Prices

Typically a low set brick veneer 3 bedroom house would cost between 4-6K dependant on condition, preparation required, accessibility (vacant or occupied) and a number of coats required.

Typically a standard timber post-war Brisbane house would cost between 9-13K dependant on condition, preparation required, accessibility, whether it has timber windows that need painting. It the house contains high levels of lead paint that requires preparation then additional costs to remove, make safe and prepare these surfaces would apply.

What about Scaffolding?

With so many 2 storey homes in and around Brisbane and the Gold Coast scaffolding is usually required to ensure the safety of the people working on your home. With a lot of the inner city homes especially within 5 to 7 radius of the Brisbane CBD, there is very little access down the sides of homes. So when costing and painting these homes the use of ‘narrow’ type scaffolding is required to do it properly and safely.

You do not need to supply scaffolding, the painter will come with their own. And a professional painter knows how to install with little disruption as possible. Scaffolding allows for even paintwork and correct prep work. Whilst it may be an inconvenience for a short amount of time it is needed for professional and beautiful paintwork.

The exterior of a typical house in Brisbane or the Gold Coast is usually timber and most likely a ‘Post War or Queenslander’ style. With timber exterior walls, decks, handrails, stairs most likely on stumps or 2 stories. When painting these types of homes it is common that the exterior surfaces have faded and/or broken down over time due to being exposed to the harsh Queensland climate. What you would normally see is peeling and flaking paint. It is also very common that these types of homes that were built pre 1990 have been painted with a paint with high ‘lead’ content.

Do I Need Lead Paint Testing?

All reputable and licensed house painting contractors will know this and will often to a ‘lead test’ to confirm lead content. The preparation of lead can still be done safely and this is a little more expensive than if having to prepare homes that do not contain lead. There are 2 options when it comes to the preparation of lead (that we recommend) and if you would like more information about this feel free to contact us any time. Lead paint can be harmful to young children and expecting mothers and should be treated with care and attention by the house painting experts. They should be familiar with the correct preparation techniques to avoid exposing occupants to this potential hazards.

Be very wary if a company or painter requests the full amount up front. This is not industry practice and should ring alarm bells. The painter does not need to have the full amount upfront ad they already have the materials etc. It is usual for a booking deposit to be paid then progress instalments. All of this and the dates for payments should be provided in your quote and be easy to understand.

For 45 years and hundreds of homes painted, the most important thing we educate on our clients is –

what is the cost of not getting your home painted properly?’

The last thing you want to do is pay for your home to be painted and then have to get it repainted in a couple of years because the painter has used inferior paint (or the wrong paint for its purpose). Or they haven’t properly prepared the surfaces and ‘cut corners’ by not priming or putting the required number of coatings on.

Just like we wouldn’t send our family and kids outside in the middle of winter without a jumper or coat on or in summer slip, slop and slap, neither should you leave your most valuable asset unprotected to the harsh Queensland climate. Hot, cold, wind and rain….we expect a lot from our paint coatings that are not thicker than a standard A4 piece of paper.

So it’s, for this reason, it’s critical if you are painting it yourself you follow the manufacturer’s specifications. Or if you hire a house painting company make sure that they are

• Licensed
• Insured
• Experts in the industry,
• Have lots of experience
• Will warranty their work

Of course, if you are paying thousands of dollars to get you want to make sure it’s going to last. That’s why you want to hire reputable painters that have years of experience.

How much does it cost to get your house painted unprofessionally is the real question. Over the last 20 plus years painting Brisbane homes the top 3 questions I have found most people ask themselves when wanting to get their house painted are:

1. Do I trust these people in my home?
2. Are they going do a professional job and not rip me off?
3. What happens if I’m not happy?

