Ew, Foxy, that color sounds horrible. At least ours is white!

 

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i could only wish for white

 

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We did our house mostly in antique white for the main rooms. Bedrooms and baths diff colors. We done all the painting ourselves. I did borders in some of the rooms myself also. We have a cathedral ceiling in our living room we are going to have some work done on. Thats gonna be a treat.

 

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The first house I had here in Wisconsin had really high ceilings (18' so my second house here doesn't


We paint everything antique white and then use either stenciling or borders for accents. I hate wallpaper so we only use paint in our house. We paint every 3-5 years.


Silver

 

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Builders generally use an inexpensive "builder's" or "contractor's" grade paint with new construction homes unless specified by the owner or architect. It sprays easy so it's a faster application and they'll almost always use a flat to hide the imperfections the drywaller left behind. This is pretty much an industry standard so I don't know if complaining about it will get you anywhere, lol.


On the other hand, it makes a great base for new paint!


If you purchase paint yourself, you're looking at 30-40 bucks a gallon for a good quality paint like Ben Moore, depending on where you live. If you live in a hoitie toitie area prepare to pay more, close to the suggested retail.


I would ask your paint supplier for a painter or contractor discount if you're doing your whole house, if they are nice (like me!) they might give you a discount.

so like, you live in texas?

 

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Almost visited Texas once and would love to, but no, never been there.


I'm sorry to say, but I'm hundreds of miles away in CT.


Everyone I know from TX is super nice though, so someone should help you out! Just stay away from that evil Home Depot! You'll get much better service and smiles from a specialty paint shop.

Heh, I love Home Depot. So much stuff there I can get into and play with.


The one out in Lisbon CT isn't too shabby.

 

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Oh no, Home Depot is great! I just wish people didn't go there for paint.


I get alot of upset customers from them needing to fix issues that subpar quality paint causes. Well, I really shouldn't complain, I get pretty good buisness from them, lol.


Still, I hate to see someone who doesn't paint often make mistakes, and unless you're a professional, it's hard to get inexpensive paint to look right. Higher quality paints are much more forgiving.


Oh please, I worked at the big H.D. 13 years ago when my first job at a lumberyard went under and there was no where else to work. I was there for 3 years and that's where I met my 2 best friends. (whom eventually married eachother, all 3 of us met there)


She's now a store manager there and guess what...she buys her paint from me!


I would always recommend supporting a local independant supplier for stuff like paint, kitchen cabinets, flooring, window treatments, decorative hardware, etc. People are more knowledgeable generaly, know the traps you can fall into, and you're supporting the small buisness community, which for me...is important.


Otherwise, H.D. is great for most building supplies, and even more great if you know what you're doing and know what you want exactly.


I admit too that they're not too bad for inspiring ideas, they have excellent marketing and some pretty good companies helping them.

I have painted in the past. I probably have a good 5 years experience. Let me refute a few things others have said and add a few things here my self. First off licensed. Some one said to make sure the company is licenced and bonded. Many states don't require licensing. Mine is one of them. Any one can buy a brush and paint. Bonded...only helps if your contractor is a thief as far as I know. Insurance. Well I guess you are better off with an insured painter, but many operate with no insurance and lie. Only way to know for sure is to ask them who their agent is and then call their agent. lmao. This doesn't matter all that much unless the guy gets hurt. I have seen many insured painters just pull money out their pocket and pay for damages if they damage some thing. And I have seen all the uninsured painters do this. Most really are worried about their rep and no one wants their rates to go up. Insurance is high.


Ok lets talk about injuries. No painter worth his salt is going to get hurt. The chances are next to nothing. Pretty much the only way, would be if one wanted to hurt him self on purpose so he could sue.


I have seen a lot of crazy stuff in that position. I have seen people do drugs on the job site. Drink beer. Do shoddy work. Paint over areas that were peeling with out sanding. All kinds of crap. The most important thing when hiring a painter is his rep. Don't just call four guys out of the phone book and take the lowest bid. If your friend says his painter did fantastic work and you have seen the work. And your friend says his painter has a good attitude and worked as long and hard as he had to, to finish the job in a timely manner....you should probably go with that guy even if his bid is a bit higher than the guy you have never heard of.


The person who said 30-40 a gallon is in the right ball park. But you could easily pay $45 for a superior product. If you higher a contractor he will get a discount, and will most likely pass it on to you. Now lets talk labor pricing. All I know is the mid-west. If you go to NY, NY., you might pay some incredibly ignorant price. But in the mid-west it seems typical to pay $40-$75 a man hour. Yes this sounds high but remember the pro painter can paint four times faster than you can (at least). He will get a lot of work done in an hour. And no, he is not charging by the hour but when he gives you a bid he is in his mind guessing at how many hours of labor and how much he wants to make per hour.


If you get an uninsured painter who runs a real small painting biz out of his house, you may get the work for closer to $20 an hour. Paying insurance and all that crap is out of hand. Running the biz legit with every thing one would want will easily double the labor cost. I guess the reason I added this is that if your long time friends son is a painter and will paint for around $20 an hour and do good work, you definitely want to go with that.