Does this SFH warrant full interior repainting? And if so, is $3000 reasonable?

[Lewis Kerwin]

Hi all,

I have an out-of-state SFH that just had its tenant move out. PM says that whole house requires repainting on the interior including cielings and that "sealants" might need to be used for cracks in certain areas. Given this, they are saying $3000 is what they were quoted for the whole interior house (about 1000sqft).

Does this seem reasonable? Or would this raise red flags for conflict of interest? 

I'm in this strange position of being out of state and unfortunatley not having the time to visit or gain personal expertise. So any perspective on this is welcome!

Pictures in case helpful: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17QCEJmkm4IptwZTC7amR...

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Lewis Kerwin, based on those pictures I'm guessing the PM has a dog in the race aka that they stand to profit from the re-paint they propose.

Nothing I could see in the pictures would make me even consider a repaint as long as I knew the paint colors of the walls so I could get a good match. So, if there is leftover paint with the color code or if you know it you are set. You can try getting a color match but that may or may not be a precise match.

My ceilings are always bright while flat paint so that is always easy. Where it is peeling away, I would scrape and see why it didn't adhere well. I might use an oil or shellac based primer on that spot before repainting to be more certain of good adhesion. 

[James Mc Ree]

My properties are in Delaware County, PA and mostly 3 bedrooms and 1,152 sqft. I would definitely accept a $3,000 quote to paint my whole interior, especially if that included the cost of materials. I don't know if that is a good price in your area.

I think you should dig deeper into the cause of the chipped paint on the ceilings. It looks like one room is the dining room and the other may be a bedroom.

If one of those rooms is a bedroom, you very likely have a roof leak. Check the roof.

The dining room cracks may also be coming from the same roof leak if the bedroom is over the dining room. You may have water traveling down the bedroom wall, then across the dining room ceiling to the lowest spot which happens to be there. You might see some stains or loose paint on a bedroom wall if that is the case.

It looks like there is a spot fix needed in the pic with the 2 holes in the wall. Patch, sand, prime and paint the holes and paint to match the wall. You can get a color match for the paint there and maybe get away with painting only that small wall.

It's hard to tell from the pics if there is a need for whole house painting. There are a few spots like below the basement window where you might want to paint just that wall or spot paint a scrape.

[Adam Bartomeo]

Based on the photos we wouldn't recommend a full paint job. We would touch up and possible paint a couple of the walls/ceilings. In FL, for full paint - walls, ceilings, doors, molding - for 1,000 sq, $3000 is in the ballpark but $2500 would be right.

[John Clark]

Quote from @Lewis Kerwin:

Hi all,

I have an out-of-state SFH that just had its tenant move out. PM says that whole house requires repainting on the interior including cielings and that "sealants" might need to be used for cracks in certain areas. Given this, they are saying $3000 is what they were quoted for the whole interior house (about 1000sqft).

Does this seem reasonable? Or would this raise red flags for conflict of interest? 

I'm in this strange position of being out of state and unfortunatley not having the time to visit or gain personal expertise. So any perspective on this is welcome!

Pictures in case helpful: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17QCEJmkm4IptwZTC7amR...

If your return-on-investment numbers are that tight you shouldn’t be in the house.

[JD Martin]

Walls don't look bad at all overall but it depends on whether you have touch up paint that matches or not. Ceilings need some help for sure. 

[Theresa Harris]

For holes in the wall (one had a large round cut out), was that the tenant's doing?  If so, they pay for that repair.

When was it last painted?  From the photos, it mostly looks fine.  In some areas, a good cleaning (eg use Mr Clean eraser for scuffs) will help.  If one wall is particularly bad, they can always try to match the existing paint and just paint that one wall.  Even if it isn't a perfect match it will be fine as the light hits walls differently.

[Nathan Gesner]

I would definitely take care of the cracked/chipping ceilings. If you can match the paint, the walls could probably be touched up. $3,000 is reasonable for a full repaint. There's not enough evidence to tell me which way I would go.

The pictures indicate that the last tenant didn't clean. I can see cobwebs in a corner, dirt on the baseboards, cabinets that haven't been wiped down, etc. I hope your PM kept the deposit and can use that towards the cost. I also hope they inspect at least once a year while occupied.

[Lewis Kerwin]

I really appreciate everyone's replies here!

Planning to ask PM to ask her contractor about partial paint-job and also have an independent painter go in and see whether they feel a partial paint job or full would be necessary. 

[Jake Knight]

Paint has become quite expensive and costs can certainly run that high.  Would also depend on if we're talking just the walls or the trim, doors and ceilings.  The problem with partial painting is that the old paint fades over time and you have to paint the entire wall for it to look good. Down here in Indy were about at $2 a sq. ft.