Are these quotations too dear/cheap to paint a stairs?

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ClodaghK

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I have a red deal staircase in my new house, but always liking the "showhouse look" of walnut handrail and white spindles I decided to get a "€100 a day" fella in to paint it. Anyway to cut a long story short the finish is fairly shocking - should of expected that i suppose.
So i have decided to call in a local (professional) painting and decorating crowd (who i should add are known to be exceptionally good but on the pricey side) to give me a price for "fixing it" . Obviously they have talked down the whole job saying its incredibly bad etc etc.

They have said that to get it right they will have to completely strip the stairs back to the natural timber. Sand it, prime it, laquer it and then paint it again, with about 5 days work in it for 3 fellas. (The stairs is over two floors) The price for all this is coming in just short of €3000 to include paint and materials. Now they have said that it will last anywhere in the region of 10-15 years.....I just think that the price is very expensive.

I know the timber probably wasn't prepared right first day, but does it really have to be taken back to the natural timber to get it right and am i on my own with the price?

Any comments greatly appreciated.
 
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Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

You are hardly getting ripped off because they have been up front about cost. expensive, maybe. Rip off, no.

I don't know much about painting but i know all those spindles will have to be hand sanded. slow and a real pain. How many spindles are there?
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

My advice would be to get another 2-3 quotes, I am sure it will come in a lot cheaper - sure you could replace the banisters for 3k. 3000 seems a lot for the work involved esp taking 3 people to do it. Surely its a one man job.
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

DavyJones said:
slow and a real pain.
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'Slow and a real pain' is not even half the way to explain how terrible a job it is to do.
I have stripped georgian and victorian stair cases back and finished them to a natural finish in the past.
Never again.
This type of work should be given to prisoners to force them to behave.

Lulu123 said:
My advice would be to get another 2-3 quotes, I am sure it will come in a lot cheaper - sure you could replace the banisters for 3k. 3000 seems a lot for the work involved esp taking 3 people to do it. Surely its a one man job.
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Lulu, I'll bet you've never done anything like this before.
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

ClodaghK said:
Any comments greatly appreciated.
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Yes - shop around by getting a few quotes from recommended/reputable painters & decorators to get a better idea of the going rate for this sort of work.
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

Get a new stairs .... Or carpet it .... Red Deal ain't worth that kind of spend. Now if it was ash or oak ... Thats a different story.
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

Clodagh, would you think about doing it yourself? We stripped our banistairs and primed it, undercoated 2 layers and glossed it. It was Mahogoney but we wanted it white and it looks great. 3 days of hard work but definitly worth it to save 3k !
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

Why don't you post the Job on Onlinetradesmen.com that way you can get a few quotes and talk to different tradesmen
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

ClodaghK said:
I know the timber probably wasn't prepared right first day, but does it really have to be taken back to the natural timber to get it right
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Hi ClodaghK,

I have seen window jobs where the painting was not properly primed, what happens is the paint flakes off because it has not properly adhered to the wood. Primer is sort of like coloured glue you need it to stick paint to wood.

What your new painter is doing is stripping all the paint off so he can properly prime the surfaces so the paint will stick.

There is no other way.

Any other professional painter you get should tell you the same thing.
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

Qbot said:
Clodagh, would you think about doing it yourself? We stripped our banistairs and primed it, undercoated 2 layers and glossed it. It was Mahogoney but we wanted it white and it looks great. 3 days of hard work but definitly worth it to save 3k !
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Agreed, I done mine too many years ago and it was much cheaper and a better finish than getting a painter to do it. D.I.Y. , its not a difficult job. Not complicated, just tedious. Worth it to save 3k though.
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

for 3k you should be able to replace the stairs with new pine spindles and banister and get it painted right first time based on the quotes for red deal staicases i got.

From the painters point of view this is the way to FIX the job as SLF said and stripping down spindles is a tedious and time consuming job, the painter is really doing 2 jobs 1: rectifying the botch job already done 2: painting the stairs in the colours you want to a professional finish, thus the 3K
 
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Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

Why not see the cost about replacing just the spindles as they are hardest to sand down the rest would be easy to do. would probably take a day or 2 to do . While
spindles are being replaced , i think you could get a new bannister rail put in cheaply.
Red deal is a cheap wood so I would no way consider spending 3K on the repairs.
 
Re: Being ripped off to paint a stairs?

DavyJones said:
You are hardly getting ripped off because they have been up front about cost. expensive, maybe. Rip off, no.
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The poster did not say it was a rip off, merely that it was expensive.

I would not spend 3k on red deal, even to fix a botch job. DIY I would say
 
Hi.. Forget the 3000k!!!
Use ESP by http://www.owatrol.com/#
There is NO NEED FOR SANDING.. Just paint on the water based formula and leave to dry. It creates a smooth surface ready to paint!! Perfect finish.. The only thing is if you need to penetrate the wood with a stain this will not work..only painting. You could use an undercoat then a varnish coloured paint over it.. Red deal is not worth spending money on.. It would be cheaper to replace with quality wood..
Most top paint suppliers will stock ESP..

Best of luck!!
 
I'm in kind of a similar situation - my bannister & spindles are varnished in a medium/dark colour and I'd like to change it myself

Bannister & spindles have a gloss finish and I have two options:

1. Use ESP and then paint it white
2. Sand them down and use a light varnish

Can anyone advice how much work is involved with option 2?
 
niallo34 said:
I'm in kind of a similar situation - my bannister & spindles are varnished in a medium/dark colour and I'd like to change it myself

Bannister & spindles have a gloss finish and I have two options:

1. Use ESP and then paint it white
2. Sand them down and use a light varnish

Can anyone advice how much work is involved with option 2?
Click to expand...

If you paint it as it is it will be a lumpy finish.

You need to sand the stairs down to get a smooth finish
 
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