Painting your own dwelling

[CNS]

Window paint pro tip from HS me:

On the areas where the windows won't be trimmed a diff color than the base, spray the entire window.

Then, when done with the painting of the house, take a razor, score the paint on the glass, spray with hose for a min or so.  Then take the razor and score around the ends of the glass at the wood areas and peel paint on glass right off like a shitty sticker. 

This works really well with latex paint and is much easier than razorblading off dry brushed on paint..

[Kat Kid]

Thanks guys.  Sounds pretty pud.

[AppleJack]

When I painted in college some dudes would be scared to get on the 40" ladder. I would climb up to the roof and put their paycheck up there 

[CNS]

When I painted in college some dudes would be scared to get on the 40" ladder. I would climb up to the roof and put their paycheck up there 

Used to not GAF about heights.  Last summer I painted, the ladder slipped on the slight slope we were on and I rode it down from the roof line of a two story house.  Not big on ladders now.  I am not consciously worried about them, but my subconscious kicks in pretty quickly when I get more than 10-15' in the air on a ladder.

[Daddy Claxton]

I spend most of my weekends doing DIY stuff because i generally (weirdly?) enjoy it, but painting a house sounds terrible.  Plus it sounds like you'll need at least a couple grand worth of supplies and materials, anyway.

[CNS]

I spend most of my weekends doing DIY stuff because i generally (weirdly?) enjoy it, but painting a house sounds terrible.  Plus it sounds like you'll need at least a couple grand worth of supplies and materials, anyway.

If you already own a ladder, you should be able to paint an avg size house for about $500 in paint, about $100 in caulk, and about $400 in rental of power washer and paint sprayer.

The real cost comparo is personally spending three weekends on a ladder in the KS summer heat for the $2k-$3k savings of not having someone else do it.

[Bqqkie Pimp]

This thread has made me once again pleased with my move to Texas.... My house is made of brick, and if it weren't, I could have a crew of messicans paint the entire structure in a day and a half for under $1k plus materials.

[CNS]

This thread has made me once again pleased with my move to Texas.... My house is made of brick, and if it weren't, I could have a crew of messicans paint the entire structure in a day and a half for under $1k plus materials.

You can do that in KS too.  The builders who put shitty JoCo houses up in no time have them painted like this.  Entire house sprayed(only) by two guys in a day. 

That is why I asked KK how long he will be living there.  That kind of paint job needs to be re-upped pretty often(like every 3yrs) or it will look super shitty quickly after.  The paint job most above described will last much longer than that and you won't have as much wood repair when you do repaint.

Water is the most important thing to protect your house from, period.  That one day paint job does a pretty bad job of that.

[HerrSonntag]

hire some guys to do it

SD, is there any task that your kneejerk reaction isn't to pay someone else to do it for you?

Is this you? 
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/17/business/la-fi-mo-man-outsourced-job-to-china-20130117

I do some stuff myself but only the stuff that I'm good at and that can't be done cheaply by someone else. I'm not (and I bet KK isn't) good at painting a house or doing other handyman type activities. opportunity cost or whatever.

I already have the paint and I'm looking labor costs vs. time on my hands right in the face.

I have friends who made it through an econ 100 class and like to make a similar argument for any number of things they could do themselves but waste money on to hire some vagrant to do.  I feel like fundamentally its being looked at backwards, the assumption is comparing how much you make at your day job versus the per hour cost of doing the job, to determine if you should DIY or not.  But that implies that you are working OR doing this project.  I don't think anyone here would advocate that you should take off time w/out pay to paint your house, KK.  The question is how to spend your time outside of work, which you are currently making zero dollars at.

Now, KK, you mention not having the time in general for the project.  I don't know what kind of hours you work but i assume that, that is because of existing leisure time activities and plans.  Not to discount the value of leisure, but you are "paying" the cost of having your house painted when you go to the lake instead.  Leisure is always costly, though.  Movies cost money, airfare costs money, and the lost opportunity cost of not painting your house yourself, costs money. 

