Multifamily Painting Columbus Ohio
Licensed General Contractor | Apartment, Condo and Student Housing | Fully Insured
A Different Job Three Times Over
Multifamily paint is not one line item, it is three different jobs running in parallel. Turnover units flip on a five to seven day window with a new tenant already on the lease. Common areas like corridors, lobbies, mailrooms and fitness rooms get painted around residents who never go home. Exterior capex hits the reserve every eight to twelve years and runs ten to fourteen weeks across a 200 unit community. A vendor optimized for one is usually bad at the other two. The same Columbus team behind our HOA and condo painting runs all three on the multifamily side.
PaintWerks has been painting and rebuilding Columbus area multifamily since 2016, and that experience is the actual product. We run turnover units off a per unit rate card so the property manager sees the price before the work order goes in. We phase common area work around mail delivery, leasing tours and resident routines. We bid exterior capex broken out by building so the number lines up with the capital plan. PaintWerks runs commercial painting across Columbus and multifamily is one piece of that work. BBB A+ rated, family owned since 2016, licensed Ohio general contractor, COIs in your inbox inside 24 hours.
Per Unit Rate Card, Not Per Job Estimates
Studio, 1BR, 2BR and 3BR repaints get a fixed per unit price set at the master agreement. The site team flags standard or heavy on the work order. Restoration units, eviction units and color changes hit the heavy line that adds thirty to sixty percent. No estimate cycle, no surprise invoice, no calls to clarify scope. Tuesday move out walk, Wednesday through Friday paint, Saturday QA walk, Monday make ready.
One Contractor for the Whole Property
Turnover units, hallways, the leasing office, the breezeways, the building exteriors, the railings and the trim all run under one Ohio contractor license. When a turnover walk finds a soft kitchen subfloor or a damaged door jamb the same crew fixes it under the same trade ticket. We are a licensed Ohio general contractor, not a paint only crew, so the repair and the paint do not need two purchase orders, two COIs or two visits to the property.
From the Unit to the Property Line
Turnover Unit Repaint
Standard 1BR or 2BR turnover is a one day job for a two person crew. Walls, ceilings, closets and baseboards, two coats. Rate card pricing so the manager sees the number before approval. Fits the five to seven day window.
Restoration Repaints
Smoke, fire, water and pet damage where standard repaint will not seal underneath. Walls primed wall to wall with Kilz Original or Zinsser BIN, then topcoated twice. HVAC filter replaced before paint. Severe units get overnight ozone treatment.
Common Area and Corridor Repaints
Corridors, lobbies, mailrooms and elevator landings take cart traffic and hand contact all day. Walls get SW Cashmere or BM Regal Select in a scrubbable eggshell. Trim gets SW Emerald Urethane. Same standard as our commercial interior painting.
Amenity and Leasing Office Repaints
The leasing office is the first room a prospect sees. Leasing and clubhouse painted overnight or weekends so the leasing schedule never goes dark. Fitness rooms and lounges phased around posted closures. Same playbook as our office building painting.
Building Exteriors and Capex Repaints
Siding, trim, fascia, soffits and stair towers across every building. Pressure wash, scrape, prime bare spots and lay two coats of Ohio rated acrylic. Stucco and Hardie cycle eight to twelve years. Full work through our commercial exterior painting.
Built for the Way a Property Actually Runs
Master Service Agreement and Rate Cards
Operators with steady turnover sign a master service agreement: locked per unit rate card by floor plan tier, response SLAs for turn schedule and capex pricing held for the contract term. The property manager forecasts the line. Both sides plan.
Turnover Workflow Built for a Five Day Window
Tuesday move out walk with photos and scope flag. Work order auto priced off the rate card. Wednesday through Friday paint. Saturday QA. Sunday punch. Monday make ready. Anything longer is vacancy, and vacancy costs more than the paint.
Common Area Phasing Around Residents
Lobbies and leasing offices worked overnight. Corridors run one floor at a time with seven days notice. Mailrooms run after hours. Amenity rooms close two to three days with an alternate. Same approach as our senior living and healthcare painting.
Exterior Capex Planning Support
Well run portfolios bake exterior paint into a ten year rolling capex plan. We bid the full repaint, year five touch up and the next full window. Bids broken out by building so the number rolls into the capital plan.
