Homeowner's guide
How to compare painting quotes.
Updated · Written by Dylan, owner of Prep Prime Paint
Two painting quotes only compare when they price the same job. Get every painter to put the rooms, the surfaces, the prep, the paint and the coats in writing, check out the company behind each one, and then compare the totals. The cheapest number is the best deal only when nothing is missing from it.
This is the list we would give a friend. Use it on us too.
First, give every painter the same job
Most of the gap between two painting quotes is not one painter being greedy and the other being fair. It is two different jobs: one priced the ceilings and one did not, one counted the closets, one allowed an extra coat for a colour change. Write the job down once and give the same list to everyone you ask.
- Each room, and what gets painted in it: walls, ceiling, baseboards, window and door frames, doors, closets.
- Any big colour change, like a dark wall going white. It needs primer or an extra coat.
- What you already know needs fixing: holes, cracks, water stains, peeling paint.
- Whether the rooms will be empty or still furnished.
- Roughly when you want it done.
Three written quotes against the same list is usually enough to see where a fair price sits for your home.
What a good quote shows
A quote is a promise about what you will get for the money. These are the lines that make it one. If a line is missing, ask for it in writing before you compare prices.
- 1
Every room and every surface, by name
“Paint the main floor” is not a scope. If ceilings, trim, doors or closets are not on the quote, assume they are not in the price.
- 2
The prep, spelled out
Filling nail holes and dents, sanding them smooth, spot-priming the patches, caulking the gaps along the baseboards. Prep is what makes paint last, and once the room is finished you cannot see it, which makes it the easiest thing to leave out.
- 3
The paint, by product name
The brand and the product line, the sheen, and the number of coats on each surface. “Premium paint” on a quote could be anything. Ask too whether the paint is in the price or bought separately.
- 4
Your home looked after
Who moves the furniture and puts it back, what covers the floors, and whether the rooms are tidied at the end of each day or only when the job is done.
- 5
One price, and what can change it
A total for the job, with tax shown. And in writing: what happens if the painter finds something the quote did not describe, settled before any work on it starts.
- 6
The deposit, and when the rest is due
A deposit to book your dates is normal. How much it is, when the balance is due and how you can pay should all be written down, and every payment should get a receipt.
- 7
A warranty, in writing
How long it lasts, what it covers and what it does not. A workmanship warranty covers how the paint was put on, and it should say so. “We will come back if anything happens” is only worth what it is written on.
- 8
Proof of insurance
Commercial liability insurance is what pays if a ladder goes through a window or paint ends up on your floor. Ask for the certificate: the business's own name on it, with current dates.
- 9
How long the price holds
And when they could start. A price that is only good if you sign today is a sales tactic, not a price.
In Ontario a written agreement is not a nice extra. The province tells renovation businesses to put almost every contract in writing, with the total cost and the payment terms, taxes included. And when a contract includes an estimate, the business cannot charge more than 10% above it unless you ask for extra or different work and sign a change to the contract.
By the job, by the hour, or by the square foot
A price for the job puts the risk of slow work on the painter. A rate per hour or per day puts it on you, because the clock runs at their pace. If a painter quotes a rate, ask for their estimate of the total hours in writing, and what happens if they go over it.
A price per square foot hides a different trap. Some painters mean the floor area of your home and some mean the wall area being painted, which is close to three times bigger. Our cost guide explains which is which. Either way, the reliable comparison is the total for your rooms.
How to check out the company
A quote tells you what a painter says they will do. This is how you find out whether they do it.
Read the reviews, starting with the worst
On Google, read the one- to three-star reviews and how the business answered them. Then look for reviews that mention what a quote cannot show: the prep, the tidiness, turning up when they said, and the price staying the price. A few detailed reviews say more than a long list of one-liners, and a batch all posted in the same week says something too.
Look at their own work
Photos from real jobs, ideally close up: the line where the wall meets the ceiling, the trim, the caulking. Stock photos of perfect rooms tell you nothing.
Check the business is real
A business name, a phone number the same people answer, and an invoice with that name on it. Search the name on Ontario's Consumer Beware List, which names businesses that did not answer complaints sent to them through the province, and some that were charged under its consumer protection law.
Ask who will do the work
The person quoting, their own crew or a subcontractor. Any of them can do good work, but you should know who will be in your home, and who you call if something is wrong.
Notice how they quote
Did they ask about your rooms, or give a number off a glance? Did the quote arrive in writing, when they said it would? How a company quotes is the best preview you will get of how it runs a job.
