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interior painting costs

T

tonyjohnson

Well Known Member
I just had the interior of my 8A painted. I supplied the paint. The painter had to sandblast the "powder coat" off the roll bar, seat back weldment, gear mounts, and some other pieces. They sprayed a coat of primer over the existing old coat and applied a coat of PPG.

The bill was $1445!!! Along with the cost of the paint and primer that makes the total cost about $1800 !!!!

In retrospect two words are running around inside my head......rattle can!

I would be interested in knowing how much the rest of you guys paid to have the interior of your planes painted. Those of you who are considering having someone else paint the interior should be aware of the cost in making your decision. I should have probably set an upper limit on the cost with the painter before he began...it was my bad for not doing so.
 
I think the cost of painting my interior was less than $10.00. Rustoleum Accents Rattlecan.

And it still looks great after two years.

Roberta
 
Now Roberta, you're REALLY going to make him feel bad!!!

I'll be kinder - I bet mine cost TWICE what Roberta paid - maybe even THREE TIMES!!

(Rattle cans....Home Depot...)

Paul
 
stupid mistakes

Perhaps we should have a forum for "stupid mistakes in planning and building". Other builders could learn from the mistakes of others who are willing to fess up to really stupid decisions.

I will be the first to wear the dunce cap.

I could have paid for my catto prop, or my emag/pmag setup, or a lot of other things with the money I spent on my interior paint, after deducting the cost of some rattle cans.
 
Ppg

Tony:

I had mine done at a local body shop with PPG concepts the paint was $70 and the shop charge $250 for prep and spray. I had my canopy bow drilled, welded in 5/16" handles and powder coated for $80.

I'd ask for a partial refund.

Robby
 
tonyjohnson said:
I just had the interior of my 8A painted. I supplied the paint. The painter had to sandblast the "powder coat" off the roll bar, seat back weldment, gear mounts, and some other pieces. They sprayed a coat of primer over the existing old coat and applied a coat of PPG.

The bill was $1445!!! Along with the cost of the paint and primer that makes the total cost about $1800 !!!!

In retrospect two words are running around inside my head......rattle can!

I would be interested in knowing how much the rest of you guys paid to have the interior of your planes painted. Those of you who are considering having someone else paint the interior should be aware of the cost in making your decision. I should have probably set an upper limit on the cost with the painter before he began...it was my bad for not doing so.
Click to expand...

Presumably the PPG is a two pack polyurethane paint and it will perform infinitely better in the long run than a single pack product from a spray can. The trouble with using cheap paints on the interior is that if they do not perform well it will be a nightmare to get them off and start again. You've done the right thing.....your only mistake was not getting a firm quotation before you let the contractor start. Always a fatal move. You either get ripped off or you end up in a major argument. Let's not get confused between paint quality and bad subcontract management.
 
expensive painter

I had my interior painted by a pro, and it will cost me in the 4 figure range, but my guy didn't do a very good job. I think the real problem was the QB wash primer, which I tried to wipe down as much as possible. He put AKZO 2-pack epoxy down, then a light grey top coat. It scratches easily, right down to the metal. I'm just touching up with a rattle can. I know how you feel!
 
paint

Mark,

It looks good. I have no idea how long it will last. There are already some small nicks, for instance on the rudder pedal weldment.

Hard Knox seems to have gotten the best deal on a pro paint job. I think that auto paint shops may be the ticket if you want to go pro. If his vendor was in my area and I had known about him I would have used him. Perhaps that is another idea for a data base here.

The main lesson seems to be as Bob suggests, to make sure you know the maximum bill before the work begins. That applies to all work, not just paint.
 
I reached the internal paint stage just as Paul Dye posted his painting secrets - wow I was lucky with this timing. So I am now using Home Depot Rustoleum, Light Industrial Gray w/their primer. I used a Sherwin Williams rattle can primer for the tail which cost twice as much as the Rustoleum (both low cost)

I've sprayed the internal loose panels and baked them (250deg for 3 hrs in the oven) - my wife is understanding! They have slight orange peel if I wiggle the parts in light, but at arms length and 45degs which is the typical test for cosmetic painted parts such as those on vacuum cleaners, Xerox machines etc its indistinguishable. I test sprayed an internal side panel and that looks good after a few hours of curing.

All in all I am extremely pleased with the color, apparent toughness (from regular handling only at this point), ease of application (use the plastic spray gun attachment- <$5) and cost. This technique lets you keep on building and creates a professional look.

Paul Dye - thank you

Matt Hurley

8QB - fuse/wings
 
I don't know why everyone is monkeying around with these B.S. paints on expensive aircraft like they were painting lawn chairs? :confused: Courtlads or PPg is the only way to GO. Also you can't get any better than powder coat :rolleyes:
 
Paints

Broken-wrench said:
I don't know why everyone is monkeying around with these B.S. paints on expensive aircraft like they were painting lawn chairs?
Click to expand...
On some of my "loose" parts, the ones I prepared myself, I had some very expensive automotive paint applied by a professional, and it looks great. I also have some parts painted with a rattle can that I did myself, which looks, to my untrained eye, identical. The rattle can was cheaper, easier to apply, and I didn't have to wait for the auto guy to get around to painting a big batch of parts. I have not scratched any of these parts, so I can't say if either will hold up well.
 
