Painting · Nashville, TN
The Nashville homeowner's guide to painting
What the work involves, what drives the price, what your options are, and what a bad job looks like — written so you can judge any painter in Middle Tennessee, including us.
Estimate request
Which rooms, walls or siding need paint?
Straight to us, and a reply the same day.
By Michael Blair, owner, Nashville's Painters · who we are
Warning signs
How to know you need us
Recognize one? Have it looked at before it grows.
- Paint peeling, blistering or chalking off on your hand when you touch it
- Caulk lines split open around trim, windows and door casings
- Bare or graying wood showing at fascia, soffit or window sills
- Interior walls scuffed, patched in mismatched sheens, or a color you have stopped seeing
- Cabinets dated but structurally sound, where refinishing beats replacing
- Preparing to list, where paint returns more than almost any other spend
Your options
More than one right answer.
Some walls need a full prime and two coats, others one coat over sound paint. We say which, and we price the paint grades side by side.
Interior repaint
Walls, ceilings and trim. The trim and cut lines are what separate a professional job from a weekend one.
Exterior repaint
Wash, scrape, prime bare areas, replace failed caulk, then two coats. In this climate the prep decides how long it lasts.
Cabinet refinishing
Degrease, sand, prime and spray a proper cabinet coating. A fraction of replacement cost and a bigger visual change than either.
Carpentry repair first
Rotten trim, fascia and sills replaced before painting, because paint over rot is a way of hiding it for one season.
What it costs
What actually drives the price.
Square footage is only part of a paint price; the prep, the repairs, the height and the number of colors move it more, and we need to see those.
-
Prep, which is most of it
Washing, scraping, sanding, caulking and priming is where a paint job is won. It is also the first thing a cheap quote cuts, and you cannot see it once the color is on.
-
Surface condition
Chalky, peeling or previously badly painted surfaces need more work before they need paint. Bare wood and failed caulk lines add real hours.
-
Height and access
Two-story exteriors, gables and cut-up rooflines need ladders and staging, and that is labor before a brush is loaded.
-
Paint grade and sheen
The gap between builder-grade and a quality acrylic is a few dollars a gallon and several years of color hold. Sheen also affects how much prep shows.
-
Color change and number of coats
Going dark to light, or covering a strong color, is a genuine extra coat rather than an upsell.
Estimates are free, written and without obligation. Anything found only after starting is priced up front.
What happens
From your call to the finished job.
Walkthrough and estimate
Room by room or elevation by elevation, in writing, with the prep scope named rather than implied.
Color and sample
Samples on your wall in your light. Color that looked right in a shop looks different on a north-facing Nashville wall in February.
Prep
Typically the longest phase on an exterior, and the one worth watching if you want to know what you are buying.
Paint and walkthrough
Coats, then a punch walk with you before the last day, so the list gets fixed while the crew and the ladders are still there.
Done badly
What goes wrong, and why it matters.
Shortcuts that cheapen the quote and cost you later. Ask anyone you are considering about them.
-
Painting over chalk
A quick rinse is not a wash. Paint applied over chalky residue fails as a sheet rather than in patches.
-
Caulking before priming bare wood
Caulk bonds to primer, not to raw wood. Done in the wrong order the joints open again within a year.
-
One thick coat instead of two
It covers and it looks fine for a season. Two proper coats is a specification, not a preference.
-
Spraying without back-rolling
On porous exterior surfaces spraying alone lays paint on top rather than working it in, and the difference shows up as premature failure.
Before you hire anyone
Six questions worth asking any painter.
Including us. If a painter cannot answer these easily, that is the answer.
-
How many days of prep for one day of painting?
Most of a good paint job is scraping, sanding, priming and caulking. A quote that is mostly paint has skipped the part that makes it last.
-
Is my house pre-1978, and are you lead-safe certified?
If it is, the EPA certification is the law, not a nicety. The right answer is the certificate number.
-
Which product, which sheen, how many coats — in writing?
Brand, line, sheen and two coats over primer, on the estimate. “Premium paint” means nothing without the name.
-
Will you fix the drywall and the rot before you paint over them?
Yes, priced on the estimate. Paint over a soft board or a crack is a repair you pay for twice.
-
Who is on the crew, and are they insured?
Employees or a named crew, covered by the painter’s liability insurance. Day labor nobody vouches for is how ladders end up through windows.
-
What does the workmanship warranty cover, and for how long?
Peeling and failure of the coating from the work, for a stated term, in writing. The paint company covers the paint; the painter covers the job.
FAQ
Choosing a painter in Nashville
How do I choose a painter in Nashville?
Our painting crews carry liability insurance we hold on file, and any crew working on a pre-1978 house holds the EPA lead-safe certification the law requires. Ask the six questions below of anyone, including us.
Should I get more than one quote for painting?
Yes — and compare the scope, not the total. A Nashville paint job is priced by the square footage and the prep — the scraping, sanding, caulking and priming that decide whether the finish lasts eight years or two — and by the coats the color change actually needs.
Is the cheapest painting quote usually a bad idea?
Not automatically; a low number is information. Peeling that is not scraped comes back through the new coat in a season.
Do I need a permit for painting in Nashville?
Painting needs no permit from Metro Nashville and the surrounding counties; work on a house built before 1978 needs a contractor certified for lead-safe practices, and ours are.
How far in advance should I book painting?
Interior work in Nashville is usually scheduled within a couple of weeks; exterior painting waits for a dry, warm window, and the crew says which week rather than guessing.
Free estimate
Time for fresh paint?
Show Nashville's Painters the rooms or the siding, and our written estimate, free and with no obligation, lists the prep, the coats and the paint.