It often happens that an apartment doesn’t need to be renovated and maybe it is even in almost perfect condition, but some parts of it such as doors, window sashes, and other trim a little bit lost their freshness.
Then it comes to your mind that it’s time to trim the apartment. First of all, it is necessary to learn the cost to paint interior doors and trim. We hope that you will also be interested to know how much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets.
The article will give all the answers to your questions about the cost to paint interior doors and trim. Here you will find lots of lists of prices both for a foot and for middle-sized rooms and parts of the interior.
We also name factors that influence the cost to paint doors and trim, for example, material, texture, size, and shape of a trim.
Moreover, you will find some recommendations on the materials, subtleties of the process of painting.
So, let’s come straight to the point!
Basic costs to paint trim and doors
The cost to paint interior trim varies from $1 to $4 per linear foot (or $500-$2,000). House painting exterior trim will costs $1-$4 per linear foot (or $1,000-$2,500). Painting trim and doors may run you $45-$200 per 1 side. Painting window trim and frames cost $25-$150 per each.
Costs to paint interior doors and trim
There’s a table of interior trim costs :
- Baseboards: $1 – $4 per linear foot
- Crown molding: $1 – $5 per linear foot
- Chair rail: $1 – $4 per linear foot
- Interior window frame: $25 – $100 per window
- Interior window frame, sash, & mullions: $50 – $120 per window
- Interior door and trim: $40 – $125 per side
- Trim and baseboards: $25 – $200 per room
In general, the average cost to paint the interior of the whole house is $500-$2,000. Here you have to take into account both the size of the house and the height of the rooms. The average cost for rooms higher than 8 feet rises by 25%, and linear foot painting goes up to $2 – $5.
Of course, the interior trim elements you need to get painted (window frames, crown molding, etc.) have to be situated at 8′ height to result in the painting interior trim cost increase.
As for interior doors, size, material, and interior door type definite the cost of an interior door painted by a professional painter. A little bit more expensive are French ones, to paint French doors, you will have to spend $150-$200 per side.
Costs to paint exterior trim
There are the costs to paint exterior trim:
- Exterior trim: $1 – $4 per linear foot
- Eaves, fascia, and soffit: $2 – $6 per linear foot
- Door and trim: $75 – $200 per side
- Window frame: $45 – $150 each
The average cost to paint eaves, fascia, and soffit equals $500-$1,000 for a house of the middle size. The cost to paint exterior trim can increase and decrease according to the number of floors.
For houses built before 1978, some additional procedures have to be done. It was painted not just with old paint, then houses were painted with lead paint.
You have to remove this paint ($8-$15 per sq. ft.) or apply several layers of a special new paint ($800-$1,400 for a 2,000 sq. ft. home), first you need paint inspections and pay $300-$600 for them.
We advise you not to remove the lead paint by yourself since lead paint is dangerous, or do it extremely carefully and don’t touch the paint without gloves.
Costs for painting windows
For those who are interested in window paint in particular, there are approximate costs to paint exterior window trim and interior window trim.
- Interior window frame: $25 – $100 each
- Interior window frame, sash, and mullions: $50 – $120 each
- Exterior window trim: $40 – $150 each
- Shutters: $60 – $150 pair
Remember that the cost to paint window frames of the exterior trim and shutters go up if we speak about floors above the 1st because workers need to use ladders or scaffolding.
Costs to hire professional painters
The average cost for a professional painting varies from $20 to $50 per hour. Minimum job fees are about $250-$500 for painting interior or exterior trim.
Painting contractors near you are ready to help
Factors influencing the cost of a paint company
A huge amount of different painting costs could confuse anybody. Here’s a list of factors that define the cost to paint trim or doors.
- Experience of professional painters.
- The quality of materials and painting tools.
- The licenses and the insurance.
- Preparation for the painting procedure.
If you’re curious about the details, ask the painter what the cost includes. A good worker knows the cost structure and won’t refuse to show it to you.
Interior door types
There are 4 main interior door types that you will likely meet in apartments. Each type requires accuracy and taking into account the shapes and all the features of the type. You must try hard not to paint adjacent surfaces.
Flush doors (flat doors)
Flush doors are the easiest to paint. They don’t have any protrusions which makes the process more difficult.
Raised panel doors
A raised panel door includes many frames which bring in some tricky texture in the process.
French doors
French doors are the ones that have glasses that are easy to paint accidentally. Use duct tape to protect French doors from getting paint on the glass.
Sliding doors
Sliding doors open and close by moving from left side to right side and by returning back. The cost to paint them is quite high because of the necessity to remove the interior doors to paint them and to put them back after the painting process is done.
Bifold doors
Bifold doors have interesting construction. They are similar to sliding doors, they also slide from side to side, but they also fold together. It is a great option if you need to open wide space and not have any frames in the middle. Like in the case of sliding doors, you will have to change the position of the interior door while painting to paint all the sides.
