networkn:

 

Ok, and the answer presented itself. The guy who came in last week wants $2500 to plaster and paint the ensuite!!

 

If we extrapolate that out to the 12 rooms in our home and the fact almost every room in the house is considerably bigger, conservatively it could be $30-40K for him to do this work (we have asked and will see). Basically, I could hire someone for 80K a year to do this and they could take 6 months working 40 hours a week for that kind of money!

 

Obviously, there would be materials to subtract from that, but wowsers.

 

We will need to get some additional quotes.

 

Obviously I don't know the detail of the quote or your situation, so please treat the following as observations:

• Small discrete jobs usually carry a premium. If you're doing several rooms, there is always something to do in one room while (say) the paint dries in another. Rather than go for smoko or twiddle your thumbs. 12 rooms should - hopefully - not be the price of 1 room * 12;
• The time spent painting and plastering does not scale with the size of the room. You/a tradesperson will spend a massively disproportionate amount of time doing the fiddly bits - around doors, the windows, and the corners. And it sounds like you will need extra prep time in these areas too, if they are your problem areas. But the time spent doing a large stretch of plain wall will only be marginally more than the time spent doing a small stretch of plain wall. Bathrooms are usually quite fiddly at the best of times (and still - typically at least - have the standard 4 corners, ceiling and floor 😃);
• $80K a year is approx $40 an hour. Plastering (and maybe to a slightly lesser degree painting) is a skilled job, verging on - to me at least - an art form. I suspect you will get a _significantly_ higher quality finish paying $X to an experienced pro to do it in a couple of weeks than paying that same $X to a two thumbed grunt @$40 an hour and giving them months. Trades are becoming increasingly skilled with new techniques and specialist tools and hourly rates are going up to match the capex invested in getting to that point. $40 is probably apprentice digging a hole, mixing concrete and sweeping the site money nowadays;
• It sounds like your job is at least somewhat complicated/complex, or at least outside the standard fill-the-nail-holes-and-slap-two-coats-of-paint-on. I suspect you will need to pay for someone with expertise (i.e. you're not paying for just the time spent on your job, but the previous 20 years of experience too).