I just signed up to this site. Ive been painting for some time and still haven't figured it all out when it comes to bidding. I do think that calculating sq.ft. Really only works for new construction. When it comes to working in someones home there are so many variables I don't think sq.ft works. For example setting up, moving furniture, drop cloths, masking...Ive painted rooms with all furniture moved to the center with little room to maneuver because there was just nowhere to put it. The same room might take half the time empty. Thats just one example. But my point is every job is different. I have my day rate, I figure how many hrs, or how many days, calculate materials, and then add 20% to cover, overhead/profit. I try to get 200$ a day, but to use someones word from recent post philanthropainting, some times Im flexible. Factor in things like trips to paint store, time it takes to clean up every day. All these things go way beyond the sqft price. Also according to the Paint Contractors manual published in 1985 the sq.ft price average was 1.30 how is it possible the average went down since 85? Im not being a wise ass just trying to learn. Hope this helps.
Woah. If you are a professional painting contractor and you are finding and doing your own jobs then you are selling yourself way short making only $200 a day. Around $200 a day is what a skilled and experienced house painter should be making working for a reputable painting company not running his or her own business.
My suggestion is that you start quoting jobs based on the total job cost and not by the hour or day. Believe me you will find that to be much more profitable and you will deal with a better level of clients however you will have to find at least one reliable and competent painter to help you especially if it is a larger job like an entire house otherwise you will lose money and anger clients when their repaint drags into weeks because you are doing the work alone. Look at it this way. If you are charging $200 a day to paint say a master bedroom when the job is really worth say $350-$400 based on what other companies in your area are charging and the job can still be done in a day then you are losing money each and every day.
If you are cool with making around $200 a day then do yourself a favour and just work for someone else and avoid all the headaches of running your own business and paying all your own overhead. If you want to step it up and make the real dough you will have to start learning how to properly quote by the job its that simple.
With regards to quoting repaints they can in fact be done by calculating square footage quite easily and this method is by my experience anyways is used by many painting companies including my own. Start by finding out what other companies are charging on average in your area per square foot to help you arrive at your standard base price per square foot. In a nutshell you then measure the walls and ceiling heights to calculate square footage of the walls and this will also help you arrive at the square footage of the ceilings. Then subtract the square footage of any doors and windows from the total area of the walls. Measure the linear feet of trim and crown mouldings in the home and count the number of doors and closets. Then you simply charge somewhere around your areas average price per square foot for walls, linear trim, ceilings, closets and doors. Take into account the affluence of the area, your labor and your paint costs which may fluctuate depending on if a client requests a certain paint before arriving at your final per square foot price and then add on some money on top of the overall quote for your overhead like gas, insurance, cell bill and for materials like tape, caulking, sandpaper etc.
Obviously take into account if any major prep work or priming will have to be done and if a ton of furniture will have to be moved and will be in the way and add on for that and voila you should have a solid price to hand a potential client that is reasonable to what others are charging in your area so that you won't over bid and lose a job or worse underbid, get the job and then lose money. Ive heavily simplified the explanation of the process for conversations sake but if you tinker with your numbers over a few jobs you will find that you can make good money by quoting the entire job by calculating square footage on repaints while staying competitive to other painters in your area as opposed to just dropping your pants for a low hourly or day rate and dragging jobs out resulting in few call backs or referrals. Arriving at numbers for all the intangible stuff like moving furniture, major prep etc. will all become easier the more jobs you do and will just become second nature.
Do this for long enough and eventually you will be able to walk into most homes and rooms and quickly arrive at a fairly accurate number in your head right away but I always measure things anyways as I find that clients more often than not are more likely to hire the thorough painter that pulled out a tape or laser measure before giving them a quote as opposed to the guy who just quickly walked through the house before giving them a price especially if their bids are close dollar wise. A nice thing about quoting on the entire job by square footage is the method can applied to pretty much any house. Another nice thing with quoting total job price is that if you and your guys bang it out in less time than you estimated then you will be off to the next one quicker and the client will be impressed which doesn't usually happen with a drag it out hourly or day painter.
Hope this helps.