A common question we get from homeowners while we are at their house giving them an estimate is: “how long will this project take?” It’s a fair question. As the homeowner you want to know how long your life will be disrupted by the painters, you wonder if you are going to be able to sleep in your bedroom, and you need to know if you have to take time off work to be home while the work is getting done. While project length varies based on the size of the project and the scope of work, we will try our best to give you some ideas about what you might be looking at in terms of project length.
The most obvious factor is the size of the project. A painter should be able to knock out the walls and ceilings in a standard bedroom in a day. But if you have an open concept floor plan where the kitchen and living room are connected, it would likely take a 3 or 4 man crew to get the walls and ceilings done in a day. In a similar way, a 1600 square foot rancher might take our 3 man crew 2 days to paint the walls and ceilings. But for a 3 story 4500 square foot house, you can expect the job to take closer to a week.
While size is one factor, the scope of work is another thing that plays a role. Painting walls can go pretty quickly, especially if you are keeping the same color or using a similar color. But if you are trying to cover up a neon pink with a white, that might take some extra coats and will add time! Painting the ceilings will also add some time to the project. And then if you decide the baseboard, door and window trim, doors, and closets could use some freshening up…the man hours can start adding up. The amount of trim a room has can really lengthen a project. A dining room with shadow boxing, crown molding, and ceiling medallions could end up taking a 2 man team 2 days to paint, depending on the color scheme.
Certain rooms will take longer than other rooms as well. A bathroom with 8 foot high ceilings is pretty straightforward work, but a foyer with 18 foot high ceilings is a different animal. In our experience, a foyer and connecting stairwell is something that our crew can often get done in a day if they are just painting the walls and ceilings. Closets are another simple example for this. A standard closet with a removable simple wire shelf in it can be painted in about 2 hours. But a closet with a non-removable shelving system and hooks will be much more tedious work and could easily take much longer.
Another thing to keep in mind when determining the length of the project is that a quality paint job just takes time. While you can likely find painters and companies out there who will promise a speedy result, it probably won’t be the result you were hoping for. The main ways that a company can shorten job lengths is by not allowing a coat of paint to dry before applying the next coat, not doing as much drywall preparation as the next company, or by not taking the time to protect your home before beginning and cleaning your home upon completion. All of these things take away from the quality of the work. Sacrificing quality for time is rarely a good idea!
If you have more questions about your specific project, feel free to reach out to us!