I live in Canada and I have just been asked to paint an apartment. I am not sure how to quote the job. I have experience painting however, this will be the first time for me to quote the work. Should I quote by room, square footage? The job requires both inside and outside work on the second floor of a triplex.
Thanks for any information you submit.
Robyn

How do you want to quote and how is the customer wanting the price

Normally as a customer I want a final dollar figure on how much I will write you a check for.

How you get to that figure really makes no difference to a customer.

Actually, I'm going to take exception to what you say about how the contractor gets to the actual dollar figure, Fr_Chuck. If the Contractor qualifies why and how they are charging what they are charging, then that builds credibility with the customers because the customers then know why they are paying what they are.

I will actually drive a customer to the get the paint so that they can know what they're paying for it. There are many painters who will put cheap paint into paint cans that would normally contain really great paint.

Enough said. I could go on...

Dear robynk65,

What you quote will depend on a number of factors. For instance, how are you applying the paint? Brush roller or spray, or a combination of those? How many coats? Any inperfections that need to be corrected by you? Are you going to be moving any funiture or lawn things around? When a professional painter paints trim, it's almost always by using a brush. The price then, is by the linear foot rather than the square foot. Etc.

Thanks!