Determining Interior Painting Costs

Modern-Living-Room-With-Orange-AccentThere a handful of different factors when trying to determine Interior Painting Costs. What does interior painting cost is one of the questions we receive most often from our Facebook Page and from our website.

Some of the factors when trying to determine interior painting costs from a professional painting company are: The height of the walls, the quality of the paint, the shape of the walls and the color scheme.

The Height of the Walls

If your paint job requires only the painting of walls that are 8 feet in height and under, then your interior painting costs will remain on the low end. If your painter needs to be working off a ladder painting at 10-20 feet, your interior painting costs will typically increase by 15-30%. So a job that would cost $500 could easily cost from $575 – $650 if it requires the painting of high walls.

The Quality of the Paint

Interior Paint quality can vary drastically and so can the price. This will really affect your interior painting costs. Interior paint can range from $10 a gallon to $70 a gallon  and the truth is that you do get what you pay for. Typically, paints that cost more will have more solids in them while cheaper paints will have more liquid in them (water). More solids means better coverage (fewer coats) and smoother looking paint. This can affect your interior painting costs in different ways. Cheaper paints may take three coats to cover while more expensive paints will cover in two. When you factor in the extra paint and the extra time spent painting a third coat. A good $30 paint will give you your best return for your money. The cost of the paint will be cheaper to begin with and it will cover well in two coats, thus keeping your interior painting costs to a minimum.

The Shape of the Walls

I am not referring to the geometrical shape, but do your walls have holes, sags in old paint, dings and other issues. If you would like all of these issues fixed and have beautifully smooth walls, you can plan on roughly $25 to fix a 4”-8” diameter hole. Pin holes and minor cracks are usually included in your interior painting costs but larger holes and cracks will create additional costs.

Color Schemes

A color scheme can have a huge factor in interior painting costs. If a painter needs to change paint colors in the corner of a room, there is a lot of added time and a bit of costs. First, your painting contractor will need to stop and clean his equipment, this will add 15 minutes or so. Next they will need to either tape the corner of the wall or cut it in with a brush, this will add more time. If this is done often, you can easily add a lot to your interior painting costs.

Next time you want to get an idea of what your interior painting costs will be, use these factors to help determine where your costs could end up.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *