{"id":2617,"date":"2020-11-11T09:27:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T14:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/?page_id=2617"},"modified":"2025-02-26T11:08:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T16:08:37","slug":"chapter-5-painting-costs-in-boston","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/commercial-painter-hiring-guide\/chapter-5-painting-costs-in-boston\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5:    Boston Commercial Painter &#8211; Pricing"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Chapter 5: Commercial Painters &#8211; What To Know About Pricing<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Did you know: \u00a0Commercial paint pricing is different than residential paint pricing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Commercial paint pricing per square foot is usually less than painting a home with the same square footage. This is because Commercial Painting Companies paint on a larger scale and can take advantage of efficiencies in the project. This includes buying paint and supplies in bulk, and the fact that the painting crew gets faster and more efficient the longer the project takes.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Ask your Boston area Commercial Painter about these 3 \u201csecret\u201d ways they might be able to save you money:<\/b><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Perform interior work in the winter to instantly save 10-15% on the project.<\/strong> The best months to negotiate a discount in the Boston area are January and February.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spraying paint on exteriors and interior will save you at least 20% over brushing and rolling.<\/strong> Make sure your painter is using a gas-powered sprayer with a wide spray tip to get the best efficiencies and pricing. A gas-powered sprayer will paint much faster than an electrical sprayer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Have the work done while the building is closed over a holiday weekend.<\/strong> This will save the labor cost because the painting crew can leave their supplies in place and be ready to go the next morning without having to set up each morning and clean up every night.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><b>It\u2019s less expensive to hire a Commercial Painter than have your own employees do the work for you because:<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li>Unless your employees are professional painters, they will have little knowledge about organizing, staging, and producing a commercial painting project. A non-professional painter will end up taking double or triple the time as a professional Commercial Painting Contractor on the same project.<\/li>\n<li>The extra time they take to complete the painting may have an effect on the foot traffic allowed in the building and could decrease your sales, revenue, or production capacity for that period.<\/li>\n<li>You will need to buy the equipment and most power washers, sprayers and lifts have a steep learning curve.<\/li>\n<li>Your price for paint will be higher because most Commercial Painting Contractors get rock-bottom pricing because they buy in bulk so often.<\/li>\n<li>You will be paying your employees their normal wages, plus payroll taxes during the project, and the end result is likely to look less professional (think drips and amateur wall patching).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Here are some ways to help reduce the cost to paint<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Match the current paint color instead of changing colors.<\/strong> By doing this you can often be fine with only one coat of paint versus two if you\u2019re changing colors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Perform interior work in January and February<\/strong> when most Boston Commercial Painting Companies are slower and can offer a discount on the project.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ask for a quote with minimal preparation<\/strong> &#8211; this means only large imperfections will be addressed and smaller ones will be left.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choosing a scuff-resistant paint<\/strong> adds to the cost up front, but saves money in the long run by resulting in a paint job that lasts for years beyond normal paint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>How many bids should I get?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>You should get at least 3 bids for your project. Make sure all of the quotes are using the exact same specifications so you know you are looking at an <a href=\"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/commercial-painter-hiring-guide\/chapter-3-comparing-painters\/\">\u201capples-to-apples\u201d comparison when the quotes are side by side<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why are some of the Commercial bids I got from different Boston Commercial Painting Companies so different in price?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Price differences between Boston area Commercial Painting Companies can vary because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The specifications and assumptions of the bid are different. For example, one Commercial Painter might be basing the cost on 1 coat of paint, while another might be specifying 2 coats. This is why getting the exact specifications correct and up front is so important &#8211; so all of your commercial painting candidates are on the same page before they submit their quotes.<\/li>\n<li>Larger companies get a better deal on the paint itself and may be able to price the project lower than a smaller Commercial painting company.<\/li>\n<li>If you are a business owner with lots of future painting projects, a new Commercial Painter may price the job lower just to get their foot in the door with future bids.<\/li>\n<li>Be aware that some contractors are purposefully loose with the detail in their quotes, not stating exactly what they\u2019ll be doing on the proposal. This leaves a lot of room for interpretation and if you use a contractor that does this, you may find yourself with dozens of add ons and change orders because things that you thought were included, aren\u2019t included.<\/li>\n<li>Just like car companies have entry-level and luxury lines of cars, reputable paint companies, such as Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams have <a href=\"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/community\/which-paint-is-best\/\">different GRADES of paint within their brands.