# Apartment complex interior



## Onepaint (7 mo ago)

Hi, first time posting a question although I’ve received a lot of good info from here for years. I’ve been in business for 2 years been painting for 16. I have the opportunity to bid a big apartment complex. Brand new 100+ Units. Now I’ve done smaller ones. 5-10 units. And I have an idea of what I should charge for those. Question is= should I bid per sq/fr just as I would a much smaller building? And what about crew size. I have another crew that I sun work but should I plan on hiring and building a second crew in order to tackle this project. Also any other information you guys could throw my way on how to be prepared for a big project like this? Thanks in advance


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Personally, I would price out 1 and then times it by 100. Any deficiencies T&M. I would hold off on the other crew until you see how things are progressing.


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## 4th Gen Pntr (7 mo ago)

Just my 2 cents. Be sure you are gonna make a profit. Large construction companies tend to squeeze our profit margin to a very low percentage. The overall contract amount may be a big number but it will not be worth the effort if your not making the profit you need. Also be sure you have a very detailed material estimate. A small mistake per unit will be multiplied by 100. Good luck


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## kmp (Jan 30, 2011)

Do you have a pump big enough to run two guns or two pumps because you will need them. Plan on schedule delays and will you have a place for your guys to go when that happens? You will be bidding against guys that do this kind of work all the time so your numbers have to be good and you need to be confident you can do the job. I used to bid on these kind of projects but found the headaches too numerous and not worth it.


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## kmp (Jan 30, 2011)

Couple more things .Are these two or three story units because you have to factor in for how many trips up and down for your guys to get stuff and how long it will take. How far away are the porta -johns? Where will you store all your paint and supplies? Most of these projects do nor provide storage for contractors. Most important is will you be able to carry the cost of payroll and supplies for 30-60 days?


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## akrause (May 18, 2010)

A few things to be aware of. GC's always want to bring the painter in too early so they can appear to the owners to be making progress. Don't let them do that to you. Make sure all the doors (prob pre-hung) and baseboards (assuming wood) are hung and installed before you start calking and puttying so you're not doubling back. It's fine if you want to prime out ceilings and walls before doors and base are in, but don't piecemeal your woodwork, you'll loose time and time is $. Sometimes low income housing uses vinyl cove base. Stating the obvious, *NEVER let them install flooring and base before your finish coat or you'll have to tape it all off. It seems so obvoius but if you get a green superintendant you'd be surprised at what they don't know.
Understand way ahead of time that you're going to paint the first couple of buildings then they're going to sit and get the sh*& beat out of them by other trades for months. Plumbers and HVAC guys are going to come in and cut holes in the drywall, there's going to be mysterious damage to painted surfaces and doors and stuff and the GC is going to expect you to come back and basically repaint on your dime, calling it a "punch list". *NO SIR*. You give them (depending on the size of the unit) a pre-defined amount of post final coat touch up per unit (1 hour for a two bedroom should be plenty). It's not unusual for there to be a GC punch list then an owner or architect punch list or "Blue Tape" punch list but just make sure you have an understanding of what the limits are and what is and is not included. Impact damages from other trades is a change order in my book.
Are you calking counter tops and back splashes or is the counter top guy? Not a huge deal, just things you need to know of ahead of time.
With regard to how many guys to have on your crew, it's very difficult to say because you're at the mercy of the drywall guy. If he's slow, you will be too - no choice. If he's got a big crew and moves fast then the GC is going to be expecting you to keep up. 
Don't let me scare you or make this sound like it's not worth it, it is. My only message to you is to guard your profit because it can easily ooze out of your wallet over things that seem so small at the moment but add up very quickly.


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## kmp (Jan 30, 2011)

Years ago I worked for a contractor that put a sign on the door of each completed unit that it was a finished unit and any damage done by others would result in back charges to all other trades. Don't know if it worked as I quit before we finished many units.


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## Onepaint (7 mo ago)

kmp said:


> Couple more things .Are these two or three story units because you have to factor in for how many trips up and down for your guys to get stuff and how long it will take. How far away are the porta -johns? Where will you store all your paint and supplies? Most of these projects do nor provide storage for contractors. Most important is will you be able to carry the cost of payroll and supplies for 30-60 days?


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## Onepaint (7 mo ago)

kmp said:


> Couple more things .Are these two or three story units because you have to factor in for how many trips up and down for your guys to get stuff and how long it will take. How far away are the porta -johns? Where will you store all your paint and supplies? Most of these projects do nor provide storage for contractors. Most important is will you be able to carry the cost of payroll and supplies for 30-60 days?


Good stuff. Thanks. Didn’t think about storage or how far my guys will have to travel.


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