Price Of Boat Painting

[Dottyshirl]

Hi, what should I be expecting to pay to paint a 62 foot narrowboat ? the blacking has been done.

[bottle]

I was quoted 6 to 7 Thousand Pound for a back to bare metal repaint of a 60 footer, four years ago.

 

It would also have taken 6 to 7 weeks to complete.

 

Variation in cost was dependant on number of colours and sign writing.

[Machpoint005]

It's not the painting that costs, it's the preparation. My current repainting project was quoted to me at £120 a linear foot but that included signwriting and a fancy colour scheme.

[bottle]

So a 20% rise in four years. that ain't to bad.

[Machpoint005]

Maximum rise 20% -- minimum rise 3% (if it was seven grand to start with -- and it would have been!).

[Dottyshirl]

So a quote of £4,500 s amazing !!! Thanks for your replies

[ditchcrawler]

So a quote of £4,500 s amazing !!! Thanks for your replies

Depends what you are getting for your money

[Grace and Favour]

So a quote of £4,500 s amazing !!! Thanks for your replies

Yes - but please, please, do not confuse 'cost' with 'quality'

[bottle]

Maximum rise 20% -- minimum rise 3% (if it was seven grand to start with -- and it would have been!).

 

You know me always the pessimist. Well no, I just could not be ar**ed to do the sums.

 

So a quote of £4,500 s amazing !!! Thanks for your replies

 

Depends on what they will actually do, a quick rub down nothing removed and it is probably expensive, back to bare metal all portholes/windows, mushrooms removed etc. then it is unbelievably cheap.

Edited July 25, 2013 by bottle

[Machpoint005]

Before (or rather during) and after...

[kitman]

 

You know me always the pessimist. Well no, I just could not be ar**ed to do the sums.

 

 

Depends on what they will actually do, a quick rub down nothing removed and it is probably expensive, back to bare metal all portholes/windows, mushrooms removed etc. then it is unbelievably cheap.

 

 

I programed our online estimate system to include a schedule of works with all our estimates. This is a new thing I've added recently, it details what exactly is to be done and how long it will take to do each task. An average schedule is 10 pages long! but it gives customers information on where their money goes which I feel is really important. It's a lot of money at the end of the day, and if customers can't see where their money goes they may well assume that the painter is inventing the cost.

 

The schedules are worked out using records I keep on how long each of our previous boats have taken to paint. Records vary greatly depending on the amount of work rather than the length of boat. Using the records I can tell you that the overall length of the boat is not what defines the real cost. Most boats I deal with are between 50 and 62 foot and the cost is directly dicatated by the amount of hours envolved.

 

Time is what effects the price, not length. If you agree a low price based on a short boat length with your painter then there will be more pressure on him to cut corners when removing rust, maintaining the right painting conditions, paint depth, safe recoat times etc. These are the things that will influence the quality and longevity of your paintwork in drastic ways. Make no mistake, the lower the price you pay, the higher the chance of a poor quality result that wont last very long.

 

You cannot rush a traditional paintjob, the only shortcuts are are cut corners.

 

I can't actually compete with the rub down and repaint crew on price anymore, the work I do is too comprehensive and lengthy and I care about what I do too much. I can't really afford to price boats based on their length now because I know that the length has very little to do with cost, incidently that is something I think Phil Speight worked out years ago. Hence why all his repaints where a fixed around £9000.00, whatever the length. Years ago I thought Phil was greedy (Sorry Phil!), but after traditionally painting narrowboats for eight years I have changed my mind, now I think Phil was sensible (Sorry now you are sensible Phil).

 

In my experience I would say an average of 230 hours is necesssary to properly prepare and paint a narrowboat well.

[Machpoint005]

 

In my experience I would say an average of 230 hours is necesssary to properly prepare and paint a narrowboat well.

 

In which case the £7000 quote referred to above is good value, as you won't be making any more than £20 an hour gross once all the fixed and variable costs have been paid.

[kitman]

 

In which case the £7000 quote referred to above is good value, as you won't be making any more than £20 an hour gross once all the fixed and variable costs have been paid.

 

Precisely.