painting exterior of house first time

waitingforBB

All,
going to take advantage of the fine weather and get around to painting the exterior of the house. Im in it about 2 years and it was a new build.
Assume u can just go ahead and put 3 coats as theres no need to power wash at this stage.
Is there much difference in the types of paint? Do i go with dulux weathershield (seems slightly more expensive, but B&Q are doing 3 for 2 at the moment).
Also, if i were to get it done by a painter, what ballpark should i expect to pay (have quotes coming tomorrow, but dont want to take the first just for the sake of getting it done).

2 story detached 2300 sq ft internal space and a garage
Cheers

mad m

If its bare for two years I would at least wash it down and apply stablising solution on it before costing it with a good exterior emulsion like Weather Shield Dulux or Sandtex smooth or Fleetwood...

As for quotes it will be like a lottery these days. Some painters are happy to get a weeks wage and some charge by the day....Is it only walls? Is there a Facia and Soffit to paint,doors,windows etc?

waitingforBB

thanks for the reply mad m.
Its just walls and window edges, no facia, soffit etc or doors. methinks will hold off now until spring as have missed the weather window. quotes from the 2 painters I got were 1200 and 1700 so far

Kashkai

I painted my own last year - 2,900 sq ft internal space bungalow) - and it took 2 full days (i.e. 9am - 7pm) work to do one coat so if you're going to do 3 coats, take a week off work! The biggest pain in the ass is painting round the windows and doors of which I have 25 windows and 3 doors because if you splash exterior weathershield type paint on them, its damn near impossible to remove. You'll also have to be careful to cover the paths, patio, driveway up as paint splashes on them will also be hard to remove.

Personally I prefer to work on my own house due to previous experiences with "tradesmen" but painting a house is a long, hard, time consuming job and in this country you'll also have to keep an eye on the weather or your good work will be washed onto the ground.

Ted10

Just had mine done, 2500 sq ft for €800. It took him 5 days but a nice neat job.

mad m

Ted10 wrote: »

Just had mine done, 2500 sq ft for €800. It took him 5 days but a nice neat job.

That's a great price, the fact it took him 5 days also is that no short cuts....

bobeye

hi, that sounds like about a wks work, at these times a painter would nearly be happy to do that for a wks wage, about 800euro. im a painter myself so if you have no joy with a good price send me a msg, id be happy to look at it for you...bobeye.

Kashkai

Ted10 wrote: »

Just had mine done, 2500 sq ft for €800. It took him 5 days but a nice neat job.

Does the €800 include the paint or was that just the labour charge. If the paint is included, then that guy can't be making much money.

mad m

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Does the €800 include the paint or was that just the labour charge. If the paint is included, then that guy can't be making much money.

Of course it cant include the paint...Sure it would cost around 300euro at least for the paint..

bongo2

I paid €600 last year. 2000 square foot dormer bungalow. It took two painters two days to complete the job.

Kashkai

mad m wrote: »

Of course it cant include the paint...Sure it would cost around 300euro at least for the paint..

Thats what I thought as the paint alone for my place came to almost €400. Still if that guy was doing it for €800 labour only, then its still a very reasonable price for this country, even in the post celtic tiger era.

Kashkai

bongo2 wrote: »

I paid €600 last year. 2000 square foot dormer bungalow. It took two painters two days to complete the job.

What took them so long???? It took just 2 days for little old me to do my 2,900 sq ft bungalow on my tod :D

I didn't get paid for it though - hell I even got an earful from the wife as she wanted to go shopping with her sisters but I wouldn't stop painting to mind the kids. They never found her body in the septic tank :cool:

AckwelFoley

water the first coat of paint down 3:1 with water, this seals the surface and prevents flaking. You must get a stabilising primer for the window cills otherwise they will likely flake as they have a residue - an alkaline discharge from them.

waitingforBB

great replies guys, and confirms as I thought that the quotes I got were OTT. Rang a mate of mine who got his place done (similar size) 2 years ago and he paid 650.
Dont get me wrong, I'm not looking for a cheap job, but when I see here that 800 for labor is a fair price, then I know yer man who was looking for 1700 was pulling the p*ss)
then again, the wife was talking to a neighbour this afternoon while out walking (we are in the stcks) and they just paid 1850 for the house (labour only)..