A homeowner on Timber Ridge Estates called us about six drywall patches and an exterior repaint. The quote was $8,039. By the time we pulled the last drop cloth out of that house the job was $31,360, and the homeowner was happy about it.
That sentence makes most people nervous, so let me explain how it happened.
What we were originally hired to do
Two things. Paint six drywall patches, $825. And repaint the exterior — everything but the brick and the windows — for $7,214.
The exterior was the real work. Pressure wash the whole house. Scrape and sand off everything loose or peeling. Caulk the cracks and holes in the wood trim. Spot prime the bare spots. Trench the perimeter where the grass and dirt had crept up against the siding, so we could paint underneath instead of stopping at the dirt line. Seal the cracks with elastomeric stucco patch. Tape the window panes for clean lines.
Then prime every wall with Loxon Conditioner and put two coats of Sherwin-Williams Duration over it.
That is a normal exterior for us. Nothing about it was unusual.
Then the homeowner kept going
Once a crew is in your house and you can see the difference, you start noticing everything you have been living with. That is what happened here, over about seven weeks:
The upstairs. Walls and trim throughout — $10,136.
The whole basement. Ceilings, walls, baseboards and doors — $6,230.
The kitchen cabinets, plus two downstairs vanities — $6,125 for the refinishing, with three colors instead of one, which added $800.
The closets — $1,800, and we threw in the small hall closet.
The laundry room — $700 for two doors, the casing, the trim, the ceiling and the walls.
The upstairs hall bathroom vanity — $450.
Extra patching after their electrician had been through the walls — $500.
A hallway repaint and a color change late in the job — $225 and $100. The color change meant two more gallons of paint, and that is exactly what the $100 was.
The part that actually matters
Every one of those was written up as a change order, priced, and signed before anybody touched it. Seven separate documents. Nothing showed up on the final invoice that the homeowner had not already read and agreed to.
And it went both directions. Partway through we pulled the siding work back out of the scope — that was a $3,345 credit. The master bathroom came out too, another $400 back. Those are written down the same way the additions are.
That is the whole difference between a job that grows and a job that goes sideways. A quadrupled invoice is a nightmare if the homeowner finds out at the end. It is a partnership if they approved every step of it on the way.
What this cost, honestly
Our median project in Ballwin is about $4,244. This one was seven times that, and it is the largest job we have done in the city. Most Ballwin work looks nothing like it — small jobs here start around $600.
If you are pricing an exterior repaint in 63011 or 63021, the useful number from this job is the original one: $7,214 for a full exterior on a house that size, prepped properly and primed with Loxon before two coats of Duration.
Common questions
Will my painting quote change once you start?
Only if you ask it to, or if we find something we could not see from the walkthrough — rot behind a downspout, for example. Either way it becomes a written change order you sign before we do the work.
What is Loxon Conditioner and why prime with it?
It is a masonry and exterior conditioning primer. On a chalky or previously painted exterior it gives the topcoat something to grip. Skipping primer is the fastest way to get a paint job that fails in three years.
How much does it cost to paint a house exterior in Ballwin, MO?
This one was $7,214 for the exterior portion, everything but brick and windows, including full prep and primer. Ballwin projects overall run from about $600 for small work up to $31,360 for a whole-house interior and exterior together.
Painting something in Ballwin?
We will walk the house with you and write down every room and every surface, so the quote you get is the quote you can compare.
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