Common questions. Straight answers.

A single room runs $650–$1,400 depending on wall height, trim detail, and prep needed. A full-interior 3-bedroom repaint usually lands $3,800–$6,500 with two coats on walls, ceilings, and trim. Those are San Diego market ranges, not our prices. The painter who quotes the job sets the final number.

Single-story stucco homes start around $4,800. Two-story from $7,500. Elastomeric premium adds about $1,000 for crack-prone stucco. Pressure wash, crack repair, caulk, prime, and two coats included.

Flat rate, in almost every case. Square-foot quotes hide scope and lead to surprise line items. A good painter walks the home in person, measures walls, counts doors and windows, assesses prep work, and hands you a written scope with a fixed price. Ask for that before you sign.

Nothing. Homeowners never pay us a connection fee, and painters in our network typically provide a free in-home estimate. You pay only the painter you choose to hire, on the terms in their own written quote. A paid color consultation is a separate service some painters offer.

Sherwin-Williams Emerald, SuperPaint, and Pro Classic are our workhorse interiors. Benjamin Moore Regal, Aura, and Advance on request. Exterior acrylics from Sherwin-Williams (Emerald Exterior) or elastomeric from Sherwin Loxon XP when the stucco needs it. All low-VOC. We do not cut to builder-grade paint on customer jobs.

Premium low-VOC paint on properly-prepped walls lasts 8–12 years before it looks tired. Kitchens and baths shorter, cooking splatter and steam are rough on paint. Trim in high-traffic zones (doorways, kick areas) shows wear first but wipes clean with a damp cloth.

Properly prepped and painted with premium acrylic, 8–12 years on most walls. South and west exposures closer to 6–8. Elastomeric coatings on stucco push that to 10–15 because they bridge cracks and flex with the wall. Cheap paint over dirty walls fails in 3–5, regardless of brand claims.

Usually yes. We chip a small sample at an outlet or behind a cabinet, run it through the Sherwin-Williams color reader, and match within a few percentage points. Faded sun-wall paint is harder, the original formula and the wall are now two different colors.

Yes. Send us your HOA palette letter or the community approved-color list. We coordinate the paint order through Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore, document the formula, and prep whatever submittal the HOA needs for board approval.

We move anything two people can lift. You take down wall art, family photos, and fragile items before we start. Bigger furniture gets pulled to the center and covered in plastic. We put everything back before leaving.

Nail holes, small dings, and light caulk cracks are included in every paint job. Larger patches (doorknob holes, TV-mount holes, water damage) are billed as drywall repair on top of the paint scope, we quote both together up front.

Oil-based trim has to be scuff-sanded, degreased, and primed with an adhesion bonder (Stix or SuperGrip) before waterborne goes on top. Skip the bonder and the new paint peels within a year. We always include the bonder step when converting.

Yes. Re-caulking open seams, trim corners, baseboards, window casings, is part of every interior paint job. Paintable acrylic caulk, smoothed in wet, then painted over so it disappears. Exteriors get caulk on all trim seams, window flashings, and stucco-to-wood transitions before primer.

Single room: 1–2 days. Full interior 3-bedroom: 3–5 days. Exterior single-story: 3–5 days. Exterior two-story: 5–7 days. Cabinet refinishing: 5–7 days with doors off-site. We give a written schedule before start and call if anything needs to shift.

Yes. Low-VOC paint is safe to be around. We work one room or zone at a time and seal with plastic if needed. Bedrooms and nurseries often get done last so dry-time doesn't overlap with sleep.

Canvas drop cloths on floors at every room. Plastic sheeting over furniture moved to the center. Tape and paper on countertops, built-ins, and anything we can't move. Floors vacuumed or swept daily before we leave.

Low-VOC latex is nearly odorless, most people don't notice it beyond the day of application. Oil-based bonding primer for old trim conversion smells for about 4 hours after it goes on; we ventilate and seal off rooms not being worked.

Yes, a major part of what we do. Doors and drawers come off and go to a dust-free booth to spray. Boxes get painted in place with floor-to-ceiling masking. 5–7 days total. See our cabinet painting page for full scope.

Yes. Offices, retail, restaurants, HOAs, and light industrial. Scheduled around your hours, nights, weekends, and overnight for retail and restaurant work. Full COIs, W-9s, and lien waivers on file before mobilizing.

Yes. We refer painters who run phased scheduling by building or block, match neutral colors to HOA palettes, and notify tenants by door-hanger before work starts. Ask the painter for color samples and a scope letter your board can approve.

Homes built before 1978 have to be tested before anyone scrapes or sands outside. If lead is present, the painter must follow EPA RRP containment: poly drop cloths, HEPA vacuum, and controlled waste disposal. Testing and certification add a day and some cost, and they are not optional under federal law. Confirm your painter holds a current EPA RRP certification.

Yes. Pre-1979 homes get the ceiling tested for asbestos before any scraping. If it tests clean, we wet-scrape, skim-coat smooth, prime, and paint. See the popcorn ceiling page for the full process.