At least he asked "where" first! At least that's somethin'. :-D Oh gosh, I've had painters fill the bath tub, wash rollers & brushes, drain the water and leave it. I've had them commandeer kitchen sinks, entire bathroom vanties to be used as "staging areas". Loose rule of thumb for me is if it's warm enough to paint outside, then it's warm enough to clean up outside -- or take your tools with you and deal with them off site. I'm pretty much all for nippin' things in the bud. The sooner the better. It's not so much "when" you address it, it's "how". If you approach it the right way, you should have no worries about getting the quality job you expect. Just be honest and matter of fact and keep on with genuinely wanting to help where and how you can -- if all you have as a solution is outside, then that's simply all there is and they need to rely on other means to clean up their tools if they don't want to use what you have available. Kind of in line with the topic: It is nice to provide a space for a painter to work. Having them use their truck and keep running back and forth is not productive. If you have a utility sink, it's really nice to offer it as a place for them to set up and work. They are working in your house and need some accommodations. It's funny because some painters are intuitive and strive to have good manners as part of their pride of service, other guys just don't get it and it never crosses their mind that everyone isn't as interested in taking good care of their brushes as they are -- as in what makes you think your kitchen sink is good enough for their brushes? :D If you have special requirements it's a good idea to simply write it in the contract so everyone knows where everyone else stands -- get it all out on the table. Like if the job will run several days and really can't let them leave stuff behind -- from large stuff to the smaller stuff. I had one client who expected that even the paint would go with the painter every night. It was January and the garage really wasn't the best option - for a couple reasons. Basement was two flights down and I really thought that was unnecessary as well. Protected floors and an out of the way corner was what they needed to get okay with -- and they did. Bathroom accommodations are another issue. I personally think it's ridiculous when homeowners state they don't want painters using their bathrooms. Actually, it makes me mad and I have to breathe really deeply to help them rethink that *requirement*. I had one woman tell me and the painters that there was a McDonald's right at the end of the street and that's where they need to go on breaks and to use the facilities. She didn't even want them sitting in their trucks in her drive way to grab a drink, eat lunch or smoke. Josh, the painter, just picked up all of his paperwork, looked at me and said, "talk to you later, Lori" and quietly left. I told the woman I thought she might be better off DIYing, good luck with everything, and it was nice to meet her. Oh lord, I could go on and on... People are funny.

Butter, Was there a signed contract stating prep-needs, priming, etc.? Were any references checked? How was this painter brought to your attention? What brand/color of paint was ACTUALLY used? SEVEN GALLONS??!??!?!...Krikey!!! That's ridiculous... For 250 sf: * Gray primer should've been used under 98% of Reds. * This would've taken ~ 2/3 of a gallon of primer. * The paint: about 1.5 gallons should've done it...applied as TWO FULL ROLLED coats. >>> A normal 12'x14' bedroom with 8' ceilings, & subtracting out for an avg. window & door = 400sf. >>> 2 gallons would be average to do TWO COATS in this size room. Deep colors MAY take slightly more paint, since these tint-bases are less full. >>> If paint is pushed too far past 400sf, it's getting WAAAAAY TOO THIN. >>> The rate of 400sf/gallon is the absolute high end most paints should be applied at. Were you ripped off...YES. Were you "hacked".....YES. Faron

It's hard to say without knowing the exact sizes of rooms, sizes of trim, vaults in ceilings...etc, etc, I could go on and on. My base price is $2.60 per square foot....or at least it was back when people were still building homes. This is not including 'extras' which usually bumps up the price a few thousand more. A house that size could cost $13-$22K to paint depending on a bunch of factors. And, yes most trim carpenters are not used to hanging trim on a new build on walls that are already finished painted. Usually walls get painted after trim.

I'd like to weigh in with 25 years of professional painting experience... if your home is 2850 sf then the rough wall sf including ceilings is 10,000 sf of paintable surfaces. Now do the calculations... Let's simply talk MATERIALS: the primer alone for a cheap primer is $600-$700. ceiling paint for 2 coats 17 gallons $500, wall paint for two coats 35 gallons $1600, trim paint 10 gallons $600 plus caulk, nail hole filler, sandpaper, tape will run another $200. So your materials are $3500 plus or minus a few dollars. Now, the industry standard is 7 X Materials, that's what the IRS and State Tax folks expect from professional painters! Materials are 15% of the overall job. How do you slice and dice it all up? Sure we can paint for less money, labor, but what kind of professional do you want to pay? Want a $15/hour inexperienced person of a $75/hour professional? As a business, don't forget to add in insurances, payroll taxes, overhead and profit. Sounding like $20,000 is a more realistic cost to me, probably low in my opinion. Go ahead give it a try yourself....not that easy! Quality remains long after price is forgotten.