Most landlords come to us with a bedroom count and a hope for a quote before we inspect the property. Unfortunately, the bedroom count is one of the least reliable things to budget from.
Two three-bedroom homes built in the same year, in the same street, can differ by several thousand dollars once someone has actually walked through them, because the price of a repaint is set by the condition of the surfaces and the number of working days that condition demands.
A repaint budget is really a time budget. The only way to know how much time a property needs is to have someone inspect it, which is also why investment property painting is quoted on days rather than on floor area. We’ve outlined some info on how your painting quote is calculated, and what you can expect from Hammer and Brush’s painting service.
Importance of Inspections for Painting Project Quotes
We never give property owners a firm figure over the phone, and you should be wary of anyone who does. A phone quote is a guess about surface condition, and surface condition is the single largest variable in the whole job.
When we inspect a rental property, we price a list of specific findings rather than a floor area.
| What We Look For | How It Changes the Budget |
|---|---|
| Filler and patching volume | Picture hooks, scuffs, door handle marks and dents from years of tenancy all need filling, sanding and spot-priming before a roller touches the wall |
| Existing paint system | A previous cheap, thin or incompatible coating may need sealing or full removal rather than a simple recoat |
| Moisture and mould | Perth’s wet winters leave mould in bathrooms, laundries and poorly ventilated bedrooms, which must be treated rather than painted over |
| Sun and salt damage | Chalking, flaking and rust bleed are common on west-facing and coastal elevations, and heavy prep on a degraded exterior can add days |
| Ceiling and cornice detail | High ceilings, raked ceilings and ornate cornices slow the work considerably |
| Timber elements | Door frames, architraves, skirtings and window ledges are labour-intensive and often the most damaged surfaces in a rental |
Our inspection also protects you from the opposite mistake, which is over-specifying. Plenty of properties we look at do not need a full repaint at all. Targeted touch-ups to high-traffic walls and a refresh of the doors and trim can present beautifully in listing photographs for a fraction of the cost, which matters when the property is only turning over between tenancies.
Painting over mould you have not treated is a false economy in the same way, and the factors that affect the cost of anti-mould painting are worth understanding before you budget for a damp property.
Property Size: A Weak Predictor of Cost
Bedroom count tells you almost nothing about how many surfaces need painting. The table below compares two properties both marketed as three-bedroom homes.
| Feature | 1990s Single-Storey Villa | 1960s Coastal Home |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling height | 2.4 metres | 2.7 metres |
| Layout | Open plan, two main living zones | Six separate rooms |
| Internal doors and frames | Three | Twelve |
| Cornices | Square-set | Decorative |
| Detail work | Minimal | Archways and window frames throughout |
The second property carries roughly sixty per cent more painted surface and far more cutting-in, masking and detail work, despite having the same number of bedrooms.
The variables that genuinely move the budget are:
- Ceiling height, and whether any ceilings are raked
- The number of separate rooms rather than the total floor area
- The quantity of timber trim, doors, architraves and skirtings
- Single or double storey, and whether the exterior needs scaffolding or a lift
- For apartments, how much external wall and balcony surface falls within the lot
This is why we ask for a walkthrough rather than a floor plan, and why two identical-sounding properties in the same portfolio can come back several thousand dollars apart.
How Time-Based Quoting Works & What It Means for Your Budget
We quote on half-day and full-day rates rather than a per-square-metre figure, as not all square metres involve the same amount of work, and a rate card that pretends otherwise either overcharges the easy jobs or forces corners to be cut on the hard ones.
Read more: Why Don’t Perth Painters Charge Per Square Metre?
For a landlord, this is easier to budget against, because you can think in days. Perth painters generally sit somewhere between roughly $500 and $750 per painter per day in 2026, depending on crew size and the nature of the work, so once you know the likely number of days, you have a workable figure.
| Scope of Work | Typical Working Days |
|---|---|
| Touch-ups plus one or two rooms | Half a day to one day |
| Full interior, two-bedroom unit | Three to five days |
| Full interior, three-bedroom home | Five to eight days |
| Significant patching and repair work | Add one to two days |
| Single-storey exterior | Four to seven days |
| Heavily sun-damaged or salt-affected exterior | Add two to four days |
The practical benefit is transparency. When the quote is expressed as days, you can see exactly what you are paying for, and you can also see what happens if you reduce the scope. Dropping the exterior to a later financial year, or limiting the interior to living areas and hallways, translates directly into fewer days and a smaller invoice, without anyone quietly thinning out the preparation to hit a number.
