# customer(s) in house/during working hrs



## Reyes#520

This project is a complete re-paint of (cabinets @Kit.bath laundry etc.) and ceilings and walls "3200sf home"

I'm of the opinion they/customers should rent apartment or move in w/relatives at least while the spraying of cabinets and doors & ceilings is in progress; maybe even till completion of interior painting.

Any other suggestions or helpful comment(s) are appreciated...


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## PatsPainting

Sounds ridiculous to think they should move out. 

Pat


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## plainpainter

I dont' think it's ridiculous, in my town once you have renovation you are required to move out and can't move back in until you've gotten a permit to do so.


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## epretot

Reyes#520 said:


> This project is a complete re-paint of (cabinets @Kit.bath laundry etc.) and ceilings and walls "3200sf home"
> 
> I'm of the opinion they/customers should rent apartment or move in w/relatives at least while the spraying of cabinets and doors & ceilings is in progress; maybe even till completion of interior painting.
> 
> Any other suggestions or helpful comment(s) are appreciated...


Are the home owners impeding your production in some way?


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## RH

plainpainter said:


> I dont' think it's ridiculous, in my town once you have renovation you are required to move out and can't move back in until you've gotten a permit to do so.


Wow. Talk about "big brother" form of government. That seems just a bit invasive IMO.


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## Xmark

it just takes a little more work to keep certain areas live-able for the homeowners. i suggest that you invest in some zipwalls. it not only serves as a dust control barrier but it also isolates your crew from the live-able areas. they now sell nifty little add-ons for the zipwalls including 'caution tape' that gives a clear message to keep out.


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## jonathanthepainter

What was discussed prior to the estimate?

Maybe price it two ways, vacant and with them living in the home. 

What is their time frame? Possibly could be done quicker with them gone , however if all their belongings are currently in the house, what then, are you going to move and protect everything? Carpet?

Probably not going to make as much time spraying as you think once you consider protection and clean up.


Why spray ceilings in 3200 sq. ft ? Roll them out. if the cabinet doors require spraying pull them and spray off site brush and roll the rest.


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## cdaniels

Can you imagine the amount of work HO wouldn't get done if they had to move out? We residential painters would go out of business.


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## cjohnson

Having painters in your home all day is already an inconvenience. Now painters want HO to move out of the house completely because they are being inconvenienced. LOL!


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## aaron61

That's ridiculous.We work in occupied interiors everyday. We do it in phases that best accommodate the customer. When we are doing kitchen cabinets we use zip walls to separate the environments and use fans. We have never had an issue.


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## Wolfgang

plainpainter said:


> I dont' think it's ridiculous, in my town once you have renovation you are required to move out and can't move back in until you've gotten a permit to do so.


Bless Mass. and their laws.:whistling2: Remember watching This Old House years ago and the guy removing the trim had to be "certified". I thought "WTH?!?". Of course now, we all have to deal with RRP laws....


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## Epoxy Pro

plainpainter said:


> I dont' think it's ridiculous, in my town once you have renovation you are required to move out and can't move back in until you've gotten a permit to do so.



What part of MA do you service? I have never heard of this so called law, i could be worng as each town has it's own bi-laws pertaining to renovation In my area of MA they do not have to move out even if it is a complete renovation, I have not heard of this MA law ever. Plus you are a painter not ripping their house apart to remodel, like other said Zip walls or even tape plastic to close off rooms, We always work in houses with the HO coming and going, we work for contractors that never ask the HO to leave, they give them the option only if they have 1 bathroom so they can atleast shower before they start their day, other wise 100% of the residential we do for HO stay in THEIR home while we paint.


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## Epoxy Pro

Wolfgang said:


> Bless Mass. and their laws.:whistling2: Remember watching This Old House years ago and the guy removing the trim had to be "certified". I thought "WTH?!?". Of course now, we all have to deal with RRP laws....



That had alot to do with the PBS rules for that show.


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## ROOMINADAY

I just finished a house where the HO decided to get a hotel room for the 4 days when we were there. I find the HO will hang around us all day. It does slow production, but it allows you to build a great relationship with the client. Just need to figure out the balance. I had a few bad ones last year where I was lucky to get 4 productive hours a day in.... I think most HO's want to see how a pro does it and to make sure they are getting good value for their investment on their largest investment.

