if that includes all the preparation and materials and hire of scaffolding i'm sorry to say that it does sound like a lot of money but there's all the extra labour and materials with weatherboards and detailed work with decorative trims, picket fence and higher ceilings...you may find a cheaper quote but with three recommendations i'd hope that it would be an excellent job that can be forgotten about for many years

@OKLouise,

The price includes everything from start to finish. Prep, puttying, sanding, etc. undercoat and 2 coats.

Im not clear though, are you saying its a good price? or not so good price?

Brant

not a surprising price, there's a lot of labour and would take an amateur weeks to do...we had inside rooms without any decorative trims cost about $10,000 three years ago and we bought the paint...ask for itemised quote to see if there's any part of the job that you could do yourself and to identify unknown costs (eg scaffold hire?) the painter may be able to suggest ways to economise but they can possible charge more for their labour because they come well recommended

Thank you Dr. Retro. Excellent email back with great detail as always

It sounds about right, if not quite reasonable.

Flagfall allowance for painting component I put on moderate sized renos is $35K+GST. For a large new custom residence with various materials we're talking $50K+. 10 years ago you we used to talk about ballpark 10k inside 10K outside but it's moved well on&up like everything.. Also painters now understand how much value and the difference painting injects into a property. Think about the difference if you're selling a house like yours on the perception of a potential buyer. For the purpose of the conversation, if you try and sell a "tired" property for say ballpark $X, you might eventually concede/accept and offer for less than $X. Alternatively if you invest in painting (& other stuff like landscaping and strategic updates) you may well end up well beyond $X + improvements..... I digress, back to the painting topic, as Retro said you're paying for prep and application. It's predominantly a labour expense (the cost of the paint is virtually irrelevant in the whole scheme of things and cost of paint of certain quality is a whole other topic of conversation where false economy runs rife) and minimal "technical" skill from the application aspect, but the skill is in the experience of executing proper treatment of various surfaces and so the finish is as high quality and as long lasting as possible. You could probably get a "cheaper" quote, but likely the end results may not last as long and I bet then you'll then be paying again down the line with a higher quality/cost option after being disappointed with the results of going with a lower cost option......

Being recommended by 3 separate people says a lot about this option for you. Rather than "question" the quote, perhaps go back to them and get them to explain it, just so you understand what's involved with the job, and so you don't feel like you're paying more than what's reasonable - after that conversation you may have a different opinion of it!

Best of luck!

Cheers PD :)

Thank you Paul. Great suggestions and comprehensive reply.

Brant

Thank you @dreamer.

To be fair the price always felt right...but not having done this before I needed perspective.

Brant

My neightbours were just quoted $16,000 to paint a 90square metre weatherboard (highset).

Painting quotes generally directly reflect the time that will be put into the job. The longer taken (& higher cost) generally the longer the job will last. Spend less now/go a cheap job, the sooner likely you’ll be looking at painting again. If you’re flipping a house then it doesn’t matter, an economical freshen up will suffice. If it’s a long term thing for your own home then arguably it’s worth the investment in durability in the proper prep and multiple coats

and, i would prefer to buy a house in the unpainted state as a quick cheap paint job can hide a lot of faults and would rather have better quality longer lasting proper preparation and painting done ourselves

Thank you all as always for the perspecive you have provided.

I have decided to hire our painter and dont feel that $28k is too high considering the work that he is doing. He is working for me as a private contract (read into that what you will) and as I have mentioned, he has come recommend by 3 other people for who he did work.

In speaking with him I found out as well that he is willing to do smaller jobs we might not have considered at no additional cost when we are ready to put things in place. He has already started painting the outside loft area and from what I can tell a good job is being done. I also discovered that while he is not certified as a Master Painter, he has been recommend by someone who is a Master Painter...so that does carry some weight. He also holds a very large contract with a nursing home, painting their over 260 units....so overall I think he is OK.

See below. Bit hard to see, but you sort of get the idea.