How far off was I? (removing peeled paint)

[PowerPlay 14]

I did an estimate this week for an older gentleman. He owned an apartment complex. He had a second story porch area that had painted floor boards and painted iron railings all around plus some of the same on 1st story hand rails. The paint was only 2 years old but was peeling dramatically. We recommended that after we power wash and remove all loose paint it be sanded, primer be applied, and re-painted. If ya folks don’t mind, I’ll give dimensions, give me an estimate on what you would charge. Then, I’ll tell ya what I quoted it at.

Porch = 72’ x 6’

Porch face = 72’ x 1’

96 lf of iron railing (ea lf = approx. 4sf of iron)

I haven’t done work like this before, I was planning on using something to loosen the paint a little more on the porch boards, and water only on the iron. Remember this is a 2nd story porch.

Thanks for your input, I wanna know if I was ballpark or standing alone in left field, because apparently I charge WAY too much! hehe

[PressurePros 248]

Nathan, it's hard to say without seeing it. I would guess between $1000 and $1400 would be in the ball park.

[The Rob 14]

On the iron railing you will need to use an enamel primer before it is topcoated with a latex based paint. If not, the iron will rust and show through in no time at all. Enamel does not spread nearly as easy as the latex will on the iron railing. We done all the painting on a remodeled doctors office last year including the iron railing, and the primer had to be enamel and so did the topcoat. This was per the County Health Department regulations, something to do with germs. Just wanted to pass on my experience with iron railing, hopes it helps.

Robert

[PowerPlay 14]

Thanks for the replies. I may not have been clear on my initial post. We do not do any painting. We were quoting the pressure washing only. Then we recommended that the owner (who would be painting) prime before painting. Yes the paint that was on there was enamel already, however the surface was not prepared properly last time and the paint failed in less then 2 years.

I quoted somewhere around 500 something to get the surfaces ready for prime / paint.

[PressurePros 248]

Ohhh.. Coating the entire thing with TSP and using higher pressure I would think about .35 a square would be reasonable. Again without seeing it, it's hard to say. I would say you could easily do the whole job in three hours, but I am not seeing how bad the flaking is on the rail and how hard it would be to reach the outer rail. Some of the other guys here that do paint prep on a more regular basis may have more accurate info for you.