HOA Buying Paint Directly

Background: Our HOA paints our townhouses. We'll be putting the project out to bid soon. In the past, we had the contractor buy paints & stains per our spec. We've seen some painters doing a good deal of cutting with water. Others have used wood paint on foundation walls (contrary to our specs).

Proposal: We're thinking about buying the paint ourselves. Setting up an account with the paint supplier, and paying directly. Some think that this will give us a better record of what we're actually getting.

Question: I wonder if anyone has done something similar. Would like to better understand the pros and cons of making a change like this. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Funny I am VERY familiar with this situation. Our Ex-President scum when forced to get licensed/insured business choose it to be a "Painting" one. He did the same practice you speak of with watering down paints and also purchasing cheap paints. He may get the paints we recommended but would be like 10 year paint rated instead of 20 - 30 year. So understand a lot about being specific about the paint product etc...

I will say that some "watering down" of paint isn't that bad. Let's say if your using a paint sprayer to apply. It makes it easier to apply and less hard on the equipment. So would not say some water in the paint bucket doesn't need to exist. It just should be for the purpose of application if it's a thicker type paint. That being said, consult the paint company to confirm.

There are 3 ways of application of paint. 1. Sprayer. 2. Roller. 3. Brush. As you can imagine each one is a bit more expensive than others. Choosing spray will make the job faster and will be less expensive option. There of course are the downsides as it's more water down application and may cause lots of overspray onto surrounding plants/furniture items.

Roller application is a good medium ground. It's using rollers to apply. Which puts the paint on a bit thicker and smoother. It is a bit more time consuming and uses more products to apply. Still can be some "spray" and some unevenness. I like the look of a roller but it can miss underneath the boards.

Brush application is the best application. All the other applications do involve brush as well but mostly cutting in/edging. This is the most time consuming option and most expensive. It's also the neatest of them and may take the most paint. Depending how good quality you want the end result to work brushing is the most preferred. It also isn't watered down application.

I like your suggestion of picking out a place like Sherwin Williams and opening an account. You can also get recommendations for painters there. If you don't have a painter who wants to agree to this, then you may be right to question hiring them. A contractor not willing to accept an account is probably cutting corners somewhere.

Be aware of certain temperature conditions of applying paint. Can't be too hot or too cold. Take note of the years on the paint. Of course a 20 year paint isn't going to last 20 years. It's more like 10. The quality of it is better than a 10 year. Also decide on the application process. (Spray, roller, or brush). Make sure the contractor is licenses/insured. I think your on the right track on hiring a contractor to do the paint job.

we were considering buying the paint,, however,, if the hoa buys the paint,, the contractor usually won't guarantee the duration ,, longevity of the paint,, neither willl Sherwin williams..

plus contractors usually get paint at a a much much lower rate than an hoa can buy the paint.

80%, maybe more.

That's for labor.

If that's the case, then we shouldn't expect much of a cost savings overall.

Thanks Geno

If the manufacturer was SW, you can typically buy it at a 40% discount from retail. Those numbers look about right. Contractors probably buy paint a bit cheaper, but not sure if it makes that much of a difference.

If you can find it, I would be interested in knowing what percent of the total job went to paint and what percent went to labor.

Also, your table of contents look interesting. Any way I can get a full copy?

Thx.

For a serious painting project, work w/ SW and not through a big box retailer. What you describe is large-scale.

Not sure yet.
Was thinking about the Hover app I mentioned earlier to gather that info.

It wasn't SW it was PPG. The attachment size limit here is 200kb so if you care to post an email address I'll send it. It's pretty dry and technical with how many coats to use on what surfaces and the thickness of each, both wet and after it dries. I'd describe it as what you'd expect to hear from the paint manufacturer. The cover page says it was prepared by a salesman.

The HOA then chose the low bid for the painting contract. The selected contractor consulted with PPG they in turn came back to us with an adjusted paint cost that was 50% higher than the original $31k figure. The upshot here is the painting committee guy horrifically miscalculated how much paint was needed. So we ended up depending on the contractor's recommendations anyway. Who knows how much we saved in the end.

I think when a customer tells the painter that they, the customer, will be supplying the paint, the contractor will adjust their price upward in order to make up for the lost profit on the paint they didn't get to re-sell.

The painting contractor, with knowledge that we were supplying the paint, offered 3 contract options. The board went with the least expensive option for $254,000. That plus the paint added up to just about $300,000. The cost of the paint represented about 15% of the total.

As an aside, of course there was only $250,000 in the painting reserves and that started a snowball effect that still effects us today; but that's another story. Everything is a fiasco here because of lousy record keeping and piss poor planning. Good on you for doing research in advance of your project.

NpS, let me know if you didn't get that.

We're nearing the end of an 8-year painting cycle. Previously they tried to get away with a 10-year cycle but just couldn't wait that long once the stucco started to chalk out. We're on year 6 now. When the reserves situation was presented to the board last year their first instinct was to extend to a 10-year cycle. It didn't work last time and I'm pretty sure it won't work again despite claims that "paint is better now and lasts longer". Yeah, pull the other one. So we're looking at about an $80,000 shortfall if the estimated cost bears out.