Are you having your home painted? Painting your house can give your house a fresh, new look. You can improve your curb appeal by painting the exterior of your house. Painting the interior of your home can give you a new house smell. But do you tip painters?

Tipping House Painters

After you’ve picked a  professional house painting company and set a painting date for your painting project, you’ll want to know if you need to tip the painting crew. You probably don’t want to be in a situation where a tip is expected at the end of the job, but you didn’t know that it was.

Do You Tip House Painters?

No, you don’t have to tip house painters. Tips for an excellent job are, of course, appreciated.

There are a few biased sites out there that are run by business owners whose painting companies are fishing for tips. They suggest that you tip excessively large amounts, but tipping professional house painters is entirely optional. The truth is that house painters rarely receive extra cash tips. House painters are service professionals, and while some service jobs in the service industry are tipped, house painters aren’t.

Tipping painters is not that common, according to painters themselves. Giving painters drinks, food, and other refreshments during the workday is more common. Lemonade, ice water, coffee, and pizza are always popular. Besides being appreciated by the painters, it’ll likely keep them from going out for lunch, which could save you time in the end.

If you do decide to tip to show your appreciation for an excellent house painting job, the extra money will be appreciated and remembered. You might also feel like leaving a tip if your professional painter did additional work for you for free, didn’t complain about any unforeseen complications, made an extra effort to finish early, went the extra mile, you’re naturally a generous tipper, or you’re satisfied with the finished product.

How Much Do You Tip a House Painter?

Remember that you can tip house painters for good work at your discretion, but it’s not required. If you do want to give your painters something, consider buying them food and drinks during the workday instead of leaving a cash tip.

If you want to tip a great house painter in cash, an appropriate tip is $20 to $40 per painter, depending on the size of the job and how good the customer service was. Your house painters will be happy to receive the tip.

A few sites and etiquette experts suggest tipping 15% to 20% for good service, but that’s just excessive for a job where tipping is not a common practice.

How Much Do House Painters Make?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary of a professional house painter is $47,700 per year, which works out to $22.94 per hour. While you might think that just anybody can be a house painter, reputable painting companies use professional painters that have gone through a 3 to 4-year apprenticeship program.

Other painting companies and general contractors will use painters who went through an unofficial equivalent to an apprenticeship. These painters first learned to paint homes while working as a painter’s helper. You will likely have a mix of painters and “painter helpers” (or assistants) in your painting crew.

When painting your house, it is crucial to go with people who know what they are doing, not your next-door teenager who wants to try his hand at it. Otherwise, you can end up having to repaint your home at your own cost to fix a poor paint job.

How Much Does It Cost To Paint a House?

A new paint job can improve your home’s curb appeal, provide a new interior look, and increase your home’s value. According to HomeAdvisor, painting a house costs between $1,810 and $4,526, with a national average of $3,167. The average price per square foot ranges from $0.50 to $3.50, depending on your location, wall surface type, and the job’s difficulty.

Painting a house is the type of work that requires proper planning, preparation, and tools. In most cases, it’s best left to professional house painters. Before you call a house painting company, you’ll want to know exactly how much you should expect to pay. Our house painting cost guide can help you save money on painting services.

How Much Does It Cost To Paint a House Interior?

The cost of painting the interior of your house depends on the height and slope of your ceilings, the size of your home, whether you have trim or baseboards to paint, how many coats of paint are needed, and your location. In some cases, a commercial painting company may separate the cost of painting any baseboards.

The typical range of costs for interior house painting is $2 to $5 per square foot. For a 2,500 square foot house, that would translate into an interior painting cost of $5,000 to $12,500. A commercial painting company may separate the cost to paint any baseboards with an average cost between $0.50 and $1.50 per linear foot being typical. Given the wide range of prices, get several different bids from local painting companies to ensure you’re getting a good home painting price.

How Much Does It Cost To Paint a House Exterior?

The cost of exterior house painting will depend on how many stories the house is, the height of the stories, how many coats of paint your house will need, the length of all your house’s exterior walls, and where you live. A painting contractor will calculate the total paintable surface area and make a bid for the work.

The typical exterior painting cost ranges from $1,500 to $4,000 for a house. The cost per square foot of paintable area ranges from $0.50 to $3.50. The cost of painting handrails, porch railings, and trim is sometimes quoted separately at an average cost of $1 to $5 per linear foot. There is a range in painting costs for exterior painting projects depending on the surface type and your location. It costs more to paint stucco or brick than it does to paint wood or vinyl. So if you have a stucco or brick house, exterior house painting will cost more than for other types of homes.

How To Paint Your House Right

To paint your home, you’ll first want to pick out a color scheme that you like. It is important to use a quality brand of paint such as Sherwin Williams or Behr to achieve quality results on your house painting project. Once you’ve picked a paint brand, the next step is to choose your color scheme. You can take home paint color cards for free from a paint shop or home improvement store.

Choosing the Perfect Color Scheme

Hold the paint cards against the walls you want to paint to find your favorite wall color scheme. After picking your color scheme, buy a small paint can of your favorite type of paint, brushes, and a drop-cloth for a sample test at home. It’s best to do this in an inconspicuous place. If you don’t like the paint, you can try again with a different color. The paint test spots that you see will be covered entirely up when your house is painted.

