Painting Houses….

Thank goodness we decided to hire this out and not do it ourselves!

Our original intent was to do the job ourselves, but that was when we were anticipating a cost of $3500 per house.  That was the first bid we got and we about choked- decided not to get any other bids because frankly, we know the amount of work involved in painting a house, we’ve painted our own!   And we also know the cost for materials- about $400.

Over the winter, though, someone told us they got a bid for about $1,800 on their house, and their house was similarly sized so we got back in the saddle and started interviewing painters.

We learned a few things….well, one thing.  Ask a lot of questions.  And ask EACH bidder those same questions so that you are truly comparing apples to apples.

We received three bids with prices allover the place ranging from $1,705 – $2,855.   The differences were spraying one coat versus two coats.  Or spraying only and not back-brushing or back-rolling.  Some bids included the garage door and front door and gutters, others were only for the house.  Some bids included mildicide and deep cleaning (not just pressure washing), some bids included recaulking and maintenance prior to painting.

We decided to go with the guy that gave us the most detailed description of what he’d be doing, even though his bid was the highest.  And it never hurts to ask someone to re-bid, which is what we did when I told him w e wanted to go with him, but that his bids were quite a bit higher than his competitors.  He ended up knocking down his price some.  He was still higher than the other bids, but we felt he would be doing a more detailed job.  (If you live locally and want to know who we used, please message me and I’ll send you his name and contact information).

Anyway…. the before and afters are stunning on the 4100 house.  Here’s the house today:

This is what it looked like at the start of the week (paint prep had begun, hence the ladder and polka dots)

I’m so in love with the new colors!  (And no picket fence, and no giant overgrown trees, and no weed-and-dirt yard, etcetera etcetera).  Here’s a progression of the home’s exterior appearance since January of this year:

I’m in love!

The other rental property didn’t change as drastically in appearance because it was already a shade of khaki/tan.  I’m sad though that the chunky screen door hides the gorgeous and freshly painted red door.  (boo).

I tried another picture in different daylight, but you still can’t see the door color…. bummer!

The before picture?  Not really all that different.  The new color just looks fresher.

Both houses were painted the same color and for future reference, these are the specs I gave our painter:

Body and garage color :  Miller Paint “Drifting Sand” #0218   1-27-3 (from the line “Color Is….”)
Shutters : Miller Paint “Black Licorice” #0529   3-24-7 (from the line “Color Is…..”)
Front doors : Lowe’s Valspar “Posh Red” #1011-4  (from the “Valspar Signature” line)

For the white trim, he just picked up a gallon of tintable white and had them add 2 drops of black and 2 drops of umber.  It’s really a nice white- not super bright, has just a hint of warmth added.  I love it!