How Do Painters Estimate A Job?

If you’re working as a painter and decorator then naturally, you will want to make the best income possible. But you must also consider that you cannot overcharge for your work otherwise you will simply lose out to your competition. 

Also think about the fact that offering extremely low prices to try and beat your competitors is also not a good idea. If you do this, there is a chance that potential clients will assume you’re only offering something so affordable because the quality of the work is not what it should be and this will put people off. 

It’s something of a minefield when it comes to pricing your work, that’s for sure and many professionals are left wondering how do painters estimate a job?

Estimating a painting job involves a few key factors including visiting the client’s home or commercial property to assess the job and measure up. You will then need to take into account the cost of materials, time and labour and most painters find that using special software makes the job that much easier. 

It’s essential to learn how to properly estimate and quote jobs as this is the first point of contact that your potential clients will have with you, aside from having looked at your website or social media pages. If the process isn’t simple and clear to the client, then there’s a good chance that they will go elsewhere. Learning how to estimate correctly will ensure that you win clients and appear extremely professional. 

What’s The Going Rate For A Painter In The UK?

The going rate for a painter in the UK will vary according to where in the country you are. For example, you’re going to be able to charge a lot more if you live in London than you would if you lived in the most rural country; Northumberland. 

However, according to CheckATrade, you can expect to charge around £400 per room, on average with the cost of painting an entire house being around £1300, based on this being an average sized three bed home. 

How To Correctly Estimate A Job

It’s no good speaking to a client over the telephone and quoting them a random price until you have actually seen what work needs to be done. That’s why it is important to have an estimating and quoting process that you follow to the letter every time. Doing this will ensure clarity for the client so that they don’t end up with any surprise costs and will help you plan the job better. Let’s take a look at what you’ll need to do.

1. You’ll start by visiting the client at their property. This will allow you to perform a full assessment of exactly what you’ll need to do. This is one of the most important steps as you may turn up and find that there’s a whole lot of prepping to do while other jobs may be much simpler and this will affect how long the work will take. You’ll also have the chance to measure the room.
2. Next, you will need to consider everything you have just seen and translate this into a realistic time frame. Some painters charge by the hour whereas others charge by the day or even for the job as a whole. In any case, understanding how long the work will take will enable you to provide a clear quote for your time. 
3. The next part of creating a clear estimate involves looking at the materials you will use. Most painters won’t charge their clients for things like brushes, rollers, dust covers etc as these are things that you already have and should merely be considered as general overheads and not direct job costs. However, you will need to charge the client for things like paint or filler if you are going to need to perform a lot of prep work. It’s important to detail these on the quote so that the client knows exactly what they’re paying for. 
4. You may also increase the overall cost of your hourly or daily rate when taking into account other overheads like transports, fuel and taxes.
5. Finally, you will need to draw up a quote for your client that details everything we have discussed in these numbered points. While this can be done manually, there are software applications you can use that are far more accurate and simple. We will go on to discuss these in more detail in the next section. 

Software

There are a lot of things you will need to invest in to successfully run a painting and decorating business and many people overlook the importance of estimating software. They mistakenly think that they will be able to work out and deliver quotes without technology and while this is true to an extent, having estimating software just makes life easier. You’ve got enough to worry about when running a business without any added stress.

There are a whole host of companies out there that offer estimating software as well as other programs to help your business run more smoothly and they’re certainly worth the investment. 

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Conclusion

Working as a painter involves much more than just decorating and the practical side of things. You will need to deal with customers on a daily basis and part of this includes providing them with clear estimates and quotes. 

While there may be surprise costs that crop up from time to time, performing a proper assessment of the job and weighing up all factors will ensure the most accurate quote. This will not only keep your customers happy but will also make life easier for you when it comes to planning.