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Painting Plaster Walls in 1905 Farmhous

15 years ago

Hi,

I just bought a old twin farmhouse. I had two painters give me quotes for the living room and dining room. The two rooms are about 15 x 13. I am getting these rooms painted before I move in the home in November. The one guy gave me a price of $3,260!! Yikes! He said the all of the walls need oil based primer and then two coats of paint. Do the walls really need primer? The trim on all the wide baseboards and windows is a dark blue-yuck and peeling a bit. I also want three doors painted and ceiling. I haven't got a price back yet from the other painter but, isn't this price OUTRAGEOUS???? Or Isn't it. This is my first home and my first old home and I just don't want to get ripped off. I would do it myself, but I just don't have the time right now and I want that part to be move in ready. Any advice?? Thanks so much!!

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Comments (4)

paintguy22
15 years ago
It's hard to tell if the price is outrageous without knowing what is involved with the job. You will find painters trying to make $90 per hour and others trying to make $20 per hour. You also may find painters who just don't want to do the job so they bid it rediculously high. Most paintjobs will benefit from a coat of primer, but walls that are in good condition may not need it.
llaatt22
15 years ago
It sounds like a complete strip, repair, and repaint is proposed. I would nail down exactly what is involved in work, time, and materials, the estimated costs, and also be present during the work. After fully checking/verifying references from latest jobs. Did you find the painters via local paint outlets or local area word of mouth?
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Trim used to be a lot thicker. Baseboards a full inch were not uncommon, and together with full size shoe mold (1/2 inch) or quarter round (3/4 inch) would cover a lot of the floor at the wall. Older trim was often made up of multiple pieces, so a 6 inch tall baseboard might be 5 inches of 1 inch thick wood (back coved to save shipping weight) and a pieces of ogee or ogee hook applied to the top edge. Door and window casing was similar. By using two pieces of wood 5/4 inch wood could be used to make a molding almost two inches thick at the edge. Most modern molding is machined from boards that have already been surfaced to 3/4 inch net meaning the final molding is under 5/8 inch net thickness.
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Either works, and depends quality of your painter. IN ANY CASE...........you're coming back around to do a one more time final coat on baseboards. Count on it. I prefer the painter last. Good painters don't spill, they prep, cover and no issue. Much depends your timeline , just one reason a builder installs floors last and paint far precedes: ) Count on that too.
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Faron79
15 years ago
Yep...
Definately get each estimate "broken-down" into specific steps.

Put yourself into a Painters' shoes though...
* They have overhead costs too: Gasoline, Insurances, etc.
* It's fairly physical/tedious work- sanding, patching, washing, caulking, etc....
* Setting-up & tearing-down all kinds of equipment,
* Overall...the best painters often don't have to advertise!!...and therefore are rarely the cheapest...

If the walls haven't had any paint for a decade or more, you'd better be cleaning/priming those walls.
Sounds like the trim will need at least SOME sanding.

Faron
bellaflora
15 years ago
My SIL got a quote recently:

4000sqft house.
all crown moulding - hallway & every room (newly installed)
all baseboards
for 2800.

I got a quote for a large LR/DR with 20' ceiling & hallway (room about 40x25 + hallway)
700$ (include 2 coats & 1 prime)
here they charge a/b 150$ for 15x13 room (include 2 coats of paint.

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