Having a professional paint your home from top to bottom, inside and outside has a number of advantages. For one thing, it'll save you a ton of time by not having to do the work yourself. In addition, you won't have to be concerned about safety issues, such as climbing a ladder to paint your house's gutters. Best of all, you can expect a clean, attractive finished product from a professional painter.
High-gloss paint is the most durable and easiest to clean of all paint sheens. It's ultra-shiny, light-reflective, and hard (think appliance-paint tough). High-glass paint has too much shine for interior walls; you'd find the reflections and drywall flaws distracting. It is a good choice for areas that sticky fingers touch, though, such as cabinets, trim, and doors.
Your contractor will sweep or scrub the concrete first with a dry brush, and then clean it thoroughly with trisodium phosphate (TSP) and warm water, then let it dry. TSP is a mostly alkaline solution that does a great job cleaning grease and oil off concrete surfaces. Brush painting concrete siding costs $138 per 100 sq. ft., roll painting costs $50 per 100 sq. ft., and spray painting $32 per 100 sq. ft.
A gallon of paint costs $15 to $40 and covers about 350 square feet with one coat. Designer varieties can run over $100 per gallon. Your contractor pays 50 percent less than what it runs in a home improvement store. You’ll also need to spend another $20 to $100 on supplies like brushes, rollers, masking paper and plastic. A professional will have these items on-hand.
Painting exterior windows depend on the size of the window and the number of panes. To calculate the price for windows larger than 15 sq. ft., add 1’ to each side of the window and then multiply width x length. Add two sq. ft. for each window pane for painting the mullions, muntins, and sash and then multiply your total sq. ft. by $84/100 sq. ft. So a 4’ x 4’ window with 4 panes will come to a total of 44 sq. ft. x $84/100 sq. ft. = $37.
A single gallon of paint can run anywhere from $20 to $80 per gallon. Professionals get a contractor discount of anywhere from 25 to 50 percent. For rough siding, like stucco, you’ll need to use 10% to 20% more paint. Some textures, like wood and stucco, require extra paint because they have more surface to cover in a tiny area compared to smooth siding. Use the highest quality exterior paint your budget will allow for your project. It will look the nicest and save you money by offering better coverage and durability. Better coverage means fewer coats and fewer work hours. You’ll also go a few years longer without needing to shell out more cash for a new coat. How do you know how much paint you're paying for? Here's some helpful math: