Exterior painting quotes—48k?

[Anonymous]

Just thought I would update on our painting saga. We hired a company that estimated 18k total (another estimate came in at 22k) to paint and replace visibly rotting boards and trim. After a few days they said that more than half the boards are rotting (they showed us, I got up on a ladder and it was crumbling under a slight tap). The additional cost for labor and materials brings us up to 33k. Which is only 12 k less than replacing all our siding with Hardie. So now we have to decide: stop work and pay these guys 5k for the labor and materials they’ve already done (they have replaced most of the siding on our carport and a lot do trim) and go with hardi or sink 33k into replacing half our crap siding and painting it. Not sure if we can salvage any of the new siding (maybe leave the garage as is if it doesn’t look too weird). So total cost would be 50k vs 33k.

Wwyd? We are leaning to hardie since replacing everything with it will probably save us from dealing with this in 8 years and/or replace resale value (probably downside e in 6-10 years).

[Anonymous]

I would get the Hardi - the wood will rot again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get more quotes. Find local recommendations on a listserv or NextDoor. That is very high (even for DC), but not out of line with what some of the high end companies charge around here. But LOTS of reputable painting companies charge much, much less.

This

[Anonymous]

Definitely go with Hardie. I love how it looks on my house. Our Hardie contractor gave us a list of addresses so we could check out their work. I’m not in the DC area so I can’t give you a name. But I would go with someone who installs a lot of Hardie.

[Anonymous]

I would not use wood again in this climate.

[Anonymous]

We paid $10K for a 3500 sq ft house. While it's too cold right now I would drive around and find a new build work site, get out of the car and talk to some of the workers. Someone there will either be interested or know someone who is in doing your job.

[Anonymous]

I moved to Del Ray in 2001 and bought a tiny (1300 sqf) 2 bed bungalow. It needed the exterior painted so I called some local guys. Winkler painting quoted me...... I kid you not....$21,000. Again, this was 25 years ago too.

I called the guy, legitamately asking if he'd made a typo, maybe he meant $2100? And he flew off the handle, basically telling me I was going to 'ruin' my house if I didn't go with him for 21k. And that I had 'no idea' of what it took to paint a teeny little house. LOL.

Anyway, there are crooks out there. Just get another bid.

[Anonymous]

Paint is super expensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I moved to Del Ray in 2001 and bought a tiny (1300 sqf) 2 bed bungalow. It needed the exterior painted so I called some local guys. Winkler painting quoted me...... I kid you not....$21,000. Again, this was 25 years ago too.

I called the guy, legitamately asking if he'd made a typo, maybe he meant $2100? And he flew off the handle, basically telling me I was going to 'ruin' my house if I didn't go with him for 21k. And that I had 'no idea' of what it took to paint a teeny little house. LOL.

Anyway, there are crooks out there. Just get another bid.

I had a similar experience with a different painter. Crazy bid and they acted like the house would burn down if we didn't use them. It's paint for god's sake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just thought I would update on our painting saga. We hired a company that estimated 18k total (another estimate came in at 22k) to paint and replace visibly rotting boards and trim. After a few days they said that more than half the boards are rotting (they showed us, I got up on a ladder and it was crumbling under a slight tap). The additional cost for labor and materials brings us up to 33k. Which is only 12 k less than replacing all our siding with Hardie. So now we have to decide: stop work and pay these guys 5k for the labor and materials they’ve already done (they have replaced most of the siding on our carport and a lot do trim) and go with hardi or sink 33k into replacing half our crap siding and painting it. Not sure if we can salvage any of the new siding (maybe leave the garage as is if it doesn’t look too weird). So total cost would be 50k vs 33k.

Wwyd? We are leaning to hardie since replacing everything with it will probably save us from dealing with this in 8 years and/or replace resale value (probably downside e in 6-10 years).

Replace. We got hardi and used vinyl trim and its had no issues.

[Anonymous]

Replace. It is a lot of money but this is your home and you will save over time (in mimimal upkeep and resale).