The one we are in now just hides in her den and comes out about every hour and a half for 15 min at a time. We just keep on keepin on and chat at the same time.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Paint Talk


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## premierpainter

Crazy. I have 9 guys inside of a 6,000 sq ft house right now. The homeowner is living there with her husband, two kids and two dogs. No worries. 

Moving out would be crazy


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## Gough

plainpainter said:


> I dont' think it's ridiculous, in my town once you have renovation you are required to move out and can't move back in until you've gotten a permit to do so.


I'm sure it varies a lot from place to place, but it's my understanding that, if the renovation is involved enough that the house is uninhabitable (no functioning bathroom, for instance), it's commonplace that the residents have to vacate and can't return until there is at least a temporary CO.


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## Stonehampaintdept

Wolfgang said:


> Bless Mass. and their laws.:whistling2: Remember watching This Old House years ago and the guy removing the trim had to be "certified". I thought "WTH?!?". Of course now, we all have to deal with RRP laws....


Did you know when they fixed up, added on etc. that their home value went up. So much so that in cases like the current TV series Extreme home makeover where they tear down and rebuild, the owners can no longer afford the property tax, cost of maintenance, utilities etc. and have to sell, move out and they are back to square 1 or worse off. I enjoy some of these show Immensly and applaud these shows for wanting to help out and if the network fronts the money for renovations in exchange for ratings. But isn't that what it comes down to, ratings. Everyone knows Bob Vila, but these days people like Mike Holmes are tearing up the air waves. I don't ever remember seeing Bob Vila pick up a hammer.


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## plainpainter

cdpainting said:


> What part of MA do you service? I have never heard of this so called law, i could be worng as each town has it's own bi-laws pertaining to renovation In my area of MA they do not have to move out even if it is a complete renovation, I have not heard of this MA law ever. Plus you are a painter not ripping their house apart to remodel, like other said Zip walls or even tape plastic to close off rooms, We always work in houses with the HO coming and going, we work for contractors that never ask the HO to leave, they give them the option only if they have 1 bathroom so they can atleast shower before they start their day, other wise 100% of the residential we do for HO stay in THEIR home while we paint.


They're called occupancy permits. If a homeowner is in a home during construction then they were granted an occupancy permit, sometimes the building department deems the renovation too severe for occupancy and denies occupancy for the duration of the job, until final inspections.


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## Epoxy Pro

plainpainter said:


> They're called occupancy permits. If a homeowner is in a home during construction then they were granted an occupancy permit, sometimes the building department deems the renovation too severe for occupancy and denies occupancy for the duration of the job, until final inspections.



The only time I have heard of this is if they have 1 bathroom or a full kitchen reno, even the kitchen they don't have to move out, the bathroom they do. i know town to town bi-laws are different, we do alot of reno paint jobs and very rarely hear the GC tell the HO to move out while construction is going on, in fact we usually go over colors and details with the HO and having them there can save us time and hassle from color changes, they see it and decide if it's a go or not, no waiting for them to come look.


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## Reyes#520

Read the post(s)and changed the bid to a Time And Material basis for the interior painting and a hard #bid for exterior. I'm of the opinion when our painters have to wear respirators to do the job i.e. cabinets; from a liability stand point (in "Sue" happy Calif.) Its important to me not to have customers in our working area or for that matter in the house. I understand it's a inconvience but I'm looking out for my company and the customer...


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## Red Truck

Has anyone ever put up a zip wall just to keep an "omnipresent" customer out of your hair? We had one lady who wouldn't stop following us around and watching our every move...so we put on our respirators and told her we had to start sanding, and threw plastic over the door! She was actually a pretty nice lady, but the work was starting to crawl, and enough was enough.

I agree, most times customer's being around is a good thing, and can lead to great rapport. But I'll never forget that time!


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## Red Truck

Maybe I should clarify...this was the kind of HO that would see a glare on a half painted wall, and ask us if we were going to fix that...turned out the glare was reflecting from the paint lid sitting below it... :blink:

But I agree projects should be priced differently if a HO (or their possessions) are going to take more time to work around than your usual project entails.


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