Question 1

How much does it cost to start a one-truck painting business?

Accepted Answer

Most solo painters start for $3,000–$8,000: a used van, a 16-foot extension ladder, a sprayer, two roller kits per crew member, a job box of masking and prep supplies, and two or three months of paint inventory. The Tradehaus job-cost estimate worksheet in this kit lines up the labor, paint, primer, and material cost per square foot against a target margin so you can underbid-proof a quote before you walk the property.

Question 2

Is residential or commercial painting more profitable?

Accepted Answer

Residential books faster (one homeowner, one signature) and averages $35–$60 per hour net. Commercial averages $50–$90 per hour net on new construction and repaints, but the cycle is longer — reps, bids, insurance certificates, and lien waivers. Most growing shops run a 70/30 residential/commercial split in year one and flip toward commercial as their portfolio and crew expand. The estimate worksheet templates two price stacks in the same file so both halves of the business quote on their own math.

Question 3

What licenses and insurance do you need to start a painting business?

Accepted Answer

A general business license from your county or city, a sales-tax permit if your state taxes the service, a contractor’s license where the state requires one (notably California, Florida, Louisiana, and a handful of others), commercial auto on the van with a tools-of-the-trade rider, general liability ($1M is the usual baseline), and workers’ comp as soon as you put on a W-2 crew. The prelaunch checklist in this kit walks every line item — including the EPA RRP rule for pre-1978 homes — so the first job isn’t the day you find out you missed a permit.

Question 4

What is the EPA lead-paint RRP rule, and does it apply to me?

Accepted Answer

If you disturb paint in a pre-1978 home or child-occupied facility — interior, exterior, or any window replacement that breaks a painted surface — the EPA Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule requires RRP-certified firm registration, an RRP-trained renovator on the crew, lead-safe work practices, and a record-keeping form signed by the homeowner. The prelaunch checklist in the Tradehaus kit flags RRP-applicable jobs in the walk-through, and the intake form collects the homeowner’s pre-1978 disclosure before you set a ladder.

Question 5

How does a color change-order prevent disputes?

Accepted Answer

A mid-job color change is the most common source of invoice disputes. The owner says “we picked off the same card,” the painter says “you signed the original,” and the day stalls out. A signed change-order — color name, sheen, surface, dated, and initialed — keeps the estimate, the contract, and the invoice in sync because every adjustment is priced and acknowledged before the next can opens. The kit ships this as a printable and a web-native dual signature block.

Question 6

How is the Tradehaus kit different from building the documents yourself?

Accepted Answer

The per-sq-ft estimate worksheet is field-rigged (labor, paint, primer, masking split by surface and coat — not a blank Excel), the quote template carries a residential, exterior, and cabinet service menu pre-loaded, the change-order is signed before paint is mixed, and the prelaunch checklist already covers licensing, EPA RRP, lien waivers, and insurance certificates. Instead of building every file from scratch, you customize the originals and ship the duplicates for year one.

Question 7

How do independent painters get customers?

Accepted Answer

Google Business Profile optimized for a 5–15 mile radius, a Nextdoor post the day a crew finishes in a neighborhood, an estimate worksheet that prints a review-request line on every quote, and a small postcard drop the week after a job. The intake form’s review-request field and the deposit invoice’s referral line generate a steady proof stream without an agency.

Start a Painting Business — Interior, Exterior, and Cabinet in One Kit.

The nine editable originals every painter actually uses.

What each file actually does for a painter.

Recurring repaints, stackable margins, and proof built into the invoice.

Recurring exterior repaints compound

Interior and exterior price differently

Neighborhood-radius SEO is the growth lever

Skip a month of prep. Open the toolbox.

Trusted by painters who crew one van and repaint the same block twice a decade.

Operators on the kit

On a neighborhood radius

Field-rigged, not blank

Files arrive in minutes. Edits are yours — no viewer lock.

Questions painters ask before opening the toolbox.