Pricing
What painting and restoration cost in South Florida
Every job is priced after a walkthrough, because what a wall needs is not something anyone can see from a phone call — and the repair work is reliably what a sight-unseen number gets wrong.
Below is the anatomy of that number: what drives the price on each kind of work, and how to put two bids side by side so the difference between them is visible. Typical ranges for each service appear on the service's own page as they are confirmed.
On every job
- A licensed Florida general contractor on the contract, not a paint-only crew
- A written scope of work before anything is opened or covered
- Surface preparation quoted as line items, so you can see what you are buying
- Full clean-up and a walkthrough before we ask you to sign off
By service
What drives the price
Six kinds of work, and what actually moves each of them. None of this is a quote — it is what we will be looking at during the walkthrough, published so that you can look at the same things before anyone arrives.
Interior Painting
Walls, ceilings, trim and doors — prepped properly and cut in clean.
About interior painting- Square footage and ceiling height
- How much drywall repair, patching and caulking the walls need
- Number of colors, and whether trim, doors and ceilings are included
- Color changes that need an extra coat (dark over light, or the reverse)
- Occupied home with furniture to move versus an empty property
Exterior Painting
Stucco, block, wood and trim, prepped for Florida sun, salt air and rain.
About exterior painting- Square footage, number of stories, and how much of the house needs staging or lifts
- Condition of the stucco — hairline cracking versus areas needing patching or re-texturing
- Amount of wood rot and trim replacement found during the wash
- Whether an elastomeric system is needed or a standard acrylic will do
- Number of colors, and whether shutters, doors, railings and driveways are included
HOA & Community Painting
Whole-community and condo building repaints, phased around residents.
About hoa & community painting- Number of buildings, stories and total coatable square footage
- Extent of stucco, spalling and sealant repair found during the survey
- Whether an elastomeric system or a standard acrylic is specified
- Access — lifts, swing stages or scaffolding on taller buildings
- Phasing requirements and any restrictions on working hours
Specialty Finishes
Venetian plaster, faux finishes, wood staining and electrostatic painting for metal.
About specialty finishes- The specific finish — a two-layer glaze and a burnished Venetian plaster are very different jobs
- Condition of the substrate and how much leveling it needs first
- Surface area, ceiling height and access
- Number of sample rounds before you approve the finish
- For staining: the species and condition of the wood, and interior or exterior exposure
Waterproofing
Walls, balconies, decks and joints sealed against wind-driven rain and standing water.
About waterproofing- Whether the scope is wall coating, joint sealant, traffic coating or all three
- How much substrate repair is needed before waterproofing can be applied
- Building height and access — lifts, swing stages or scaffolding
- Whether water testing or investigative work is required first
- Occupied balconies and walkways that need phasing around residents
Concrete Restoration
Spalling repair, crack repair and structural concrete restoration on balconies, decks and structures.
About concrete restoration- Quantity of repair, usually measured by area once the concrete has been sounded
- Depth of repair and whether reinforcement needs replacing
- Access — balconies, soffits and high elevations need lifts or swing stages
- Whether the work is engineer-specified and requires inspection sign-off
- Sealing, coating and restoration of the finish afterwards
Before you sign
How to compare bids
Two bids for the same house can be thousands apart and both be honest, because they are not for the same work. These are the five lines that explain the gap — ask every bidder, including us, to put each of them in writing.
The preparation scope, spelled out
Washing, scraping, crack routing and filling, stucco repair, caulking and priming are most of the labor on a South Florida exterior, and they are the part nobody can see once the job is finished. A bid that says "prep as required" has not priced anything. Ask which surfaces are washed, what happens to a hollow section of stucco, and which joints are re-caulked.
The number of coats, and over what
One coat over a bare or repaired surface is not the same job as a primer plus two finish coats, and both can be described as "repaint". Ask for the primer, the number of finish coats, and whether the coats are full coats at the manufacturer's spread rate.
The actual product and system
A named product and system can be looked up: its data sheet states the spread rate, the recoat time and the exposure it is rated for. "Premium paint" cannot be looked up. On a building this is also the difference between a standard acrylic and an elastomeric system, which is a real difference in price and in performance.
What is excluded
Exclusions are where the surprise invoice comes from. Read whether ceilings, trim, doors, closets, railings, soffits, driveways and pool decks are in or out, and whether repair work discovered after the wash is included, priced as a unit rate, or billed at whatever it costs on the day.
Licensing, insurance and who is doing the work
Ask for the license number and check it on the Florida DBPR register, and ask for a certificate of insurance naming you or your association before work starts. Ask, too, whether the repair scope is being subcontracted — if the stucco and the paint are two companies on two contracts, a failure at the boundary between them is nobody's problem but yours.
FAQ
Questions about cost
Starting with the one we get asked first: why you are not looking at a number yet.
Why does this page not list prices?
Because we do not have ranges we can stand behind published yet, and a made-up number is worse than none. What this page does publish is what actually moves the price on each kind of job, which is the thing that lets you read two bids against each other.
Are estimates free?
Yes, and they are written. We come out, look at the actual surfaces, and give you a scope and a price at no cost and with no obligation to use us.
Why is the cheapest bid usually the most expensive one?
Because the difference is almost always in the preparation, and preparation is the part you cannot see once the job is finished. Washing, crack and stucco repair, caulking and priming are most of the labor on a South Florida exterior; a bid that is thousands below the others has usually left them out, and the finish fails early enough that you pay for the job twice.
How do I compare two bids fairly?
Put them side by side line by line and check that the same four things appear on both: the preparation scope, the number of coats, the specific product and system, and what is excluded. A bid that lists a total and nothing else cannot be compared with anything.
How is a community or condo project priced?
As a schedule of values — the scope broken into line items a board can read, vote on and pay against as the work progresses. Repair quantities on a building of any age are unknown until the walls are washed and sounded, so those are priced as unit rates rather than guessed at, and the board sees what each repair actually cost.
No obligation
Get the number for your property
A walkthrough, a written scope and a price broken out line by line — at no cost, and with no obligation to use us.