor time.

Some inexperienced painters try to put too much paint on when they roll and brush - watch out for this. More of a mess and it doesn't look good, or save you time. Nice even coats. Then you have the ones that try to squeeze out as much paint as they can by pushing hard on the roller. Either way is not good. Okay? Then, do not use the cheapest roller either. Lot of lint and more work.

Use good brushes too. Can't tell you how much better it looks, and how much easier the job will go.

I like to use acrylic satin on all trim and doors. A good one. It's just enough sheen difference without being noticeable, and the work looks great when you are done and it's glides on that trim and doors like butter.

There, any more questions?

[SweetDee]

Wow cyberheater! I took notes!! :) Thank you xo