Why is my paint job cost more than flooring?

Depends on how many people they brought in to finish the job though i would say they under charged you on the flooring.

Can you PM me your paint contact, looking to get mine done as well, but I agree getting walls painted seem to be expensive now a days.

You paid less than $5 per square foot for flooring, including the removal of old flooring, new material and installation?

That's the problem - you bought cheap flooring with el-cheapo installers.

Also - you sure about the 250 sq feet of walls and ceiling for your living room and hallway?

If the living room floor was 215 sq ft, then the ceiling is 215 sq ft on its own. Are the walls in the living room 2 feet high?

Assuming 15 x 14 foot living room (about 215 sq ft) a single 15 x 8 foot high wall is 120 sq ft. So assuming your living room has at least one wall to hold up the ceiling, that's 335 sq ft. More likely 500 sq ft of wall/ceiling just in the living room.

Comparing flooring prices and wall painting is pretty strange, and the cost of painting is why most of us DIY.

The cost of flooring installation, installing good product, is why I DIY my flooring. I've never spent less than $5 per sq ft just on the materials alone. Installation should double that.

If you're spending a lot less than $10 per sq foot on flooring with installation, then you're installing crappy product and will need to replace it likely in 10 years.

noobienoob wrote: ↑ Hello fellow RFDers,

I recently had a paint job done.
I love it and all but there's something that irks me.
Not sure why the labour for paint job cost more than the flooring itself.

Granted, the paint job was more than the living room and the floors were only for the living room.
But painting seems "easier" than flooring.


Paint Cost - $1300 including material, and prep
Duration : one day
Paint Material - Dulux Life Masters, they provide

Living room and entrance hallway - 250 square feet, walls and ceilings
Kitchen ceiling - about 180 square feet
Upstairs hallway - including the stair way which is a bit higher
High entrance hallway - to paint the non-pop corn ceiling (about 4 inches wide around a 7 by 8 feet area)
Powder Room - 5 x 6 square feet

Flooring Cost - $900 for Living room - 215 square feet including removal of glued down flooring

Anyone can help chime in on my RFD savviness ? (And no, i'm not a handyman and couldn't do it in one day)

Thanks,

I mean, it is easy to do. Why didn't you do it yourself?

Hopefully it was low VOC paint and formaldehyde/chemical free flooring. Unlikely at that pricing though.

torontotim wrote: ↑ You paid less than $5 per square foot for flooring, including the removal of old flooring, new material and installation?

That's the problem - you bought cheap flooring with el-cheapo installers.

for flooring, i provided the material, baseboards, and wax paper.

they covered the labour

torontotim wrote: ↑ Also - you sure about the 250 sq feet of walls and ceiling for your living room and hallway?

If the living room floor was 215 sq ft, then the ceiling is 215 sq ft on its own. Are the walls in the living room 2 feet high?

Assuming 15 x 14 foot living room (about 215 sq ft) a single 15 x 8 foot high wall is 120 sq ft. So assuming your living room has at least one wall to hold up the ceiling, that's 335 sq ft. More likely 500 sq ft of wall/ceiling just in the living room.

Comparing flooring prices and wall painting is pretty strange, and the cost of painting is why most of us DIY.

The cost of flooring installation, installing good product, is why I DIY my flooring. I've never spent less than $5 per sq ft just on the materials alone. Installation should double that.

If you're spending a lot less than $10 per sq foot on flooring with installation, then you're installing crappy product and will need to replace it likely in 10 years.

i paid $5.50 for the floors itself before taxes, not include baseboards and wax paper

engineered wrote: ↑ I mean, it is easy to do. Why didn't you do it yourself?

Hopefully it was low VOC paint and formaldehyde/chemical free flooring. Unlikely at that pricing though.

i'm a newbie and needed it done soon.
Lifemaster is a no VOC paint

ya...i am struggling with that....was wondering i could plug some guy from kijiji and do it for a lot cheaper

So you are complaining the labour on one job is less than labour and materials on another job? And the second job was bigger than the first job?