Substrate Repair and Carpentry Self Performed
Soft fascia, rotted siding boards, failed trim and damaged door jambs get caught during prep. Same crew fixes it under the same trade ticket. We are a licensed Ohio general contractor, not a paint only crew.
Vendor Compliance Built for Institutional Owners
$1M per occurrence, $2M aggregate liability with owner, management and parent entity as additional insured. $5M umbrella for 100 plus units. Statutory workers comp, OSHA 10, background checked crew, lead testing on pre 1978 buildings. COIs inside 24 hours.
Our Process
Every multifamily property runs the same four steps no matter how many units, how many buildings or how many vendors came before us. We walk the portfolio, set the rate card and the capex plan, run the work to the schedule and walk the finished job with the property manager before final invoice.
Portfolio Walk and Rate Card
We walk the property with the regional or property manager. Unit floor plans get tiered, common areas measured, building exteriors photographed and substrate type noted. You get a written rate card by floor plan, a common area scope and an exterior capex bid broken out by building. The whole package drops into a master service agreement or stands on its own.
Work Order Intake and Scheduling
Turnover work orders come in by email or through the property management software. Each one carries the unit number, floor plan tier and standard or heavy scope flag. The job auto prices off the rate card. Common area phasing and exterior capex windows go on a written schedule the property manager can drop straight into the next monthly report.
Prep and Paint
Wash, scrape, sand, caulk, prime, mask and protect before any finish coat. Units get two coats of latex over the right primer for the substrate. Common area walls get Scuff X or Cashmere, trim gets a hard cure waterborne enamel, exteriors get two coats of an Ohio rated acrylic. Restoration units get the full stain and odor blocking primer step. We protect floors, finish surfaces and resident property every day on every unit.
Property Manager Walkthrough and Signoff
We walk the finished work with the property manager unit by unit or building by building. Every surface gets checked against the work order. Punch list items get handled before we leave. The job is done when the property manager signs off. Every project carries a 2 year workmanship warranty.
Related Services
Multifamily painting rarely runs alone. A turnover unit needs drywall patching, a corridor needs ceiling work, the clubhouse floor wears through faster than the paint and building exteriors live next to the trim and fascia repair. The same crews and the same Ohio contractor license cover all of it under one schedule and one point of contact.
Commercial Interior Painting
Unit interiors, hallways, lobbies, mailrooms, leasing offices and clubhouses take daily traffic and hand contact. We paint occupied common areas with low odor coatings and phase the work so the building keeps running.
Commercial Exterior Painting
Siding, trim, fascia, soffits, entry doors and stair towers across every building in the community. Washed, prepped and given two coats built to hold through Ohio summers and winters.
Commercial Drywall and Framing
Turnover units, corridor corners and breezeway ceilings take wall damage from move ins, move outs and water intrusion. We hang, patch and finish drywall in house so the repair and the paint run under one contract.
Commercial Flooring and Tile
Clubhouse floors, leasing office tile, corridor LVP and amenity flooring wear faster than anything else in a multifamily community. We handle the flooring and tile under the same Ohio contractor license.
What Our Clients Say
Property managers, regional managers and asset managers running multifamily and student housing in Columbus, Worthington, Polaris, Easton, Downtown and the Northwest corridor talk to each other. We have built our business on referrals and repeat work. Our reviews reflect how we run a turnover, how we treat residents in occupied buildings and how we finish a punch list.
Multifamily Painting FAQs
How much does multifamily painting cost in Columbus?
Multifamily painting in Columbus is priced by the kind of work in the contract. Turnover units price per unit by floor plan, common areas price per floor square foot, building exteriors price per square foot of wall and per linear foot of building perimeter. These are 2026 ranges based on real project bids we have completed across Columbus and Central Ohio.
| Unit Type | Typical Floor Area | Standard Repaint | Heavy Repaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 450 - 600 SF | $650 - $900 | $1,000 - $1,350 |
| 1 BR / 1 BA | 600 - 800 SF | $850 - $1,200 | $1,300 - $1,750 |
| 2 BR / 1 BA | 800 - 1,000 SF | $1,100 - $1,500 | $1,600 - $2,100 |
| 2 BR / 2 BA | 1,000 - 1,200 SF | $1,300 - $1,750 | $1,800 - $2,400 |
| 3 BR / 2 BA | 1,200 - 1,500 SF | $1,600 - $2,100 | $2,200 - $2,900 |
Standard repaint assumes one wall color, one ceiling color, one trim color, two coat coverage on existing finishes, minor patching and existing trim and doors in good condition. Heavy repaint covers restoration units, eviction units, color changes that need a tinted primer, more than ten nail holes per room or doors and trim included. A 200 unit garden style community exterior repaint in Columbus typically runs $80,000 to $250,000 depending on building count, height, siding type and color count. Common areas run roughly $2.00 to $6.00 per floor square foot for corridors and lobbies and $5.00 to $8.00 for a full clubhouse repaint. Color change adds $200 to $400 per turnover for tinted primer plus two finish coats. Call 614-582-4227 or request a free estimate above for a rate card and capex bid on your portfolio.
