Contractors make out like bandits. That seems about right for what they'd charge. 1 days worth of work with maybe max $200 of paint, tape, drop, brush, roller, and $750 for labor lmao.

You are the most reasonably priced painter in Boston. Painting is the ultimate DIY project.

That's about right.

Alternatively you do it yourself. Painting is very easy and mostly prep work.

All in the same color, or with decorations? Do the walls currently have a darker paint? Are there any holes that need spackling?

A painter for the inside parts of your house? For only one room?

Are you elderly or handicapped?

I had a room painted last year that was a similar size and the quotes from well regarded painters in my area were about that (including paint).

I paid 1500 for 2 rooms last year and I’m in the burbs. You might find cheaper out there but it’s not a crazy high rate

I'll do it for $949.

I'll do it for $948!

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There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to the edges. Nothing an hour of Youtube doesn't teach. And don't skimp on paint or tools. Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams unless you like to apply a few extra coats.

That’s literally fair market price for a room to be painted. So I would say just sign the contact or DIY

That sounds like a reasonable rate.

This. Unless you're looking for something fancy, anyone can do it. Bite the bullet on the price of some painters tarps, tape, brushes, rollers, pans, etc.

You'll most likely use them again in the future, and next time around you'll have the knowledge gained from the first time.

Absolutely do it yourself. Buy a high end brush and do the cutting first. Take your time and skip the painter's tape. Then roll it. Your hardware guy will hook you up. It will take you two hours per coat.

Call Metropolitan Plastering & Painting, they are based in the South Shore but I’m sure they service all of boston. Rafael is the owner, super nice guy reasonable price and extremely professional.

Do you have arms?

That’s a lot of space for a grand. Especially with a ceiling, that’s about 2 hours of setting up, prepping, working and cleaning. A decent price when you consider what it would take for you to do it without a professional touch.

Yes I have arms. I am pregnant.

Thank you, I’m pregnant so looking to have it completed by a painter at this time.

Walls same color, white ceiling and trim. Spackling I can do

Thank you that’s good to know.

Yes just the one room. I am pregnant.

Thank you. Good to know!

Have the father or another friend or family member do it.

Painters are in pretty high demand in greater Boston. Because they usually do all the prep at once, it ends up being disproportionately more expensive per sq ft for a single room than for a larger space.

For a single room, I'd try checking with a handyman too to see if they might do it cheaper, since they charge by hour of labor and the nature of their work means they may be able to squeeze in the waiting steps of painting.

DIY is also an option but when we did our place, with full time jobs and our (lack of) skill, it took weeks to do a few rooms. We hired a pro for stairs and for the rooms with vaulted ceilings and they finished in 2 days. So next time we are definitely just going to pay painters lol.

But they really aren’t at this rate. You didn’t include all of the other expenses they have to incur.

What about the costs associated with a commercial vehicle; gas, insurance etc?

Rent for an office or warehouse if it’s a larger company?

Wages aren’t as high as you think after having to paying for taxes/benefits for employees

Paint it yourself, unless you literally can't due to disability/injury.

Thank you! This is so helpful! Yes, I wish we were able to do it ourselves at this point but we need to hire it out. A handyman is a good idea.

Look on TaskRabbit. You can hire someone by the hour. Results may vary.

Seems reasonable to me if you want it done right. You can always check Craigslist.

Shit, I'll do it for $900

My mom was pregnant at least once, I'm thinking twice since I have a sister. Good luck with all of that. My mom taught me how to frame a house and paint it.

$901, Bob!

You could maybe look for a Jack of all trades handyman type who charges by the hour not the job.

You might want to join Nextdoor, it’s an app that is a very helpful resource for things like this in your community. You’ll find lots of locals with a variety of services they offer. I think you can do much better than $950 for one room. nextdoor.com

Hell supply the paint rollers tape and tarp I'll do it for 450.

I don’t know if that’s a good rate but I’m sorry so many people here just assume you’re able bodied or willing to take the risk with your pregnancy. Best of luck OP.

Thank you!! Sheesh, I’m just looking to see if there are any painter reccs…I’ve already had a complicated pregnancy—trying to mitigate risk where I can.

Fuck all the way off

She said she was pregnant

Do you have eyes? She already stated she’s pregnant.

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ITT are a bunch of people who don’t understand how physically demanding and potentially dangerous painting would be for a pregnant person. You’re right to outsource this - but unfortunately like a lot of things it’ll cost you to pay the problem away around here. Pay it and move on.

That’s cheap. Take it

To get a professional to paint , that is reasonable price for the city, as much as I hate to say it.

