Painting budget

13 years ago

So my fiance and I are in the process of building a new house. We love our general contractor/ builder , but a few things we have added and the cost is charged us have blown my mind. $1000 to sheetrock underneath the stairs, $300 for a shelf in the master shower... but this latest one takes the cake.

Am I just off my rocker or is $1250 is to change paint from a flat finish to an eggshell finish on the interior, about right? Were talking a 2200 sq ft ranch without a finished basement. It seems absolutely absurd to me that it could possibly be that much more labor... he said the painter gets $.50 per sq ft of wall space as a base fee. So that implies the walls need twice as much labor for eggshell as a flat??

Can someone talk me off this ledge and help me realize that's not an outrageous price?

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Comments (5)

virgilcarter
13 years ago
I can't give you an informed opinion about the change and add on cost for painting.

But if you stop making changes there shouldn't be any increases to the construction cost.

So many people nickle and dime themselves to death because they want to make changes after they have signed the construction contract. Many builders don't like to make changes once construction is underway.

The message is get everything the way you want it before signing the construction contract. It make life so much easier for everyone.

Good luck on your project!
worthy
13 years ago
Sounds extremely reasonable to me. Flat paint is forgiving. That's why builders like it. Once you get any sheen, every so called imperfection stands out. Especially on drywall in an empty house.

I once foolishly agreed to a client's request for dark eggshell instead of light coloured flat paint and didn't charge a cent more. I had some walls painted three and four times till they were sort of satisfied. For my trouble, they handed me a 50 page list of paint "defects" after closing. After arbitration, they were rewarded a repainting of the front doors.
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suser123
13 years ago
Flat is amazing at making things look perfect. Do you know the brand they are using? Are they using a paint sprayer for primer and final coat? Or rollers?

If you do have them do something other than flat be prepared to see some defects. Mainly the higher cost I think is because the paint costs more and they use more of it.
kangell_gw
13 years ago
My builder told me he would have to spend more time smoothing the drywall in order to use eggshell paint for the reasons stated above. I think there are actually grades of finish on drywall. So the extra cost is probably for the extra labor on the drywall.
ddr000
13 years ago
Sounds about right, though I was surprised as well when I was told $1500 extra to go from flat to matte (both BM Regal), but everything I've heard so far is that's about the going rate. Mine is ~3400 sf house.