John Bunnell is the owner of the CertaPro Painters franchise in Austin, Texas. Here, he explains how he determines how much a paint job will cost. The most important thing, he says, is that every customer is made aware of what’s included and what’s not, and that there are no surprises.
People often wonder how to calculate the cost of painting the interior of a house, the exterior, or just a few rooms. The first thing we do at CertaPro Painters is meet with the homeowner, preferably with the homeowner who makes the financial decisions.
With the homeowner and other involved family members, we do what we call a first go-around. That means we walk around the exterior or through the interior of the house, ask questions, and answer questions to properly identify what we are going to do during the project.
We ask the clarifying questions in order to identify the:
- Color
- Number of coatings
- Level of preparation
- Possible repairs that need to be done
Once we have walked through the home and identified the scope of the project, we give the homeowner a client manual, which has pictures, testimonials, insurance information, and referrals. We let them review the manual, and then proceed to take measurements and do a closer inspection of the home.
After we have finished our measurements, we perform our calculations and prepare a proposal for the customer. We provide the customer with a detailed printed proposal that covers everything we discussed while walking around the house. During the presentation process, we go over everything with the customer line by line to make sure there are no questions and we haven’t missed anything. We present the painting proposal to them in a professional folder with insurance information, references, and paint colors, if requested. With all the information in front of them, the customer can now make an informed decision.