The pain and memory of a terrible paint job or bad experience last long after the cost of getting it done professionally the first time. Ask for references and to see previous work. Make sure you feel comfortable when the painter is at your house to quote the job. If they are acting unprofessionally during the quoting then how will their actual painting workmanship be? Are they going to provide you with a guarantee on their work with touch-ups if required? And ask them what happens if you aren’t happy with the finished job. This question will show you their expertise, as good painters will sit down and advise you how to go about the process so you will be happy in the end. The painter wants you to be happy with the final result as well!

This is one of the most asked questions I get before we’ve even looked at the house. Not all houses are the same and not all houses are in the same condition. In Brisbane we have a wide variety of houses ranging from;

• Timber Post War homes
• Grand old Queenslanders
• Newer masonry or rendered homes
• Brick veneer homes
• Architecturally designed homes

And all of these homes are set on different sized and sloped blocks. How the home is built on the land also contributes to the difficulty of painting and therefore is a pricing factor. Granted there are some variables that are constant however a professional painting contractor will want to visit the home, measure it up, check variables like current coatings, colours (and new colours), level of preparation required and access to areas being painted.

When I had to advise, I try to get them to answer a couple of other critical questions. These questions can determine the overall experience and ‘true cost’ of getting their house painted.

1. Why are they painting?
2. When was the last time the home got painted?
3. How soon do they need it done or what is the time frame they want the house painting completed in?
4. And lastly what is their budget?

What I am trying to make people aware of is that for most people their home is probably their most valuable asset and as such should take the time to consider other important factors and not solely focus on the price alone.

I remember a few years ago when I needed a new drill. After what seemed like an hour of looking at all the drills which ranged from $30 to over $200 each I decided to go with the cheapest one, that cost about $30 bucks. I thought to myself this is a bargain. But after only a minimal of uses I had worn out the brushes and the drill was useless. Now the cost of having to go back to buy another one and the inconvenience of not being able to do the job at hand made me realise basing my decision on price alone was not a good indicator of quality. And also the opposite can be true, just because something is expensive doesn’t mean it’s going to be fit for the purpose also.

Make sure to take the time to think about the 4 questions above when considering how to work out what level of professional house painting you would like. From there it will be much easier to sort out the ‘wheat from the chaff’ when choosing the right house painter for you.

Over the years this is one of the most asked questions I have been asked and it’s an interesting one to answer. Most people (not all, but from my experience most) that ask this question are trying to work out ‘how much’ a job’s going to cost. Fair enough, who wouldn’t want to know how much something is going to cost before deciding to go ahead with a house painting job.

However, this theory is fraught with danger and inconsistencies because an hourly rate is made up of several critical factors. They include but limited to;

• Expertise and skill level
• Award hourly rate
• Superannuation
• Work cover
• Insurance
• Administration
• Supervision
• Overheads and margins

Without all these factors a reputable house painting business would not be able to provide professional house painting service. In fact, they would have to ‘cut corners’ in preparation, number of coats or use inferior paint products to be able to stay in business.

Getting back to the question, what do house painters charge per hour? It’s like asking “how long is a piece of string”. . . it depends. A better and safer question to ask is how much is a professional, reliable house painting job going to cost?

Here’s why:

House painter A charges $50 per hour and house painter B charges $65 per hour. House painter A takes 5 days (40 hours) or $2000 in labour to complete the job. And house painter B is an experienced skilful house painting expert and takes 3 days (24 hours) or $1520 in labour to complete the job. I understand this is a generalised example however you get a quick picture that although painter A was cheaper per hour, painter B was $440 more cost-effective. Even at $75 per hour painter B is $200 cheaper than painter A.

For over 45 years, I’ve learned that each business has their own way of calculating the hourly rate. But from a client’s perspective, it’s more critical to ask how much is the house painting project going to cost. And all reputable painter will provide you with an upfront quote in full so that you know the price. Also, if any issues arise, reputable painters will advise you on the price adjustments as they happen.

Want a quote? QPaint provides realistic quotes at realistic prices. Need a quote? Go to our contact page or complete the form below and we will be in touch.