I agree. I am livid my car costs more than my phone. I’d like to speak to Jeep’s Manager.

noobienoob wrote: ↑ i paid $5.50 for the floors itself before taxes, not include baseboards and wax paper

Then you didn't pay $900 for the 215 sq ft of living room flooring.

And with that, exit stage left. This is a nothing-burger.

torontotim wrote: ↑ Then you didn't pay $900 for the 215 sq ft of living room flooring.

And with that, exit stage left. This is a nothing-burger.

i got no issue with the labour cost i paid for flooring....

i'm just not sure why the paint job cost more than flooring labour.....

Flooring just seems a lot more work intensive.....

noobienoob wrote: ↑ i got no issue with the labour cost i paid for flooring....

i'm just not sure why the paint job cost more than flooring labour.....

Flooring just seems a lot more work intensive.....

I never understood why plumbing is the most expensive trade either.

koleso wrote: ↑ I never understood why plumbing is the most expensive trade either.

How much would you have to be paid to dig around other peoples' feces?

Painting is harder to have a perfect result. When you don't do a good paint job, you can see it from a mile away and it's VERY noticeable. When there are small gaps in the flooring job, it's much harder to notice and the resulting look is more dependent on the quality of the material of the floor. You can get a good painter to do a pretty good job with crappy paint, but on the flip side a crappy painter will do a horrible job, regardless of the quality of the paint.

noobienoob wrote: ↑ i'm a newbie and needed it done soon.
Lifemaster is a no VOC paint

ya...i am struggling with that....was wondering i could plug some guy from kijiji and do it for a lot cheaper

Oh, you can always pay someone to do it cheaper, will you be happy with the result? That's debatable.

The minimum going rate for a painter now a days is about $90/hour and then up from there. You can do the math to back calculate materials and time spent.

Sounds like both prices are fair/reasonable, and if you're happy with the job done just carry on.

noobienoob wrote: ↑
i got no issue with the labour cost i paid for flooring....

i'm just not sure why the paint job cost more than flooring labour.....

Flooring just seems a lot more work intensive.....

Painting probably requires just as much skill as flooring, depends on how you look at it. Cutting in is a lot harder than people think. Also, painting probably took just as much time or more and materials were in that bill.

For flooring is basically snap a line to start, get your first row in, and then just go to town. You cuts probably have a full 1/4 of leeway, which is massive, don't even need to use a measuring tape.

The hard part about flooring is getting thresholds nice, and angled ones at that. The good installers will use biscuts and route T&G in for the angles. Most of them will just glue/nail it down and call it good enough.

koleso wrote: ↑ I never understood why plumbing is the most expensive trade either.

Supply/demand, highest risk of damage to your house, dirty work, hard/annoying work usually in tight spaces, using hazardous chemicals all the time in poorly ventilated areas, lots of codes that you have to know. Seems to check out. What do you think should be the most expensive trade?

Painting definitely is more labour intensive than flooring...

Painting is def more labour intensive than flooring. Painting involves prep, priming, tape off corners and areas, unscrew wall plates, up to 2 coats of paint, covering trim, ceilings, touchups, there is always touchups, and your done, if u want a cheap paint job, you will get what you pay for, there will be paint on the ceiling and bulkheads, they will even paint over your outlets instead of taking off the covers

engineered wrote: ↑ How much would you have to be paid to dig around other peoples' feces?

People get paid to to that? I thought it was usually the other way around.

SubjectivelyObjective wrote: ↑ The minimum going rate for a painter now a days is about $90/hour and then up from there.

Sounds like both prices are fair/reasonable, and if you're happy with the job done just carry on.

Frankly, I don't think painting ought to be a job that pays the equivalent of $180k/yr.

That being said, I agree that if OP is happy with the job he ought to just be happy and move on.