Louvered doors
As you see, the only problem when painting a louvered door is a big amount of slats placed at an angle.
Price list for painting interior doors of different types:
- Bifold – $80
- Dutch – $200
- Flush – $100
- French – $250
- Glass – $200
- Louvered – $130
- Raised Panel – $85
- Sliding – $150
Wooden doors
Wooden doors should be painted with particular kinds of paint not to be damaged.
Fiberglass doors
The cost of painting this kind of interior door is high because when painting a fiberglass door, it is necessary to choose the paint attentively because not every paint suits fiberglass.
Metal doors
Costs to paint a metal door are higher than average. Just in case, a metal door can be repaired if it has some dents or other imperfections, and the price rises a little when the interior door is damaged.
Price list for painting interior doors of different materials:
- Composite – $110
- Fiberglass – $200
- MDF – $75
- Metal – $135
- Vinyl – $90
- Wood – $150
Trim types
There’s a list of frequent trims for you, too. You will learn what exactly is referred to trims and maybe you will want to add some more interesting decoration elements to your interior. Of course, each of them makes the painting project longer and more complicated, so you should put the effort to do the renovation accurately.
But still, there are paint marks on the floor, and you are asking yourself how to remove paint from tile floor, we have the answer.
Baseboard
Baseboards are rails placed between the floor and the wall. They cover up inaccurate wall work with paint or wallpapers. Hire an interior painter near you for professional results.
Casing
The casing is a plank around a window or a door.
Chair rail
Chair rail goes along the wall on the level of chair backs. Its purpose is to protect the wall from dents and marks that could be made by chairs.
Crown molding
Crown molding is almost the same as baseboard, but it is situated between the wall and the ceiling, not the floor.
Picture rail
Picture rail is a frame situated on the wall for hanging hooks. Don’t forget to take off the hooks if possible or just move them to another side when painting.
Wall frame molding
Wall frame molding is a decorative element consisting of frames along the wall. It brings in lots of refinement and richness in the interior.
Preparation for painting a door
There are a few steps you have to do before painting a door:
- Take off all the details: knobs, latch, hanger if you have one.
- Sand down the door a little bit to remove old paint which is coming off.
- Clean the door surface with a wet rug, so any dirt is deleted and the paint connects with the surface better.
- Cover the door with primer and wait until the door is dry.
Painting doors
Painting flush doors
- Since a flush door doesn’t have any protruberances, paint with a roller brush.
- When you finish the layer, take a usual paintbrush to even the surface removing all the drips and also paint corners and edges.
- Wait for 24 hours until the paint gets dry.
- Put back all the elements you removed.
Painting raised panel doors
- Begin painting a raised panel door with a usual paintbrush from rails (these are horizontal parts of the door), go to stiles (these are vertical outer edges of the door).
- Paint all the panels, move from top to bottom.
- Don’t touch the door for 24 hours.
- Connect the deleted elements to the raised panel door again.
Painting French doors
- Before painting a french door, use duct tape to protect the glass from the paint.
- Paint rails and stiles moving from top to down.
- Wait for 24 hours, so the paint is dry.
- Reattach all the elements to the door.
Painting bifold doors
- If your bifold doors have glasses, then use a duct tape as well.
- To paint bifold doors, you will need a usual paintbrush and a roller brush. Do the general work with a roller brush and take a usual one to deal with roughnesses.
- Just like in other cases, wait for 24 hours until the paint is dry.
- Return the hooks and other elements to their previous places.
Painting exterior doors
The procedure is almost the same as you should do to paint interior doors.
- Begin painting by covering the door surface with 2 layers of primer.
- Apply 2 layers of paint with a usual paintbrush or a roller brush.
- To remove roughnesses, use a usual paintbrush.
- After 24 hours go to the next step.
- Put the hooks back to their places.
Painting trim
- Apply 2 coats of caulk in the free space between the trim and the wall.
- Put a duct tape on the adjacent surfaces around the trim.
- Cover the trim with 2 coats of primer if it’s a wood trim. It is necessary to prevent the wood from peeling off and shining through the paint. It is especially important when you change the color of the trim.
- Then put 2 layers of the paint on the trim.
- Wait until the paint is dry.
Measuring doors
To definite the cost of paint you’re going to buy, you have to take measures of your doors or other architectural elements. For this do the following steps:
- Measure the length of the door (it is the distance between the top and the bottom).
- Measure the width of the door (it is the distance between the left and the right sides).
- Multiply the length with the width.
- Do the same steps for all other doors you’re going to paint with this paint.
- Divide the figure by 400. This is the square of the trim that 1 gallon of the paint can cover.
Measuring trim
To learn the size of trim, you have to do practically the same things as you have to do for doors.
