Painting Timescales

[AJ1978G]

Hello,

I am new to the site and have a question regarding how long painting should take. I work as a handyman and carry out quite a lot of painting work. When quoting work I work out my price and then check online to see what the general suggested costs and timescales should be. Price wise I am usually in the right ballpark. However, the time scales shown on some sites do not make sense to me.

I looked at one site that suggested that it would take 4-6 hours to paint a medium sized room. I dont understand how that can be the case. Firstly there is the repairing, filling and caulking. Even if the prep work is minor, you still have to wait for it to go off. Usually overnight in the case of caulk. If I try and paint over it any sooner, the paint cracks badly.

Then there is the ceiling, coving and walls, plus the architrave, skirting and quite often the window sill too.

I know I am not as fast as people who do painting and decorating for a living full time (rather than as a handyan), but I can't see how anyone can get all of that work done in 4-6 hours.

Perhaps I am missing something. That is why I have decided to join here and put this post up. I would like to know realisticaly how long it should take to carry out the work listed below?

Prep walls and fill cracks (assuming minimal cracks and filling)

Paint Ceiling and coving - 2 Coats Dulux Paint

Paint walls - 2 Coats Dulux Paint

Paint architrave, skirting and window sill (Dulux Once - Once Coat)



Many Thanks

[Someone-Else]

Yours in one of those questions that sounds like it has a simple / easy answer but other than "It takes as long as it does" it has no specific answer.

Every job is different, will you have to move the furniture, how far away do you have to park, the list goes on.
Any one can add/post "How long a job will take" but as we are all human we can't all work at the same speed, so don't worry about it.

[dewaltdisney]

Prepare a text templates so that you can cut and paste a quote. Take for example your 4 headings, put a time on them, add on materials and then your overall price. That way the customer will get a better understanding of the work involved. Once you have done one you have a ready made template to adjust for each job accordingly. A more professional approach to quoting will give you the edge.

DWD

[Grendel]

I wouldn't get too bothered with how long a website says it should take to do a job. Work to your own capacity and if your pricing is right like you say then you must be within reasonable limits.