In an older home, ask about the old paint
Health Canada says a home built before 1960 probably has lead-based paint, and warns against sanding it or stripping it with heat, which turns it into dust and fumes. If your home is that old, ask how the painter will prepare the surfaces.
What a cheap quote can cost you
A low price is good news when it buys the same job for less. More often it buys a different job, and the difference arrives later. This is where the saving in a low quote usually comes from, and what each one costs afterwards.
- The prep is skipped
- Nail holes and dents painted over, patches left unprimed so they show through as dull spots, gaps along the baseboards left open to crack. Fixing it means doing the prep anyway, then painting the room again.
- One coat, or cheaper paint
- Patchy colour, walls that mark when you wipe them, and a repaint years sooner than you planned. Most of a painting price is the hours, not the paint, so a cheaper can saves less than it looks and can cost you a whole repaint.
- Rooms or surfaces left off
- Ceilings, trim, doors or closets added as extras once the work has started, at a price you can no longer shop around.
- No primer on a colour change
- The old colour shadowing through, and an extra coat added to the bill once the first one is on the wall.
- A rate with no limit
- An hourly or day rate with no estimate of the hours runs at the painter's pace. The total is whatever the clock says at the end.
- No insurance
- If something in your home is damaged, there is no policy to claim against, and the cost lands on you or on your own home insurance.
- No warranty in writing
- If the paint peels or cracks next year, you have nothing to point to, and the repair is a new job you pay for.
- A lower price for cash
- No invoice and no paper trail: nothing to show if you need the work fixed or your money back.
The number to compare
It is what it costs to get the finish you wanted, and to keep it. A quote that needs topping up with extras, or redoing in two years, was never the cheaper one.
None of this makes a low quote a bad one. A small business under the HST registration threshold charges no tax, and a painter with a gap in the calendar may sharpen a price to fill it. Ask every painter the same questions. If the cheapest one answers them all, it is a good deal: take it.
Red flags
- A price given without asking about your rooms, or only out loud.
- A quote that names a floor or an area, not rooms and surfaces.
- No paint named, just “premium” or “top quality”.
- A price that is only good if you sign today.
- Cash only, or no invoice.
- No business name, or no proof of insurance when you ask for it.
- No answer to “what happens if you find something the quote did not cover?”
Hold us to the same list
We wrote this guide, so it is fair to ask how our own quotes measure up. Line by line:
- Every room and surface
- Your quote lists each room and each surface. An interior quote comes with a sheet that says what the price includes, step by step.
- The prep
- Nail holes, dents and scuffs in the walls filled, sanded and spot-primed, and the gaps along the baseboards caulked.
- The paint
- Named by product on your quote, beside the work it is for. An interior quote's sheet gives the number of coats on each surface.
- Your home
- Furniture moved, floors covered, and tidied at the end of each day.
- One price
- One price for the whole job, before tax. We hold it for 30 days, as long as what we find matches what you entered. If it does not, we re-quote before any work starts.
- The deposit
- Every job needs a deposit of a third of the quote (33.33%) to book your dates. The rest is paid when the work is done, by card or e-Transfer.
- The warranty
- A 2-year workmanship warranty, in writing. Read it in full.
- Insurance
- Commercial liability insurance.
- Reviews
- Our Google reviews are public. Read them the way this guide says to.
Questions about comparing quotes
How many painting quotes should I get?
Three is usually enough. One gives you nothing to compare, two that disagree leave you guessing which is off, and with three you can usually see where a fair price sits for your home. What matters more than the number is that every painter priced the same list of rooms and surfaces.
Is the cheapest painting quote ever the right one?
Yes, when it is the same job for less. Check that it names the same rooms and surfaces, the same prep, a named paint and the same number of coats, and that it comes with a written warranty and proof of insurance. If it does, it is simply a better price. If it does not, the difference is usually work that was left out, and it comes back later as extras or a repaint.
Does a painter need to see my home before quoting?
A quote needs what a visit would show: the rooms, their sizes, what is being painted and what condition it is in. That can come from a visit, from photos or from your own measurements. What matters is that the quote writes it down, so you can both see what was priced, and says what happens if the home turns out different.
Is it normal for a painter to ask for a deposit?
Yes. A deposit books your dates. What matters is that the amount, when the rest is due and how you can pay are in the written agreement before you pay anything, and that you get a receipt for every payment.
Get one of your three here
Our online quote lists every room and surface, names the paint, and gives you one price for the whole job, with no visit needed first. Put it next to the others.