- Measure the length of the decorative element (it is the distance between the top and the bottom).
- Measure the width of it (it is the distance between the left and the right sides).
- Multiply the length with the width.
- Do the previous actions for all other similar elements you want to apply the paint to.
- Divide the figure you got by 400 to learn how many gallons of paint you need to buy.
Pluses of painting doors and trim at once
If you have a big workload, you may have an idea to divide the whole painting project into 2 parts. However, we advise you to do the painting work at the same time, especially if you hire a professional painter. Here’s a small list of reasons why you shouldn’t drag the painting out:
- An equal degree of paint freshness. If you paint the architectural elements at once, you get the same color. You also make colors of already painted elements equal in case they were painted at a different time or even didn’t have the same color originally.
- Less money is spent on labor. If you hire workers several times instead of 1, you will spend more money on that.
- Sooner result. Doing the project not interrupting will bring closer the time when the work is done.
Difficulties in painting French doors
If you need to paint French doors, you have to consider a few moments. It is also can be referred to as bifold doors or any other kind of door which has glasses.
In general, French doors are one of the most difficult to paint. The reason is the fact that this kind of door has lots of glass panels and consequently lots of wooden boards between them. This way, the paint job rises and you have to spend more time, more energy, more attention and more money in case you use a professional painter’s services.
Pluses and minuses of a painting by yourself
Pluses
- The whole painting process is under your control, so you can make all the decisions by yourself and get exactly what you want to get.
- It is cheaper than hiring a professional.
Minuses
- You risk getting a worse result if you don’t have any experience in painting.
- You spend some time doing the paint job.
- You spend more energy on the process.
- You have to buy the materials by yourself as well which means you spend extra time and money.
Pluses and minuses of hiring a professional
Pluses
- You get a high-quality result almost for sure.
- You spend much less time on the whole painting project. You need only to find a worker and contact him/her.
- You get the result sooner.
Minuses
- Hiring professional painters costs quite a lot compared to doing the work by yourself.
- You don’t have maximal control over the painting process.
Comparing pluses and minuses for both options, you can see that the main plus of painting the interior by yourself is saving money and the main plus of professional painting is a guarantee of a good result, though it could differ from your expectations because of lack of control.
However, if you find a good painter, you can explain all your wishes and he/she will do everything just like you want it to be.Find top-rated painters in your area.
Trim paint types
Choice of the paint type is based on whether it’s interior or exterior. For the interior, oil-based paint and latex paint with a semi-gloss finish will be the most suitable option. For the exterior, take oil-based paint or acrylic paint, it should be either satin or flat paint regarding the finish.
Picking between flat and satin finish, take satin in case easiness of cleaning, resistance to stains and highlighting the details of decorative trim is important for you, the semi-gloss finish has the same qualities.
Picking between oil-based paint and latex paint when painting interior trim, give preference to oil-based paint if durability is the most important for you, and use latex paint in case you want to escape the sharp odor of paint. Painting exterior trim, you may doubt what trim paint to choose, consider that acrylic paint is resistant to temperature changes.
Trim paint costs
After you definite the number of gallons of paint you need for painting trim, no matter if it’s interior trim or exterior trim, you can finally learn the approximate trim costs.
There are 2 price lists for 1 gallon of paint depending on the type of paint.
For interior trim:
- Oil-based: $30 – $35
- Latex: $20 – $50
- Acrylic: $25 – $60
For exterior trim:
- Oil-based: $35 – $65
- Latex: $25 – $55
- Acrylic: $30 – $80
As you can see, the average cost varies not very much, so you can pick the type of paint considering other factors such as the appearance of trim you will get applying the concrete paint and compatibility of the paint type and the surface.
Diy cost to paint interior doors and trim
The average cost to paint the interior by yourself equals $130-$440. This number includes both costs for interior paint ($80-$240) and for interior trim painting tools ($50-$200).
About caulk
Why do you need to apply caulk? The material is perfect to fill gaps between walls or another surface and an element of an apartment, it prevents the rotting of wood and doesn’t allow dirt to accumulate in gaps. Use caulk before you paint, so you can paint atop caulk and escape the inaccurate look of caulk.
The material has to be the same color as the part of the interior you want to paint. We advise you to use indoor, paintable, and elastomeric caulk. To caulk the necessary surface, apart from caulk itself, you will need a scraper and a dripless caulking gun.
The price depends on the type of caulk:
- Silicone caulk’s price is $4-$12 for a tube whose contents cover 50 linear feet. It suits more for kitchens and bathrooms because it repels moisture well.
- Latex caulk’s price is from $2 to $9 a tube meant for 50 linear feet of trim. Use it in all other places except bathrooms and kitchens.
As regards tools and supplies or caulking, they will run you the sum of approximately $10-$30.
That was all!
We hope the article was useful for you.
Good luck with the renovation of your house!
