Occupied or empty
An empty floor is the cheapest painting there is. An occupied one means protection, phasing, moving around people and putting each area back into service every single day.
Commercial painting
Your building does not close so we can paint it.
Offices, retail, multi-family and light industrial. The painting is the easy half; the part you are actually buying is a schedule that survives contact with a building full of people who still have to work in it.
The number, itemised
What is in the price, and what is not.
On a commercial job the scope document is the product. Here is what ours covers as standard, and what gets priced as its own line so it never lands as a surprise variation.
In the number
- A written scope broken down by area, with product names and sheens
- Product submittals and safety data sheets before we mobilise
- One lead on site, and daily sign-off with your contact
- Phasing so occupied areas stay open and usable
- Night and weekend work where trading hours require it
- Floor and fixture protection, plus barricades and signage where needed
- Surface prep to spec: wash down, patch, spot prime
- Two finish coats unless the specification says otherwise
- Daily clean-down so the space opens the next morning
- A punch walk by area, closed out before that area is invoiced
Quoted separately
- Drywall, ceiling grid or flooring repair
- Removing or reinstalling fixtures, signage, millwork or artwork
- Lifts or scaffold we do not already supply, priced per area
- Abatement of any kind
- Line striping, curbs and parking lot marking
- Epoxy, urethane and other specialty floor coatings
- Intumescent and fire-rated coatings
- Work added outside the agreed phasing window after the fact
Nothing on the right-hand side gets added without your say-so. Variations are where commercial jobs go wrong. Ours are quoted and signed before the work happens, by area, so the final invoice reconciles line for line against the scope you approved.
Before you compare quotes
Four things move a commercial price more than the floor plan.
Two contractors walking the same building can come back very far apart. It is nearly always one of these, and it is fair to ask each of them which.
When you need us in the building
Daytime work in a vacant space is the baseline. Nights, weekends and around trading hours cost more, and it is better to price that honestly up front than discover it as a variation.
Height and access
Ceilings, atriums, stairwells and warehouse walls need lifts, and lifts need floor protection, routes in and someone qualified on them. Access often costs more than coverage.
How tight the specification is
A landlord standard finish and a documented specification with named products, submittals and hold points are different jobs. Both are fine. They are not the same number.
Asked most
Commercial painting questions.
If yours is not here, call and ask. We would rather answer it now than have it come up on day two.
Can you work nights and weekends?
Yes, and for occupied retail and office space it is usually the only sensible way. Tell us the hours the space has to be usable and we will build the phasing around them rather than asking you to work around us.
How do you keep the space open while you work?
By area, not by building. We take one zone at a time, protect and barricade it, finish it, clean it down and hand it back before opening the next. You lose one area at a time instead of the whole floor.
Who do we actually deal with day to day?
One lead, on site, every day the crew is there. They walk the completed area with your contact at the end of each shift and sign it off. You should not have to chase an office to find out what happened in your own building.
How does billing work?
Progress billing against completed areas, or net 30, whichever suits your accounts payable. Each area is punched and closed out before it is invoiced, so what you are paying for is finished and signed rather than in progress.
Can you match our existing specification?
Yes. Send the spec or the previous product schedule and we will quote to it by name. If something in it has been discontinued we will say so and propose the current equivalent rather than quietly substituting.
Do you handle multiple buildings or a phased rollout?
Yes, and it is worth scoping as one package rather than a series of separate jobs — the mobilisation and the colour standards only get set up once. We will build a sequence against your dates.
How is the punch list handled?
Walked with your contact, area by area, and written down as you point at things. It gets closed out before that area is invoiced, not at the end of the whole project when everybody has lost interest.
Free, no obligation
Send us the scope.
A floor plan, a specification, or honestly just photos and a rough area — we can work from any of them. Tell us the hours the space has to stay open and we will phase around it. Written quote within one business day.
Rather talk it through? Call (314) 489-6667, weekdays 7am–6pm.