Unexpected Painting Costs to be Aware of
The painting quote is not the whole cost of a repaint, and three items catch investors out repeatedly.
Vacancy Days
Every day the property sits empty is lost rent, and on a Perth rental at $650 a week that is roughly $93 a day. A repaint scheduled poorly can add a week of vacancy that costs more than the difference between two quotes. Booking the work to overlap with the changeover period, and being clear with your property manager about access, usually saves more money than negotiating on the painting itself.
Repair Work Discovered During Preparation
Eaves sheeting, damaged skirtings, rotten door frames and cracked render frequently come to light once surfaces are washed and sanded. Because we handle both carpentry and painting, this is normally resolved without bringing in a second trade and a second mobilisation charge, but it still needs a line in your budget.
Tax Treatment
Repainting to fix wear and tear that arose while the property was being rented is generally treated as a deductible repair and maintenance expense, while an initial repair to rectify damage that already existed when you bought the property is a capital expense, typically claimable as capital works at 2.5 per cent a year over forty years.
That distinction can materially change the after-tax cost of the same job, and it is worth a conversation with your accountant before you book work on a recently purchased property. We are painters, not tax advisers, so treat this as a prompt to get advice rather than advice itself.
How to Set a Manageable Painting Budget
A repaint provision works best as a rolling allowance rather than a lump sum you scramble for when a tenant gives notice.
As a rule of thumb, most Perth landlords are well served by setting aside the interior repaint figure for their property type across a seven to ten year cycle, and the exterior figure across a slightly longer one. Our guidance on how often a rental property should be painted sets out the intervals in more detail. There is no legislated repainting interval in Western Australia, though lessors do have an ongoing obligation to keep the premises in a reasonable state of repair having regard to age and character, and Consumer Protection WA sets out how rental home repairs are meant to be handled.
Timing matters for the exterior in particular. Perth’s best exterior painting window runs from about September through to April, avoiding both winter rain and the worst of the midsummer heat, so an exterior provision is easier to plan a year ahead than to arrange reactively in July.
Get the property inspected before the budget is set, not after. An hour with a painter walking the property gives you a real number, a scope you can trim, and a clear picture of what will happen if you defer the work another two years.
Talk to Us About Your Property
Hammer and Brush has been painting rental properties across the Perth metropolitan area since 2012, working with individual investors and property management companies from Spearwood through to the northern suburbs. Carolyn will walk the property with you, tell you honestly whether it needs a full repaint or targeted work, and give you an itemised quote based on the days involved so it is straightforward to pass on to an owner or attach to an insurance claim. If the preparation turns up damaged trim, eaves sheeting or door frames, Kevin’s carpentry side handles it without you coordinating a second trade.
Contact the painting team or request an obligation-free quote, and we will assess the property and come back to you with a detailed figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a rental property be painted while the tenant is still living there?
Yes, and it is often the cheaper option because it avoids vacancy. The work is staged room by room so the tenant keeps use of the property, which adds some time to the schedule but removes the lost rent. Your property manager will need to arrange proper written notice and agreed access times before we start.
Can painting costs be recovered from the tenant’s bond?
Only where the damage goes beyond fair wear and tear. Fading, minor scuffs and normal marks from ordinary living are the lessor’s responsibility in Western Australia, whereas deliberate damage or neglect may be claimable. A thorough property condition report at the start and end of the tenancy is what decides this, so photograph the paintwork at both points.
How soon can a property be re-let after painting?
Practically, the next day. Waterborne acrylics used on most Perth interiors are touch dry within a couple of hours and hard enough for furniture the following day, though the film keeps curing for several weeks. Low-VOC products cut the residual odour substantially, which is worth specifying if a tenant is moving in immediately.
Does an apartment or villa exterior need strata approval?
Usually, yes. External walls of a strata-titled property are generally common property, so repainting is either the strata company’s responsibility or requires its consent, and colours often have to match a scheme applying to the whole complex. Check with your strata manager before you budget for it as an individual expense.
How many quotes should a landlord get?
Two or three, and compare the scope rather than the total. A cheaper quote frequently means fewer coats, less preparation or trim excluded, so ask each painter to state the number of coats, what surfaces are included and how the price changes if repairs are found. Quotes expressed in working days make that comparison much easier.