<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li>This is important because if a quote specifies \u201cBenjamin Moore Paint\u201d &#8211; it could be talking about the cheapest and least effective grade of paint within the Benjamin Moore product line.<\/li>\n<li>You want to know the BRAND AND GRADE of paint &#8211; something like \u201cSherwin Williams Resilience\u201d or \u201cBenjamin Moore Regal\u201d is a correct description of the type of paint your Boston Commercial Painter has specified for your project. With only the brand of paint specified, you could be getting very inexpensive and low-quality paint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Project add-ons (often called \u201cchange orders\u201d):<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>During most Commercial Painting projects, add-ons to the original scope of work need to be quoted. If your painting company has priced your job low with very vague details included in writing, they may now depend on these add-ons as the main source of their profit.<\/p>\n<p>Add-ons should be billed at the same rate as the original work. Ask your Commercial Painting Contractor their hourly rate and then how long the add-on will take and what the material cost is. Here\u2019s your formula for add ons:<\/p>\n<p>(<strong>Hourly rate<\/strong> x <strong>Number of hours<\/strong>) + <strong>materials<\/strong> (paint\/wood etc.)<\/p>\n<h3><b>Do not accept \u201ctime and materials\u201d bids:<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Always ask for a quote for the work upfront. A good Commercial Painter will know how long it will take them to complete the work in hours and how much the materials will cost.<\/p>\n<p>If you agree to \u201ctime and materials\u201d you will be caught babysitting the crew to make sure they are \u201creally working\u201d the hours they say they are. Bidding by \u201ctime and materials\u201d is fraught with misunderstandings, and often ends up with the customer paying much more than they were planning to.<\/p>\n<p>If you must pay by \u201ctime and materials\u201d make sure there is a cap on the time and amount of money they spend on materials, so you\u2019re not surprised by the final price.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What is included in a decent Commercial Painting Quote?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>You will want to make sure the following elements are included in your quote. Without some or all of these elements, the details of the quote will leave too much open for interpretation, and you might possibly be on a different page than the Commercial Painter you hire:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The name and address of the person and\/or company hiring the Commercial Painter (A)<\/li>\n<li>The job site address (B). The job site can be different than the address above if a property manager, for example, is hiring a Boston-area Commercial painter to paint at a Condominium Complex in another town in which his office is located.<\/li>\n<li>A detailed description of the project details including but not limited to:\n<ul>\n<li>The goal of the project<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The brand of paint included in the price of the quote &#8211; this should be specified for all areas (walls, ceiling, shutters, doors, stucco exterior) the Commercial Painter will be applying paint<\/li>\n<li>The grade of paint included in the price of the quote<\/li>\n<li>A description of all of the set up and clean up included in the quote<\/li>\n<li>A description of special issues to be aware of, for example, \u201cdo not park painting vans in any condominium resident spaces\u201d or \u201cpainters need to do a full clean up each evening in the copy room.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The written warranty that describes how long the paint is warranted against failure, and what areas are excluded from the warranty. For example, deck floorboards because people walk on them and wear the paint away quickly are often not covered under most warranties.<\/li>\n<li>The Boston Painting Contractor\u2019s Massachusetts license number<\/li>\n<li>The includes and excludes of the project<\/li>\n<li>The base price and any optional items that can be added to the quote if desired.<\/li>\n<li>A place where the Contractor signs the quote as well as a place where you sign and date the quote.<\/li>\n<li>Legalize that protects both you and the contractor.<\/li>\n<li>Here is an example of a <a href=\"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1237\/2020\/11\/Proposal_3_Test-Account_10-28-2020.pdf\">detailed and well-written quote for a simple deck project at a condominium complex<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Deposits and progress payments<\/li>\n<li>Common Commercial payment plans for painting include:<\/li>\n<li>A deposit of 25-50% of the cost of the project upfront before the project begins<\/li>\n<li>A progress payment at specified intervals during the job (usually 50% and 75%)<\/li>\n<li>Terms for final payment &#8211; (usually \u201cdue on completion\u201d or within 10-30 days)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chapter 5: Commercial Painters &#8211; What To Know About Pricing Did you know: \u00a0Commercial paint pricing is different than residential paint pricing? Commercial paint pricing per square foot is usually less than painting a home with the same square footage. This is because Commercial Painting Companies paint on a larger scale and can take advantage<a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/commercial-painter-hiring-guide\/chapter-5-painting-costs-in-boston\/\">Read the full article <em class=\"fa fa-angle-double-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":1,"parent":2611,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-dynamic-fields-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[367,368,149,369,289],"class_list":["post-2617","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial-painting","tag-boston-commercial-painter","tag-commercial-exterior-painter","tag-commercial-interior-painters","tag-commercial-painting-education","tag-edited"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2617\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/boston-south-shore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}