Interior Painting in Fort Collins
A room repaint is mostly preparation and very little rolling. A standard bedroom is a half day at $340 plus paint, and the part you are paying for is the filling, sanding and cutting in rather than the colour.
Almost nobody hires a painter because they cannot roll a wall. They hire one because the preparation is tedious and the finish shows every step you skipped.
Where the time actually goes
On a standard bedroom, rolling the walls is under an hour. The rest of the half day is the part that decides whether it looks painted or looks done:
Filling and sanding. Every nail hole, every dent from a chair back, every hairline crack. Filled proud, sanded flush, and spot primed so it does not flash a different sheen under the finish coat.
Caulking. The gap where baseboard meets wall, and where casing meets wall, is what your eye reads as sharp or sloppy. A bead of caulk there does more for the finished look than an extra coat of paint does.
Cutting in. Hand cut at the ceiling, at corners and against trim. It takes longer than taping and it looks better, and there is no tape line to lift a strip of ceiling paint off when it comes away.
Dry climate, moving walls
Fort Collins is dry, and dry houses move. Drywall seams open slightly, trim shrinks away from walls, and caulk lines split. That is why a repaint here is usually a patch-and-caulk job with painting attached, rather than the other way round.
If your walls need real repair first, that is a separate line on the quote and it belongs on the drywall repair page. I will tell you which you need before booking, because a paint job over unfixed cracks is money you will spend twice.
Colour, honestly
I am not a colour consultant and I will not pretend to be. What I will tell you is practical: how many coats your chosen colour will actually need over what is on the wall now, whether the sheen you picked will show every imperfection in an old wall, and roughly how much paint to buy so you are not making a second trip mid-afternoon.
What this costs
A bedroom is a half day at $340 plus paint. Add the ceiling, the trim and the doors and it is a full day at $640. Touch-ups and blending a patch are a minimum call-out. If you have several rooms, a full day block is the cheapest way to buy the time.
What is included
- Moving and covering furniture, and protecting floors properly rather than with a single sheet.
- Filling nail holes, dents and small cracks, then sanding them flush.
- Caulking gaps where trim meets wall, which is what makes a line look sharp.
- Spot priming patches and any stain that would otherwise bleed through.
- Cutting in by hand at ceilings, corners and trim. No tape line to peel later.
- Two coats where the colour needs it, and an honest answer when one is enough.
- Cleaning up, taking the debris, and putting the room back.
What it costs
| Job | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard bedroom, walls only | $340 | Half day plus paint |
| Bedroom with ceiling and trim | $640 | Full day plus paint |
| Touch-ups and patch blending | $125 | Minimum call-out |
| Doors, per side | $45 | Prepped, primed where needed, two coats |
| Paint | cost + 25% | Or buy it yourself and pay nothing extra |
Full rates, block pricing and the minimum call-out are on the pricing page.
On homes built before 1978 I do not take on work that disturbes painted surfaces, because I am not currently an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm. That certification is pending. Until it is issued, that work goes to a certified contractor rather than getting done anyway.
What I do not do here
- Exterior painting above single storey height.
- Spraying whole houses, or lacquer and specialist finishes.
- Wallpaper removal as a large job, though a small area is fine.
- Anything that disturbs paint on a pre-1978 home. See the scope note below.
- Popcorn ceiling removal, which is an asbestos question before it is a painting one.
Who to call instead: a painting contractor for whole-house exterior work or spray finishes, and an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm for pre-1978 paint disturbance.
The full list is on what I do not do.
How it works
- Send a photo. Text or email a picture. Most jobs get priced without a site visit.
- Get a flat price. Written and fixed before I start.
- I show up and finish. On the day I said, parts in the truck, swept up after.
Why a solo operator
The same person quotes the job, does the job and cleans up after it. There is no call centre, no dispatcher and no rotating crew who have not seen your house. The price you were given is the price, because the person who quoted it is the person holding the tools.
Related work
Interior painting questions
How long does one room take?
A standard bedroom with walls only is a half day if the prep is light. Add a ceiling, trim and doors and it becomes a full day. If the walls need real patching first, that is its own line and I will tell you when I quote rather than discovering it on the day.
Do I need to buy the paint?
Either way. Buy it yourself and there is no markup at all. If I source it, it is cost plus 25% with the receipt. For a standard bedroom you are looking at roughly two gallons for walls, and I will tell you exactly what to get before you go.
Do you use tape?
Rarely on cut lines. A hand-cut line against a ceiling or trim looks better and does not lift paint when it comes off. Tape goes on things that genuinely need masking, like hardware and floors.
Will one coat do?
Sometimes, and I will say so rather than selling you two. Same colour refresh over a sound surface often covers in one. Any real colour change, anything going lighter, and anything over a patch needs two.
My house is from the 1960s. Any issue?
Possibly, and I would rather raise it than skip it. Homes built before 1978 can have lead paint under later layers, and disturbing it is regulated work. I am not a Lead-Safe Certified Firm yet, so that work goes to someone who is. Newer homes are unaffected.