[Kat Kid]

hire some guys to do it

SD, is there any task that your kneejerk reaction isn't to pay someone else to do it for you?

Is this you? 
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/17/business/la-fi-mo-man-outsourced-job-to-china-20130117

I do some stuff myself but only the stuff that I'm good at and that can't be done cheaply by someone else. I'm not (and I bet KK isn't) good at painting a house or doing other handyman type activities. opportunity cost or whatever.

I already have the paint and I'm looking labor costs vs. time on my hands right in the face.

I have friends who made it through an econ 100 class and like to make a similar argument for any number of things they could do themselves but waste money on to hire some vagrant to do.  I feel like fundamentally its being looked at backwards, the assumption is comparing how much you make at your day job versus the per hour cost of doing the job, to determine if you should DIY or not.  But that implies that you are working OR doing this project.  I don't think anyone here would advocate that you should take off time w/out pay to paint your house, KK.  The question is how to spend your time outside of work, which you are currently making zero dollars at.

Now, KK, you mention not having the time in general for the project.  I don't know what kind of hours you work but i assume that, that is because of existing leisure time activities and plans.  Not to discount the value of leisure, but you are "paying" the cost of having your house painted when you go to the lake instead.  Leisure is always costly, though.  Movies cost money, airfare costs money, and the lost opportunity cost of not painting your house yourself, costs money.

I do have the time.  I also understand opportunity cost but thanks for the lecture.

[pissclams]

i'm going to summarize my thoughts on the subject- if i had the paint, i'd probably watch some youtube of a guy painting his house and it would read exactly like _33's post.  and i'd convince myself that it's not that bad.  then i'd do it and i'd hate everything about the world after about an hour on the job.  and i would really hate everything.  then i would finish and it would be decent.  and i'd swear that i'd never do it again.

just my

[steve dave]

hire some guys to do it

SD, is there any task that your kneejerk reaction isn't to pay someone else to do it for you?

Is this you? 
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/17/business/la-fi-mo-man-outsourced-job-to-china-20130117

I do some stuff myself but only the stuff that I'm good at and that can't be done cheaply by someone else. I'm not (and I bet KK isn't) good at painting a house or doing other handyman type activities. opportunity cost or whatever.

I already have the paint and I'm looking labor costs vs. time on my hands right in the face.

I have friends who made it through an econ 100 class and like to make a similar argument for any number of things they could do themselves but waste money on to hire some vagrant to do.  I feel like fundamentally its being looked at backwards, the assumption is comparing how much you make at your day job versus the per hour cost of doing the job, to determine if you should DIY or not.  But that implies that you are working OR doing this project.  I don't think anyone here would advocate that you should take off time w/out pay to paint your house, KK.  The question is how to spend your time outside of work, which you are currently making zero dollars at.

Now, KK, you mention not having the time in general for the project.  I don't know what kind of hours you work but i assume that, that is because of existing leisure time activities and plans.  Not to discount the value of leisure, but you are "paying" the cost of having your house painted when you go to the lake instead.  Leisure is always costly, though.  Movies cost money, airfare costs money, and the lost opportunity cost of not painting your house yourself, costs money.

I do have the time.  I also understand opportunity cost but thanks for the lecture.

 

[steve dave]

i'm going to summarize my thoughts on the subject- if i had the paint, i'd probably watch some youtube of a guy painting his house and it would read exactly like _33's post.  and i'd convince myself that it's not that bad.  then i'd do it and i'd hate everything about the world after about an hour on the job.  and i would really hate everything.  then i would finish and it would be decent.  and i'd swear that i'd never do it again.

just my

like flying coach

[HerrSonntag]

hire some guys to do it

SD, is there any task that your kneejerk reaction isn't to pay someone else to do it for you?

