A winter project
When it's too cold to paint outside, many painters turn indoors, and many homeowners use the heating season to repaint the whole interior at once. Doing every room in one project is efficient, but it's also a big job with many moving parts. This guide explains what drives the price of a whole-house interior repaint in Bowling Green.
Heating season, in numbers
National Weather Service 1991-2020 normals for Bowling Green give 3,797 heating degree days and 1,676 cooling degree days a year; January is the heaviest heating month at 860 and July the heaviest cooling month at 456.
Degree days measure how much heating or cooling a building needs. For an interior repaint, the January figure is a reminder that the furnace will be working while paint dries. Paint needs a room kept warm enough for its label, day and night, and dry heated air can speed drying but also shorten the time a painter has to blend wet edges. Painters may ask you to keep the thermostat steady and avoid turning heat off at night in rooms being painted.
Room count and room type
The total is built from rooms, and rooms aren't equal:
- Bedrooms and living rooms are mostly flat wall, the quickest to paint.
- Kitchens and baths have cabinets, fixtures and tile to cut around.
- Hallways are narrow and full of doors.
- Stairwells need tall ladders or staging.
- Rooms with high or vaulted ceilings add height and time.
Ceilings, walls, trim, doors
Each is priced on its own. Ceilings are slow; trim and doors take enamel and brushwork and often cost as much as walls. A proposal that lists these separately for each room lets you drop or add items.
Patching and prep
Nail holes, settlement cracks at corners, dings and old anchor holes need patching, sanding and priming. A house that hasn't been painted in a long time usually needs more. Kitchens need degreasing. The drywall repair and surface preparation guide explains what's involved.
Color changes
Keeping the same colors can mean fewer coats. Going from a deep color to a light one, or from light to a strong accent, may need a primer and extra coats. A house-wide color change adds up.
Furniture and access
Moving furniture to the middle of rooms, covering it, and taking down pictures, curtains and switch plates all take time. Clearing small items yourself can help. Ask what the crew moves and what they expect you to move.
Products and sheens
Different rooms suit different products: flat for ceilings, eggshell or matte for living spaces, satin or semi-gloss for kitchens, baths and trim. Better-quality paints cover better and clean better. See paint sheens and finishes.
Older paint inside
Under EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 must hold RRP certification, firms included, even sole proprietorships, and their workers must be trained in lead-safe work practices.
In a house built before 1978, sanding trim, doors and window sills is the work most likely to disturb old paint. Lead-safe set-up room by room adds time. You can ask the painter whether their firm holds RRP certification.
Living through it
A whole-house repaint usually moves room by room, so most of the house stays usable. Ask for a schedule by room, and where the crew will set up materials. Keep pets away from wet paint and ladders.
Questions to ask
1. How is each room priced: walls, ceilings, trim, doors? 2. How much patching is included? 3. How many coats on each surface, and with what? 4. What do you need from us on heat and ventilation? 5. In what order will the rooms be done?
See interior painting and the pricing guide for more.