How fast can a turnover unit be repainted?
A standard 1BR or 2BR is a one day paint job for a two person crew. A heavy turnover is two days. We can mobilize on 24 hour notice for turn work and run on the property's make ready schedule. The full cycle from move out walk to make ready stays inside the five to seven day window the leasing team needs.
How do you handle restoration repaints?
Restoration repaints get the full protocol or the smell comes back. Wash walls and ceilings with a TSP substitute, prime every painted surface with a stain blocking odor blocking primer like Kilz Original or Zinsser BIN, then two coats of standard latex over the primer. The HVAC filter gets pulled and replaced before paint because odor saturates the filter and bleeds the smell back through in thirty days. Severe units get a residential ozone treatment overnight. Skipping the primer is the most common turnover mistake. The unit smells fine the day after paint, then bleeds back through in thirty days and the new tenant calls in a complaint.
Can you do exterior repaints with residents in place?
Yes. The work runs building by building with resident notification seven days in advance. Patios cleared the morning of pressure washing. Crews work weekday business hours. Parking and walkways stay usable through the work. The total calendar runs ten to fourteen weeks for a 200 unit community. Same occupied building approach we run on HOA and condo painting, where residents own the units and the schedule has to respect that.
What does an exterior repaint cost for a 200 unit community?
A 200 unit garden style community in Columbus typically runs $80,000 to $250,000 for a full exterior repaint depending on building count, building height, siding type, prep condition, color count and trim density. Stucco and Hardie hold an eight to twelve year cycle. Wood lap and trim run five to eight years. Vinyl siding does not need paint but the trim and accent elements do. A mid cycle touch up at year five extends the next full repaint window by one to two years and runs roughly ten percent of the original.
Do you handle student housing turnover?
Yes. Student housing turnover is volume work on a tight calendar, mid July through mid August before the academic year starts. We scale crews to handle fifty plus units in a thirty day window. Per unit rate card pricing, same QA walk, same primer protocol on the units that need it. Property and asset managers get a written schedule with daily unit counts so the leasing team can sequence move ins behind the paint crew.
What insurance do you carry for multifamily work?
$1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate general liability standard. $5M umbrella available for properties over 100 units or institutional ownership. Statutory workers comp. Additional insured endorsements naming the owner, the management company and any required parent entity (REIT, syndication LLC or lender). 30 day notice of cancellation. OSHA 10 documentation. Background checked crew when the property requires it. Lead testing protocol for buildings built before 1978. COIs delivered within 24 hours of request.
Can you handle drywall, trim and substrate repair in turnover units?
Yes. We patch and re tape drywall, replace damaged trim, install new doors, swap door hardware and repair water damage under the same trade ticket as the paint. The property manager does not have to call a separate trade or open a second purchase order. The repair work runs through our commercial drywall and framing crew on bigger scopes like flood damage, demising wall repair or full unit gut and re finish. Eight common multifamily painting mistakes show up across most portfolios we walk: one size fits all per unit pricing, no defined threshold for heavy turnover, painting over heavy odor units without a stain and odor blocking primer, no resident communication for common area work, skipping caulk on the exterior repaint, mobilizing exterior crews in May before the rain breaks, using one vendor for both turnover and capex when the right answer is usually two and bidding capex on per square foot only without per linear foot of building perimeter.
How does a master service agreement work?
A master service agreement locks in a per unit rate card by floor plan tier, a response SLA for turn work, common area pricing and exterior capex pricing for the contract term. The property management team gets predictable pricing and predictable response. The contractor gets predictable volume and forecasts crew accordingly. Both sides plan. Work orders come in through email or the property management software, auto price off the rate card and skip the estimate cycle. Owners with portfolios across multiple Central Ohio properties typically sign one MSA covering every property under the same management.