Is this you? 
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/17/business/la-fi-mo-man-outsourced-job-to-china-20130117

I do some stuff myself but only the stuff that I'm good at and that can't be done cheaply by someone else. I'm not (and I bet KK isn't) good at painting a house or doing other handyman type activities. opportunity cost or whatever.

I already have the paint and I'm looking labor costs vs. time on my hands right in the face.

I have friends who made it through an econ 100 class and like to make a similar argument for any number of things they could do themselves but waste money on to hire some vagrant to do.  I feel like fundamentally its being looked at backwards, the assumption is comparing how much you make at your day job versus the per hour cost of doing the job, to determine if you should DIY or not.  But that implies that you are working OR doing this project.  I don't think anyone here would advocate that you should take off time w/out pay to paint your house, KK.  The question is how to spend your time outside of work, which you are currently making zero dollars at.

Now, KK, you mention not having the time in general for the project.  I don't know what kind of hours you work but i assume that, that is because of existing leisure time activities and plans.  Not to discount the value of leisure, but you are "paying" the cost of having your house painted when you go to the lake instead.  Leisure is always costly, though.  Movies cost money, airfare costs money, and the lost opportunity cost of not painting your house yourself, costs money.

I do have the time.  I also understand opportunity cost but thanks for the lecture.

Then by all means!  Its not rocket science.

[Bqqkie Pimp]

This thread has made me once again pleased with my move to Texas.... My house is made of brick, and if it weren't, I could have a crew of messicans paint the entire structure in a day and a half for under $1k plus materials.

You can do that in KS too.  The builders who put shitty JoCo houses up in no time have them painted like this.  Entire house sprayed(only) by two guys in a day. 

That is why I asked KK how long he will be living there.  That kind of paint job needs to be re-upped pretty often(like every 3yrs) or it will look super shitty quickly after.  The paint job most above described will last much longer than that and you won't have as much wood repair when you do repaint.

Water is the most important thing to protect your house from, period.  That one day paint job does a pretty bad job of that.

Seems more cost effective in the long haul to just cover the entire structure (sans roof) with brick... 

 

[Pete]

i'm going to summarize my thoughts on the subject- if i had the paint, i'd probably watch some youtube of a guy painting his house and it would read exactly like _33's post.  and i'd convince myself that it's not that bad.  then i'd do it and i'd hate everything about the world after about an hour on the job.  and i would really hate everything.  then i would finish and it would be decent.  and i'd swear that i'd never do it again.

just my

I redid a bunch of a house in Milwaukee once, and felt EXACTLY like that after every single piece of it.

No more of that crap for me.

[Mr Bread]

I am with 'clams and pete all the way on this one.  I've done enough to know that I hate it and that I never find it rewarding after. 

[DQ12]

Painting a house by yourself would take forever.  Especially if the siding is at all a mess. 

I'm sure if you told a painting crew that you already bought the first two or whatever buckets of paint they would subtract that from the estimate.  In fact, they'd probably welcome it because it would save them a trip to sherwin williams and it would let them know exactly what color you want. 

I interned for a summer on a painting crew. 

[bones129]

When I painted in college some dudes would be scared to get on the 40" ladder. I would climb up to the roof and put their paycheck up there 

 

[ew2x4]

I've done a few myself. It's a lot of work. Any more, I will only spray or roll. I refuse to brush, let alone scrape or caulk anything.

[Stupid Fitz]

Pay up KK. You will do it wrong/crapity and have to pay someone to redo it in 2 years anyway.

[HerrSonntag]

I've done a few myself. It's a lot of work. Any more, I will only spray or roll. I refuse to brush, let alone scrape or caulk anything.

I would also suggest never trying to paint a house with a brush... i mean JFC what are we, cavemen?

[bones129]

I'll be painting my house (or having someone else do it) next summer. This thread has been extremely informative and I'll be archiving it for use next year. The utility of this site continues to amaze me.