The cost of painting and carpet is crazy!

[Colleen]

My late husband and I had talked about having some painting done inside the house but when he died I put everything on hold until last week.

I did some research for painters in my area and contacted one that had a very high rating by customers. He came last Friday and we talked about what I would like to have done. I want the living room, stairway going upstairs and that hallway and one of the bedrooms painted. I got his price a couple days later for $1300. I went to Sherwin Williams the next day to look at paint colors and couldn't believe the price of paint! $50/gallon and up. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because when we had our bathroom remodeled 2 years ago, the paint was $60/gallon. I remember when I use to buy paint for $4.99/gallon. Haha.

Then, there's the ongoing fiasco of carpet. Remember I said I had HD come and measure and then they wanted to know what I had picked out so they could send that info to someone, somewhere, and they'd give me a price? Well, I decided to just go to HD and look at carpet, pick out something, and have them submit my choice. Guess what? I couldn't find one thing in my store that I wanted and there was no one working in that department that day. Seriously?

I left without picking out anything. The painter guy had told me that he and his wife got carpet at a local furniture store and they were happy with the results. I drove to that store, talked to the guy, picked out a couple samples and brought them home.

I was almost ready to go ahead and get this done, but I had forgotten to ask him a couple questions when I was there so I called him. What I had forgotten to ask was: how much is installation (since HD installs for "free") and does the installer move your furniture (HD does). He told me that the installer charges $1/square foot for installation (in my case that would be a little over $1000) and $50/per room to move furniture (that would be 4 rooms). That tacked on another $1200 to the price of the carpet and padding. Holy Moly! I'm never getting this done!

So, I decided I could live with the carpet if I got it cleaned. I called a top-rated company and made an appointment. Not an hour later, they called and said they couldn't do it because they weren't licensed in PA (they were just over the border from me in OH). I'll call another carpet cleaner business. I'm so sick of doing this.

OK...that's my gripe for today. Enough whining, already!!

 

[AprilSun]

That is what I was afraid of. I had thought about having my house painted and replace the carpet but the fear of what it would cost me made me change my mind. Plus, I figure my old carpet is still better quality than what is out there today so I'll put up with what I have.

 

[VintageBetter]

The painting estimate sounds about right, if that's any comfort. Doing the stairs is a hassle - scaffolding might be needed which he will provide. If he uses a sprayer, taping everything off takes time.

And yup, quality paint is really expensive now. It will last for many years.

Home repair and renovation prices have really increased, and I think when they see a retiree, they might feel entitled to charge more because, you know, all Boomers are wealthy.

 

[hearlady]

We are facing new carpet. So far, we are just facing it.

 

[911]

This past March, I helped my friend paint the inside of his house. We started on Friday morning and finished Monday afternoon. He painted every room, except the master bedroom the same color. It went pretty fast. He had already done the ceilings himself, so that helped a lot. He told me that he paid $62 a gallon for the paint. I didn't realize that paint went up that much.