Besides using paint cards, you can virtually try out different color schemes in your house with no painting required! Search the Apple Store or the Android Play Store, and download a house painting app. Color visualization apps let you “try on” any paint color on your walls in real-time using your smartphone’s camera. Both Sherwin Williams and Behr offer these apps for free.

Next, use the color visualization app to see what your house would look like in your preferred colors. The app will show you what your wall or other surfaces will look like once in your favorite color. It beats bringing back paint cards and test painting small areas. Plus, if you decide not to repaint your home, you won’t be stuck with those unsightly sample paint spots!

Selecting a Painting Contractor

Once you’ve decided on the paint brand, color scheme, and scope of the work, you’ll want to get several bids from your local professional house painting companies. It’s important to pick professional house painters to get the job done right the first time, minimize disruption to your schedule since professionals are fast while others aren’t, ensure a smooth painting process, and keep your costs down.

Talk to your painting contractor before buying your interior house paint. That’s to make sure that the paint type you want to buy is appropriate for the job. Different areas need different paint types, and your painting professional will be able to help you with this. You’ll be able to use the color you picked out, thanks to color matching, regardless of the paint type that’s required.

Frequently Asked Questions About House Painting and Tipping

People often have specific questions about house painting and tipping. Here are the answers to some of the most common questions people ask about house painting and tipping.

Why do we tip certain professions?

It’s considered polite to tip workers in certain professions for their services. But why do we tip waiters, the pizza delivery guy,  hairdressers, and even painters while other professions such as electricians, plumbers, and carpenters aren’t tipped?

Historically, the only tipped positions have been in the service industry. Studies have shown that people are most likely to tip people in jobs perceived as being low-income. This finding supports the idea that we tip workers out of altruism. In the case of a waiter versus an electrician, most people recognize that a waiter earns less than the minimum wage while an electrician earns fair wages.

We are also more likely to tip someone when we can quickly evaluate how good of a job they have done. It’s hard to assess how good of a job a salesman did objectively but easy in the case of good house painters. Since homeowners can quickly evaluate the work down in their own houses, tips are relatively common for home services. 

How much do you tip poor service?

There’s a strong tendency to leave a tip even for poor service, but you should resist the urge and not tip. A prospect for a tip is an incentive for hard workers to provide good service. If you receive poor service and leave a tip, you’re incentivizing poor service. For abysmal service, don’t tip.

Do you tip workers from Handy?

Did you find your painters or other tradesmen through Handy? You don’t need to tip workers from Handy, but feel free to tip for exceptional service if you want to.

If you want to leave a tip, you can tip in cash or through the Handy mobile app. An average tip is between $10 and $20.

What paint colors help sell a house?

Neutral paint colors will help you sell your house by appealing to the greatest number of potential buyers. If your house has a unique or quirky color scheme, consider repainting it with a neutral color scheme to sell your home quickly and for more money.

Does fresh paint help sell a house?

Yes, adding a fresh coat of paint with a neutral color scheme helps sell a house quickly and for more money. According to HomeAdvisor, home sellers that repaint their house earn 1% to 3% more money than those who don’t. On a house selling for $375,000, a fresh coat of paint will make you an extra $3,750 to $11,250.

How long should a paint job last on a house?

A paint job on a house should last 5 to 7 years for exterior paint and 5 to 10 years for interior paint. Exterior paint will last longer in a dry climate and on stucco siding. Interior paint will last longer if there are no children or animals in the household. Otherwise, plan for more frequent repainting to cover up stains, scuff marks, and other paint damage.

How to match paint color already on wall?

For a perfect match for a paint color that’s already on your wall, you have two options: Use a handheld color-matching device or collect a paint chip that is at least one-inch square.

Handheld color-matching devices, such as the Color Muse, block out ambient light and use a high-quality color sensor to ensure an exact paint match.

To use a paint chip for a color match, cut out a one-inch square of paint from your wall with a utility knife. It’s best to take a paint chip from an inconspicuous area, such as behind a couch or television. Next, take your paint chip to your local Sherwin Williams, Lowes, or Home Depot. The paint staff will use a spectrophotometer to find the matching paint color.

If you are using a professional painting company, the company owner, supervisor, foreman, or crew chief should color match your paint for you before they start painting.

What color to paint the basement ceiling?

White paint is a popular choice to brighten up basements because it reflects light. There is nothing worse than a dark and dim basement, but you can fix it by painting it white and installing extra lighting. You can also use a white ceiling to reflect bright wall colors, which will help further brighten up your basement.

Do house painters need a license?

In the United States, 35 states have licensing requirements for house painters. The 15 states with no licensing requirements for house painters are Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

States have different licensing requirements for residential versus commercial painting services.

Does painting the walls help get rid of bed bugs?

Painting the walls of your house can help you get rid of bed bugs, but it’s not a replacement for using a pest control company. If you have a serious bed bug infestation inside your house, the painting process must be combined with bed bug treatment by a pest control expert.

Bed bugs can’t chew through surfaces, so by sealing cracks in your walls, you can keep them from re-entering a room. Before repainting the room, fill all the cracks and crevices in your wall with a sealant. Use a caulk, putty, or drywall patch depending on where the gaps are. Then, repaint the room with latex paint to seal the bed bugs into the wall and away from their food source, which is you!