How Much Does It Cost To Paint My Rail System?

The cost of painting the rail system is a question often asked at The Picky Painters. Usually, people want to paint the handrail and the newel post a dark color, while a white color for the spindles, the bottom plate, and the stringers. Going for a two-tone finish is an expensive option.

 

Sometimes, people want to paint a particular part of the rail system without painting the whole area. For instance, the entire thing is dark, and they wanted to paint the spindle and the bottom plate white. The pricing goes by a linear foot.

 

Pricing for painting the rail system

 

• The pricing for the entire system with a two-tone finish ranges between $65 and $75 per linear foot.

 

• The pricing for a one-tone finish is around $55 to 60 per linear foot.

 

• For the handrail, the post, or the bottom plate, the cost is around $42 to $50 per foot.

 

• The price is roughly $35 to $40 per square foot for spindles and the bottom plate.

 

• The cost is only about $40 per linear foot for wood systems with round spindles.

 

• The squared-off systems cost $50 to $55 per square foot.

 

Extra cost for painting the rail system

 

Some extras that can be added to the cost include another handrail, which can be removed from the wall. Another one is the stringers, which are the side part of the steps against the wall—some parts of the rail system that might not be included in the official pricing above.

 

To give you an idea of the extra cost, I will provide an example:

 

• For removable handrails, the pricing is about $14 per foot. We will remove them, paint them, and put them back on. 

 

• The stringers end up being about $9.50 per foot.

 

The process of painting a stained rail system

 

We have a very detailed process of converting a dark stain into a solid white color. Here’s how we do it. For a more complex process, see our blog about this topic in more detail:

 

1. ) We start by cleaning and sanding the top rail and the post – or anything that might be dirty. It has to be extremely clean to ensure the primer gets a good bond and, therefore, gets a good finish.
2. ) After that, we’ll do two full coats of primer and two full coats of paint. We do one coat of primer and three coats of dark color for dark colors.
3. ) So if you have black, we won’t cover it with two primers and two paint. We switched the primer and the second coat, ending up with three coats of colored paint.
4. ) For the spindles and other stuff, we do two coats of primer and two coats of finish.

 

Those are the pricing for painting a stained rail system. Either you’re doing a two-tone or one-color finish. Remember, the costs vary depending on different situations, so the pricing may be slightly other than what is mentioned here.

 

The pricing fluctuates, and the figures may not be exact all the time, especially since the cost of paint and labor keeps rising. Most paint products have increased by 30 percent over the past three years. The labor is also up by similar numbers.

Here are some of our previous projects:

 

For more info, visit https://thepickypainters.com/.

 

Call The Picky Painters at (216) 403-2545 or email joe@thepickypainters.com.