That sounds about right based on the quotes I got last year

Sheet I'll do it for $951

hire a poor art student

Matthias at MZ painting did a great job for our home. He did interior and exterior and prices were more than reasonable. He worked cleanly, cleaned up well and very respectable dude. MZ Painting

Don’t know where you are located but we’ve worked with Ryan Painting for both interior and exterior work in JP and Brookline homes. We had them do significantly more work than just paint so it’s hard to compare costs, but I can guarantee you’ll love their work.

$950 is not expensive.

What will they be doing? Prep, patching, priming and 2 coats of paint? High quality paint like BM or SW? I would be surprised if you could get that for $950.

It is a fair price based on painting work I had to sell my place recently, if you want to take a chance and pay less you could put a call out on marketplace with the price you want to pay and see if you have any takers that might need quick cash— young people, someone just starting out as a handyman, etc. I’ve had friends do that before with some success but they’re more willing to take on risk than I am.

Call Yumont Hardware in Jamaica Plain, they can recommend some of the best painters in town, I’d ask specifically for contact info for Chris the Painter, RS Painting, and Andrew Stone Home improvement, and anybody else they recommend.

These are all excellent painters with fair prices and professionalism to match.

When you call the painters tell them Yumont sent you, I bet you’ll get a better quote.

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My quick back of the envelope estimate is 2-3 gallons for the walls and 1 for the ceiling (2 coats on each), based upon self painting many houses. Maybe 50-60$ a gallon - that's at least $200 in paint alone. Throw in another $100 for other stuff (caulk, spackle, tape, etc), transportation, etc. Meaning maybe $650 for labor. At 50$ per hour, that's maybe 13 hours. If the cost includes all the prep work (patching, sanding, sealing, etc.), all supplies, working with windows and doors, and all labor, that's seems like a pretty reasonable estimate.

Hire this guy

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Jumping on to say that I paid $800 for my basement (one big room) in the ‘burbs last year through the contractor we were already using for a remodel. $950 in Boston proper doesn’t sound too far off.

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Economy of scale only works to a point.

Two rooms for $1500 doesn’t in any way mean it’s going to cost $750 for one room.

Painting one room will always be unreasonably expensive because you’re paying for a 1-2 man painting crew’s entire day.

It’s not like they punch out and you don’t pay them while they wait for the primer or first coat to dry a bit, and they can’t just move on to another room.

It’s also rare to have such a small sized job so they can’t just jump to another small job and come back (you wouldn’t want them to anyway).

What you’re paying for if they’re pretty decent painters but on the low end is is probably $35/hr. is 2x 8hrs x $35 = $560 for a crew of two for the day.

Paint has gotten absurdly expensive too.

So based on your dimensions and assuming 8’-0” walls, one door and two windows and trim at the base and frames - about 3 gallons of primer and depending on your trim color, 3-4 gallons of paint.

Call it $50 for Primer and $200 for Paint.

Add 20% markup for them having to get the paint, and another $100 in overhead charges to cover their supplies, etc, and you’re at $560+$300+$100

So that seems fair.

My advice is (if you can afford it, I know you’re expecting) think about having another room painted, you’d probably just be paying another $250-300 in materials.

Welcome to hiring people for a job and they price correctly. If you aren’t willing to do the painting, don’t complain when someone asks you to pay a fair price to stay all day in your home painting one room. This is most likely a one day job. They need to pay bills too. They also pay for the paint… so you would also be covering that in the $950. Paint isn’t cheap. Tools aren’t cheap. Tarps aren’t cheap. Time isn’t cheap. Good painters aren’t cheap. You want a $100 paint job, buy the paint and hire some teens to do it.

I’m not complaining—literally just asked for a painter recc. just trying to get the best price.

Thank you, that’s really helpful!

I just paid $3,000 for a small bedroom, granted it was somewhat complicated and required a lot of prep work but I wouldn't say it was abnormal, if you want professional results, the end result was perfect, much better than I could have done myself, I know because I've tried it myself..

Hey good thing you’re here, some people have to wait two whole weeks into their micro 101 class before they learn that. I hear both supply and demand can also be a factor in price does that match your studies as well?

Show me on this doll where the comment hurt you.

It didn’t hurt but I was taught when someone is being a dick don’t let it slide or they’ll go on and keeping being a dick to the next one and the one after that.

Did you think that OP or I genuinely didn’t get that price drops when you buy in bulk, like items in a grocery store? That’s common knowledge and it’s rude to imply that someone doesn’t know something that is common knowledge. That’s just be being a dick

Were you excited to correct someone in an area that made you feel intellectual? That’s understandable but wasn’t really warranted in this example and still would just be being a dick.

Is there a third option? I don’t see what purpose your comment had. I think you’re just being a dick

It’s one bedroom…. Their profit margin needs to be met, plenty of work to go around. Way too much headache for no reward. I’d do it yourself.

With a rule of thumb: spend more time taping and covering than painting. A lot more. Especially your first time.