Questions Matt Gets Asked

A standard bedroom with walls only usually runs $300 to $600. Add the ceiling, trim and doors and it roughly doubles, because that is roughly double the work. Vaulted ceilings, heavy patching, and a big color change all push it higher.

A three bedroom interior with walls, ceilings and trim typically runs $3,000 to $7,500 in the Little Rock area, and most land near $4,800. Square footage matters less than ceiling height, the amount of patching needed, and whether trim and doors are included.

A single story home usually runs $3,500 to $7,500 and a two story $6,000 to $14,000. The two biggest variables are how much scraping and rot repair the trim needs, and how easy it is to get a ladder around the property.

An average kitchen of 20 to 30 doors is usually $2,500 to $4,500. A small kitchen is $1,500 to $2,800 and a bathroom vanity $250 to $600. Replacing the same cabinets starts around $15,000, which is why painting them is the most common way people change a kitchen.

Because the quotes are not for the same job. One includes washing, patching, caulking, priming and two full coats. Another includes one thin coat over whatever is already there. Both say painting on the invoice. Ask each quote what preparation is included and the spread usually explains itself.

No. Estimates are free. Call (501) 551-4002 or send photos and details and I will arrange a look at the job.

Send photos. A picture of the room, the wall, the cabinets or the exterior gets you far closer than a description does. For small jobs that is often enough to give a firm number.

A deposit covering materials on a larger job is normal. Being asked for most or all of the money before any work starts is not. Never pay a job in full up front.

Yes, and compare what is in them rather than just the number at the bottom. Count the coats, check whether prep and patching are included, and check whether the trim and ceilings are in scope or extra.

Usually it is cheap because something was left out. Most often it is preparation, sometimes it is the second coat. You find out about eighteen months later when the trim starts peeling.

Ask for proof of insurance and actually look at it. Check that the phone number, address and business name are the same everywhere you find them. Read the reviews, including the bad ones, and look for a real person who answers the phone.

Ask me for current coverage before work starts and I will provide it. Any homeowner or commercial client should ask a contractor this, and should be suspicious of one who gets cagey about answering.

Yes. Mr. Paint holds a 4.4 star rating from 27 Google reviews. It is a public profile and you can read every one of them, including the ones that are not five stars.

One room is usually one day. A typical three bedroom interior with ceilings and trim runs three to five working days. Cabinets take longer than people expect, because each coat needs to cure properly before the next one goes on.

Most single story homes take three to six working days including washing and preparation. Rain, humidity and cold all stop work, because coatings need the right conditions to cure rather than just dry.

Spring and autumn are ideal. Mid summer works if I start early and stay ahead of the sun. Deep cold is the real limit, because most exterior coatings have a minimum application temperature.

Interiors, yes, all year. Exteriors depend on temperature and moisture rather than the month. A mild dry week in January can be better for exterior work than a humid week in July.

No. Plenty of customers give access and go to work. I agree in advance how you want the property left at the end of each day.

Move the small and breakable items. I move the heavy pieces to the center of the room and cover them. Tell me in advance if a room is full, because it changes how long the job takes.

Two finish coats as standard. Bare patches, water stains and large color changes need a primer coat underneath first. I say that when I quote, not when I invoice.

It gives the finish coat something to bond to and it blocks what is underneath from bleeding through. Raw patching compound, bare wood, water stains and old oil based finishes all need it. Skipping it is why a patch shows through as a different sheen.

Because the raw compound was not primed. Bare joint compound absorbs paint differently from the painted wall around it, so it dries to a different sheen even in the same color. Spot priming solves it.

Sometimes, but it is rarely a good idea. The paint soaks the paper and the seams lift. Removing it properly costs more up front and saves repainting the same wall twice.

Not directly with latex. It will peel off in strips. Old oil enamel needs de-glossing and a bonding primer first. This is extremely common in older Little Rock and North Little Rock homes and it is worth testing for before quoting.

Flat or matte on ceilings and low traffic ceilings and walls. Eggshell or satin on most walls, because it wipes clean. Semi-gloss on trim, doors, kitchens and bathrooms, where moisture and scrubbing are a factor.

It depends on the surface and the room rather than loyalty to one label. Trim, kitchens and bathrooms need a harder and more scrubbable product than a bedroom ceiling does. I buy on a trade account, which is where the savings my customers mention in reviews come from.

Get a sample pot and paint a large patch on the actual wall, then look at it in morning light, afternoon light and under your own lamps at night. A chip held against a wall lies to you. Colors also read differently on a screen, so never commit from a photograph.

Walls are dry to touch in a few hours. Leave trim and doors overnight before anything leans on them. Enamel keeps hardening for days, so avoid scrubbing a fresh trim finish for about a week.

Modern low-VOC interior paints have very little odor and it clears in a day with ventilation. Oil based products and some primers are stronger and I will tell you in advance if I need to use one.

Yes, daily, and it is one of the things customers mention most in reviews. Floors covered, fixtures masked, tape pulled the same day, and the space handed back usable rather than at the end of the week.

Done properly, with degreasing, a bonding primer and a sprayed cabinet enamel, they hold up to years of normal kitchen use. Done as a quick wall-paint job they chip within months. The process is the entire difference.

Yes, and it is the most common kitchen I get asked about. Oak has open grain that will show through paint, so decide in advance whether you want that texture visible or filled for a smoother finish. Filling costs more.

Both, depending on the surface. Cabinet doors and some ceilings get sprayed because it removes brush texture. Trim edges and cut lines against ceilings are brushed by hand, because tape on textured walls bleeds and leaves a ridge.

Five to ten years on siding with good preparation, and less on the south and west elevations that take the sun. Trim and horizontal surfaces always fail first. Washing the house once a year genuinely extends it.

Almost always because of what it went on top of. Chalky old coating that was not washed, bare wood that was not primed, or siding that was still damp when it was painted. The paint is rarely the problem.

Yes. Soft fascia, trim and window sills get repaired or replaced as part of the job. Painting wood that is already failing hides it for one season and costs more the next.

Yes, and it looks excellent when done properly. Understand that it is effectively permanent, because stripping paint off brick later is expensive and rarely comes out clean.

Yes. Nail pops, settlement cracks, doorknob holes, anchor holes and water stains get patched, sanded and primed as part of the preparation. It is usually cheaper on the same visit as painting than as a separate call out.

Small practical repairs. Patching, caulking, sticking doors, rotten trim, fixture and hardware swaps, and punch lists between tenants. I do not take on licensed electrical, plumbing, gas or HVAC work.

Yes. Turnovers between tenants are a good fit, because they are a batch of patching, touch up and repainting on a hard date with one invoice.

Yes. Offices, retail units, restaurants, common areas and rental turnovers, scheduled in the evenings or at weekends so the space keeps operating.

Little Rock and the surrounding Central Arkansas communities, including North Little Rock, West Little Rock, Maumelle, Sherwood, Jacksonville, Cabot, Conway, Benton, Bryant, Alexander, Mabelvale, Malvern, Searcy, Greenbrier, Mayflower and Cammack Village.

For a visit, yes, because the trip and the setup cost the same whether the work takes an hour or a day. This is why it pays to save up a list rather than call about one small thing.

Say so while I am still there. Almost everything is fixable on the spot and almost nothing is fixable six weeks later, once the furniture is back and the ladders are gone.