How to Bid Painting Jobs - 6 Vital Things to Consider

Estimating house painting jobs is something that you develop over time. I can go into any house and go from room to room and tell you by eye just how much paint you will need to do the ceilings, walls and woodwork. I can also tell you just about how long it will take to paint each room basically.

I can even tell you just about how long it will take to paint each room in general. But estimating many times goes a lot deeper than just eyeballing a few simple rooms. So here are 6 points to help you when figuring your bids or estimates.

1.) Know Your Target Market

When getting prepared to do a painting estimate you first need to know your target market or markets. Are you going to be painting in the mid-class neighborhoods or are you aiming for the high-end expensive neighborhoods? Or are you going after commercial or industrial accounts?

Now you can you gauge how high you are going to set your bid rates. You can have have high-end rates for larger homes, or for commercial or industrial painting, and mid prices for the rest.

Personally, when it comes to painting for residential customers, I keep my rates the same. I do not care if it's high-end or middle class. If they cannot afford my painting services, I am out of there. Once you have painted at a higher price, it's hard to go lower unless of course, you are hard up.

If you are estimating painting jobs for big business you can and should aim competitively high without worrying about much competition as you would in residential painting. Plus larger commercial customers have deep pockets. Also to consider, if you are tackling those types of accounts you will need extra painters anyways so you definitely need to aim high in your bidding to cover their wages and benefits.

2.) Fool-Proof System

You need an accurate estimating method that works perfectly every time without fail. Whether inside or outside. You can stand and stare at a project all day and try to guesstimate exactly how long it will take you to paint something or you can use an accurate method for bidding paint jobs and walk away smiling and not wondering if you might bite the bullet on that one.

3.) Allowances

You need to allow for fuel, travel time and even giving Uncle Sam his cut. If your going to be driving long miles you definitely want to account for fuel and travel time, even overnight expenses if you get that radical in your painting business. Again, if you have employees you will need to account for their wages and benefits in your bids also.

4.) Hidden Expenses

You need to be aware of hidden expenses or projects that add extra time and extra materials to a job. Things like hard to cover colors, excessive prep time, high-work, down time due to outside sources that are common in new construction, etc.

5.) Cost of Materials

You need to know how much paint and materials you will be using. (Note: A good estimating system will automatically include all your paints and materials.)

6.) Flexible Methods

Your estimating system should have several ways of figuring your bids. Just like a set of golf clubs, some times you need a different driver to make it on to the next green.

Different jobs require different painting estimating techniques.

For example: painting ceilings, walls and woodwork estimating can change if you have excessive woodwork like walk-in closets with tons of shelving. Or rooms with high walls.

The same goes for exterior work in residential painting. Are the surfaces smooth and clean or is there stucco or shingles that require extra time and materials? When you have an accurate system in place you can build up an estimate to meet the type of project you are bidding on.

Many times on larger estimates, I will cross-check my painting bid from different angles by using two different estimating techniques just to make sure I have it all together and did not leave anything out of the big picture.

About Author:
Lee Cusano has owned and operated his own successful painting business for over 16 years now. Lee has also helped many others to start their own painting business with his Paint Like a Pro Estimating and Advertising CD-ROM. He also offers a free report titled "How To Gain a High Success Rate For Getting Painting Jobs". To get it visit http://www.painting-business.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

WallDreams brings you information you can use - when running your painting business is the only way to go!

Elegant Personality for Your Walls

Adding style and charm to an area as large as your walls isn’t always as easy as it sounds! There are so many options in painting, papering, faux finishes and paint treatments it can be hard to know what might be a good choice for your family. Right now a really hot technique is adding quotes, words or sayings to your walls that might be meaningful for those who live there, and it is very easy and inexpensive to do!

Adding meaningful words to your walls is inspirational, unique, and easy! You can do it yourself (which I am about to show you!) or you can order your words from online sources such as WallWords.com. (Tip: Online quote sources are a great place to get ideas for quotes and sayings as well.)

I like to place my quotes or sayings over a doorway or mantel, along a wallborder, or I use single words centered on doors or small, awkward wall sections. As soon as you have chosen your quotes or sayings, you are ready to get started!

Open a word processing program on your computer such as Word, and type in your saying. Experiment with starting each word with a capital, or all words lower case to see which looks best for your room. Now change and experiment with the fonts on your computer. If you highlight the entire passage first, every time you choose a new font, you will be able to preview how it looks. Keep in mind elaborate script looks better in a more formal or romantic setting. Choose a style that fits you and your room. Make sure you choose the font size to represent the size you would like on your walls. When you have chosen your font and size, print out the passage. Using a pair of scissors, cut apart each section of the quote as it will be painted onto the wall.

I like to use paint pens to draw the quotes onto the wall, but thick tipped permanent markers work as well, they come in many colors. Using scotch tape, tape the quote to the wall just above the area you will be drawing. Now use the computer printout as a guide, copy the words onto the wall with the paint pen. A strip of masking tape placed on the wall below the words will help keep you in a straight line. If you are not comfortable copying the letters, or if you have chosen a difficult font, place a piece of carbon behind the printout, and trace over the letters with a pen or pencil, leaving a pattern directly over the wall instead. Now go over the tracing with your paint pen.

This technique brings daily joy and inspiration to those who frequent your home, and is a meaningful way to express yourself in just an afternoon! Feel free to borrow a couple of my favorite quotes or words below, or try these sites for inspiration…

http://www.wallwords.com
http://www.quotationspage.com/
http://www.heartsandminds.org/quotes/quotes.htm

Or borrow some of my favorites… “I Can Do All Things…” –Philippians 4:13
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.” –Emerson
Live, Love, Laugh
Believe
Dream

Find your own, and give your loved ones a gift of inspiration every time they walk in a room!

About Author:
Kathy Wilson is an author, columnist, and editor of several popular home and garden websites. For hundreds of free do it yourself home and garden ideas, please visit her websites now at http://www.TheBudgetDecorator.com and http://www.TheGardenGlove.com Also visit her work at home site at http://www.Women-on-the-Net.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathleen_Wilson

WallDreams Paint Ideas!

Quotes I have used for my clients have included Scriptures (one as you are in the foyer looking into the dining area), great quotes over the front door, a reminder for a great lady when she woke up first thing in the morning of "I Believe", as well as simply block letters for children's rooms.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" - Joshua 24:15
"I Believe"
"Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much"
"We're off to see the Wizard"
"Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!)
"Eat, Drink and Be Merry" OR "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy", "Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous"

Think of where your favorite quote will work best. Is it a quote just for you or something you want to share with visitors to your home? Is it just for fun? What room or space will it be best viewed from?

Have frequent guests and they need help with directions to the Loo? (This one will bring out the water works of inspiration.)
Movie quotes are great too for media rooms.

Whimsy in decorating is fun - don't take everything too seriously, a simple word or line on a wall in our homes can bring a smile to our faces just when we need it.