A painting contractor contacted us yesterday. He had just 'walked' off a large painting contract (His price was £39k) consisting of painting heavy pebbledash render to the externals of lots of houses.
WHY?
Because he had started the project, got so far in, and realised he had totally under priced the job.
He was calling us because he wanted to know what price he should have put in.
OUR PRICE?
£72k.
WHERE HAD HE GONE WRONG?
Very few painters realise the labour time that is required to paint heavy pebbledash render. Spraying or airless fed rollers can speed up the process, but many times spraying is simply not feasible.
Another problem is that painters totally under estimate the quantity of paint required due to the porosity of the substrate and that fact that being so heavy textured, the overall surface area of the pebbledash render much greater than a flat surface. Sometimes, consumption rates can be as low as 15m2/5L per coat.
The moral of this tale is that if you are a painter and are not sure what rate to use, DON'T GUESS.
panddonline are painting estimators for painters all over the UK, so give us a call.
OR
Use our Quick Paint Rate painting rates calculator (Costs £125 + VAT).
Happy Estimating.
Mark
Painting Estimator-panddonline