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Cardinal Industrial Finishes

A couple of years back when building my 9a a lot of builders were using rattle cans from Cardinal. They apparently produce the powder coating that Van's uses on its weldments and sell paint in the same color. In case anybody has an interest in it here is the information that I just took off of a can at my hanger.

Cardinal Industrial Finishes
A-4108-GR230
Gloss Light Gray

They ship if you don't live near one of their facilities.
San Jose, CA 408-452-8522
Denver, CO 303-286-1876
Woodinville, W 425-4835665
Phoenix, AZ 602-437-2401
Charlotte, NC 704-596-0926
Warren, PA 814-723-0721
 
Interior paint

Thanks for sharing your costly experience; hope your paint holds up well. You reminded us all to have a firm handle on cost before going ahead! I'm planning to paint interior myself with Ranthane Daytona White - it looks great in Steve Raddatz' -8. Have HVLP (Apollo conversion gun - haven't used it and don't know if it's any good) and a HobbyAir respirator. Any tips on cleaning the metal before priming/painting would be appreciated. The paint was about $150 (with cleaner, alodyne, etc). Have no experience in painting and I'm kind of apprehensive but plan to go ahead in the next month or so when can get garage in Milwaukee warm enuf. Bill
 
Painted Rollbar and canopy frame only

Painted the roll bar and canopy frame with some aluminum spray can paint from home depot (Rustoleum I think) and it looks fine and gets no wear so of course it looks fine. The entire rest of the cockpit is upholstered by me for a lot less than the original post cost but a certain look was desired as opposed to saving money.

Bob Axsom
 
Very good results with Rustoleum

I don't know why everyone is monkeying around with these B.S. paints on expensive aircraft like they were painting lawn chairs? Courtlads or PPg is the only way to GO. Also you can't get any better than powder coat
Click to expand...


Nope......the high $$$$$ paints are not the "only way to GO".

I painted the interior of my RV-6 with Rustoleum in 1998, and after 6 1/2 years of hard use, the low-$$$ paint job is holding up just fine. Some of the paint on the seat pans is a little scuffed from the five miles I have walked in the cabin in the course of adding numerous new gadgets over the years, but the Charcoal Gray Rustoleum on the rudder pedals looks great after nearly 1600 landings.

The two-part automotive and epoxy paints are generally very good, but Rustoluem is a high quality polyurathane that has served well in numerous RV interiors. Being able to buy touch-up paint at the nearest Walmart is a nice touch as well. ;)

And I have no idea how (or why!) you would powdercoat the interior of an RV........

Sam Buchanan
http://thervjournal.com
 
Cardinal Industrial Finishes

Bryan,
I tried the numbers you mentioned regarding Cardinal as a source to get
matching paint in a spray can. They apparently have been disconnected
with no new number listed. Anybody out there got any leads as to a source
of matching paint in a spray can to Van's powdercoat light gray?

Thanks
WINTER TEXAN
RV 9A 0-320 FIXED
 
Cardinal Paint

I just bought some today. You have to buy 6 cans minimum @ $6.20/ Can.
Call High Point, NC at 336-882-9493.
Good luck
 
Bryan Wood said:
A couple of years back when building my 9a a lot of builders were using rattle cans from Cardinal. They apparently produce the powder coating that Van's uses on its weldments and sell paint in the same color. In case anybody has an interest in it here is the information that I just took off of a can at my hanger.

Cardinal Industrial Finishes
A-4108-GR230
Gloss Light Gray

They ship if you don't live near one of their facilities.
San Jose, CA 408-452-8522
Denver, CO 303-286-1876
Woodinville, W 425-4835665
Phoenix, AZ 602-437-2401
Charlotte, NC 704-596-0926
Warren, PA 814-723-0721
Click to expand...


Also in El Monte, CA, for those in SoCal...

http://www.cardinalpaint.com/
Corporate Headquarters Southern California
1329 Potrero Avenue
South El Monte, CA 91733
P (626) 444-9274
F (626) 444-0382

I picked up 6 cans (their minimum) and gave 4 or 5 of them to fellow builders here...

ETA: I believe the industry code for that color is RAL 7035. That's what I gave to the place that powdercoated my instrument panel. I think it's an industry standard code.
 
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hf spray gun, good mask, and dupont acrylic enamel.(it worked for GM for many years) most expensive part was the paint and reducer. eight years later still looks great. just need to redo the floor boards do to wear.

maybe 200 bucks including a GOOD mask.

bob burns
N82RB
 
Broken-wrench said:
....Also you can't get any better than powder coat....
Click to expand...

Powder coat on aluminum or steel can chip, even if properly primed. The powder coat on my steel landing gear legs has chipped.

And powder coating aluminum will probably change its heat-treatment. I've done it for baffles but I wouldn't do it for structure.

Dave
 
Krylon

I used about 10 cans of light grey Krylon for the inside of my RV8. Kryon will not hold up to solvets but is so easy to spray, flows nice, looks great and dries fast. If an interior panel gets scratched I just touch it up during the annual and it is dry within minutes.
 
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