Design
Interior Painting in Calgary
A stain is a symptom. Painting over one is the single most common thing we found homeowners had paid for twice.
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date.
McAra Design + Build gives you a fixed price for interior painting before any work begins. Walls and ceilings in an empty house with sound drywall is the simplest scope. Trim and doors, high ceilings, heavy patching, or stain-blocking primer over a source we've had to find first is what drives the price up.
Preparation hours are stated in the scope rather than absorbed into a per-square-foot rate, because preparation is where the difference shows a year later. You get a fixed number in writing before anything starts.
What's included
Everything in the scope, itemized.
- 01Masking and floor protection
- 02Drywall patching and repair
- 03Sanding and surface preparation
- 04Caulking
- 05Primer, including stain-blocking where required
- 06Two finish coats
- 07Trim, doors and casing
- 08Ceilings
- 09Daily cleanup and final cleanup
What we check that others don't
What we check that others don't.
- §1
The source of any stain before we cover it, and we tell you if we can't find it. A brown ring on a ceiling is water arriving from somewhere, and primer only hides it until the next time. We trace it to a roof, a vent, a supply line or condensation, and we say plainly when the source is not findable without opening something.
- §2
Lead paint in homes built before 1978, before sanding starts. Sanding is what turns intact old paint into a problem, because it puts it in the air and into the dust on the floor. We test first and, where it is present, the surface is handled with the containment and methods that go with it.
- §3
Whether recurring bathroom or closet mould is a ventilation problem paint won't fix. Mould in the same corner every winter is about air movement and surface temperature. Paint over it and it is back in a season. We identify the cause, tell you what fixing it involves, and price that separately so you can decide.
- §4
Movement cracks versus ordinary drywall cracks. One comes back and one doesn't. A crack that runs from a window or door corner, or reopens along the same line every year, is the house moving on Calgary clay. We fill and tape ordinary cracks, and we tell you which ones will return no matter how they're filled.
- §5
Failed caulking at windows. This is often where the moisture came from. Painting a stained window return without dealing with the joint above it just resets the clock. We check the caulking and the sill, and the repair is in the scope before the finish coat.
- §6
Ceiling texture that may contain asbestos, before any scraping. Stipple ceilings in homes built before the mid-1980s are commonly positive. Scraping one dry spreads it through the house. It gets tested first, and removal is an abatement job on its own schedule rather than a step in a paint day.
How long it takes
Three days to two weeks on site.
A few rooms, walls and ceilings only, is usually three to five days. A whole house including trim and doors runs one to two weeks.
Patching and primer drying times set the pace more than the painting does, and they are in the schedule rather than compressed. The start date and the completion date are both in the contract.
Under this pillar
Sub-services.
Sprayed finish on boxes and doors worth keeping.
Tested first, removed under containment, ceiling refinished.
We put it in writing.
- A fixed price
- agreed before we start, and it doesn't move unless you change the scope.
- A completion date
- in the contract, not a range, not a best guess.
- A workmanship warranty
- if it fails because of how we installed it, we fix it. No argument, no invoice.
Most renovation guarantees are a paragraph of conditions. Ours is three commitments you can hold us to.
Questions people ask before they book.
- McAra Design + Build gives you a fixed price for interior painting in writing before any work begins. Walls and ceilings in an empty house with sound drywall is the simplest scope; trim, doors, high ceilings, heavy patching or stain-blocking primer moves the price up. Preparation hours are stated in the scope rather than buried in a rate.
- McAra Design + Build can, but not without finding out where the water came from first, because primer only hides a stain until the leak happens again. The source gets traced to a roof, a vent, a supply line or condensation, and if it cannot be found without opening something, you are told that plainly.
- Only after testing it. Stipple texture applied before the mid-1980s often contains asbestos, and painting over it is safe while scraping it is not. McAra Design + Build tests first, and if you want the texture removed instead, that becomes its own abatement job with proper containment and a separate schedule.
- Primer wherever the surface needs it, then two finish coats on top. A colour change over a dark wall, or new drywall, always needs the primer step regardless of the paint chosen. McAra Design + Build states the coat count in the scope so there is nothing to argue about at handover.
- Most McAra Design + Build clients do. Work proceeds room by room, the route in and out stays masked, and the crew cleans up at the end of each day. Where lead paint or asbestos texture is found, that specific area is contained and off-limits until it has been cleared.
Related
Where people go next.
Get a free in-home quote.
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date.
What are you planning?
Or call Chris directly: +1 (587) 837-3113