Real Estate Update

Posts Tagged ‘Cost’

Boston home owners should plan ahead to find out how much it will cost to paint their house. Boston house painting contractors may give different estimates depending on their work schedule.  To get a house painted in Spring, asking for a quote during the Winter, when business is slow, may save some money.  The cost of painting the same house may rise in the Summer and Fall when painting contractors are busiest.

A bit of education will reveal that Boston house painters may come up with different approaches to the exact same job.  Knowing what those approaches are will help determine your costs and allow you to intelligently evaluate a house painting estimate.

Exterior house painting can be accomplished in a variety of ways.  Some house painters will prefer to spray the paint on, and others will rely on brushes or rollers to paint the same walls.  Each technique has advantages and disadvantages.  Painting contractors using the spray method may be faster, but often create a mess if windows and trim are not protected from the spray. Rollers will give a fast job without the mess, but are best suited for painting stucco, concrete and brick.  Brushes are the slowest application, but experienced house painters will often rely on them for the best results, especially on shingle and houses with clapboard or other siding materials.  

Before calling a contractor for your first quote, be aware of the condition of the walls of your house. Is the paint peeling, bubbling or cracking?  Is there mold, mildew or moss growing on the walls?  A good painter will not paint over unstable surfaces. Preparation requirements like scraping off old paint, priming raw wood, and caulking imperfections, gaps and cracks will affect your estimate.  

For Interior house painting, the approaches are similar to exterior.  Faster jobs, especially in new construction and vacant properties where mess is not a big factor, could be spray-applied.  Finer interior work will be accomplished with rollers and brushes. In all cases, painting contractors should be protecting windows and furnishings from any contact with paint, so be sure to inquire how your contractor plans to do that.  Ruined carpets and windows with paint on the glass are things you should never have to deal with.

Your house painting estimate will also depend on your choice of paint.  This includes both the quality of the paint and the color.  Obviously, the best quality materials will cost more.  Decide in advance if you want a cut-rate job, or a first-class one.  Then be sure that quotes are for similar quality paints and the exact same colors.  

Painting contractors will know if the job will require one coat of paint, or multiple coats.  If you are trying to hold costs down, choose a paint color which is the same as the old color.  Painting white over white may involve only a single application, but painting a light color over a dark one may require three coats.  Since you will be paying for each coat of paint, be prepared for the cost.

Finally, with all this in mind, approach two or three Boston house painting contractors, and then compare the costs.  The estimates will give you a good idea of cost and value.

Cost and durability are two concerns that are usually at the forefront of any decision regarding building materials. Traditionally lumber has been the preference for builders everywhere, but metal is quickly outstripping lumber as the choice for new building material.There are metal buildings available in just about any shape and size as well as budget. Since metal buildings can usually be built for less than lumber buildings you will find that you can have a bigger, better building when you go with metal. For cooler climates you will want to factor the cost of insulation into your price.The best quality metal buildings are coated with a protective paint; if the building materials you choose does not come with this then you will want to buy the paint to do it yourself. This will greatly extend the life of your building as the metal will not rust or corrode. Windows and doors also need to be included in your final cost.While you may think that lower is better, some of the budget metal buildings don’t include a lot of items that will increase the final price. Ensure that the cost of your building includes freight and anything else you may need to get the job done. Also try to choose the thickest metal you can, as this will increase the durability of your building and help it stand up to severe weather.Laying the foundation of any building will cost you more as well, since it is not part of the metal building package unless you are going through a construction company. The best option is to have a company lay the foundation for you, and then you can save on labour costs by putting the building together yourself.Since metal buildings have all the pieces pre-cut to size, there is significant savings on freight costs. It is also beneficial that metal weighs much less than lumber so you are not paying as much to ship. At the end of your project there will be very little leftover metal to dispose of.After your metal building is erected, the savings will continue to accumulate. Maintenance of a metal building is minimal, and the protective paint will prevent rust. Even in the dampest climates a metal building will never fall victim to rot or insect infestation.Metal buildings stand up to the elements much better than lumber, and also have a significantly longer lifespan. If you do have to take down a metal building the materials can be fully recycled into new metal, meaning you are keeping waste out of the landfills, and you don’t have to pay to dispose of it.A pre-fabricated metal building is a great choice. Not only are they easy to assemble, they also save the building a bundle on labour costs as well as building materials and maintenance. Before you decide to build with lumber, take a look at the many advantages that a metal building has to offer.