New Construction
New construction painting projects refer to both new builds and renovations where new walls and trim are installed. These projects are usually difficult and can be a headache because of the number of parties involved (homeowner, contractor, designer, other sub-contractors, etc...). There is always plenty of prep-work, change orders and delays which can cause frustration. As such, the new construction process and pricing are contingent on many factors.
How much does a new construction project cost (Toronto, 2022)?
The price for new construction projects vary greatly. As of 2022, a new construction painting project can cost from $1.50 - $10+ /sf. This is a huge range, but we will explain why.
The lower end of the price spectrum is reserved for production houses. Developers can pay pennies because they have plenty of work and can keep painting crews busy year round. Additionally, these projects are cookie cutter and well managed (most of the time), allowing crews to paint entire houses in a day. Our company steers clear from these types of projects because the pay is usually not enough for us to do a good job.
Prices on the upper end of the spectrum are for high-end custom houses and projects where there will be headaches. If the client/contractor expects perfection, or if we know the construction process will be a mess (lots of change orders, poor management, etc...), we will charge at rates starting around $9.00 /sf. If you are expecting glass-like finishes on your trim and black doors, you likely fall under this category.
With that being said, how much do we charge for an average new construction painting project? If your expectations are not sky high, and we perceive your project to be well managed (competent contractor), or if we have worked with you in the past, you can expect to pay around $6-$8 /sf on a new construction project.
What is the process for painting a new construction project?
Different painting companies approach new construction projects differently. Each have their own reasons and processes which work best for them. However, things always change during construction so we are always prepared to vary from our preferred process. The following is how we would like to do a project in an ideal situation:
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Spray prime walls and 2 finish coats onto the ceiling (sanding after priming) before the floors are installed. Doing these steps before the floors are installed allow us to not worry about overspray getting on the floors.
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Once the floors and trim are installed, we come back, mask the floors and fill all the holes and knicks on the new trim, sand, vacuum and apply 1 coat of primer on the trim.
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We then sand and vaccum the trim again and then caulk any cracks or crevices.
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Afterwards we apply 2 finish coats of paint while once again sanding and vacuuming in between coats.