Start a Painting
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Price It Right

Wexford Insurance's 2026 estimate puts a new painting business at $7,950–$26,800. The biggest line is a used van or truck ($5,000–$15,000), so if you already own one your cash start is much lower. Budget separately for insurance: Insureon's median for painters' general liability is about $72 a month. A contractor-grade airless sprayer adds roughly $1,100–$4,000.

It depends on your state and city. California requires a C-33 Painting and Decorating license for jobs over $1,000, or any job that needs a permit or uses employees. Arizona licenses residential and commercial painting separately and requires a license once labor and materials pass $1,000 or a permit is needed. Nearly everywhere, you'll at least need a business registration and a local business license.

Yes, if you're paid to disturb paint in homes, child care facilities or kindergartens built before 1978. EPA's RRP rule requires a certified firm ($300, good for five years) and a certified renovator on each job, who takes an 8-hour course with 2 hours hands-on. Small jobs under 6 sq ft per room inside or 20 sq ft outside are excluded. Fifteen states run their own programs.

Start with general liability; Insureon's August 2026 median for painters is $72 a month ($862 a year). Add workers' compensation when you hire (median $190 a month), commercial auto for the work vehicle ($295) and tools and equipment coverage ($42). Commercial clients may ask for higher limits or an umbrella policy. Your price depends on payroll, revenue, location, claims and services.

Brushes, rollers and trays, drop cloths and tape, extension and step ladders, safety gear and a work vehicle. Wexford budgets $100–$300 for brushes and rollers and $200–$1,000 for ladders and scaffolding. When you add an airless sprayer, contractor Graco units listed at $1,089–$3,999 in September 2026. Follow OSHA's ladder rules, including side rails 3 ft above the landing.

Measure walls and ceilings in square feet and trim in linear feet. Divide each quantity by your production rate to get hours, multiply by your loaded labor rate, add paint (area times coats divided by coverage) and sundries, then divide the total by one minus your overhead-plus-profit percentage. A PCA blog example charges $67.50 per labor hour on a $27 labor rate.

Sherwin-Williams says a gallon of paint typically covers 350–400 sq ft per coat and a gallon of primer 200–300 sq ft. Behr says 250–400 sq ft per coat. Rough, porous, textured or previously unpainted surfaces take more, and deep color changes may need an extra coat or a tinted primer, so estimate on the low side of the range.

Housecall Pro suggests target margins of 20–40% depending on overhead. A PCA blog benchmark splits the selling price into 40% labor, 35% overhead, 15% profit and 10% materials. Price with a margin on the selling price, not a markup on cost: for a 30% margin, divide cost by 0.70, so $5,000 in cost becomes a $7,143 price.

The median pay for construction and maintenance painters was $49,400 a year, or $23.75 an hour, in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS counted 326,900 painters in 2025, 31% of them self-employed, and projects 3% growth from 2025 to 2035. Owners' income depends on pricing, crew productivity and how many jobs they sell.

A franchise sells you a brand, a system and marketing help for an upfront fee and ongoing royalties. Painting is cheap to start independently, so compare those fees with the cost of building your own name. In floor coatings, for example, franchise fees run $38,500–$60,000 with 5–6.5% royalties. Read any Franchise Disclosure Document with an attorney before signing.

Yes, and some painting license scopes already reach coatings: Arizona's painting license includes liquid floor and wall coatings. Expect new equipment and training. A core floor grinding kit costs about $12,300 new, and ArmorThane's turnkey spray systems start at $25,000 with training, with no franchise fee or royalty. A coated two-car garage sells for $1,600–$4,800 in HomeGuide's data.

Yes, but the rules apply from the first paid job: registration, any state or local license, EPA RRP certification for pre-1978 work, and general liability insurance. Keep the jobs small at first so production-rate estimates can be checked against your real hours before you quote larger work.