Cost of repainting?

bflynn

bflynn

Final Approach
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Brian Flynn
Was thinking about something - what's the cost of repainting an airplane, say a 172 or PA-28? Is it 1k, 5k, 20k?

Surely someone in this fine body of ladies and gentlemen knows....
 
just materials?.....$3-4K for stripping, primer, and paint.

Lots of labor and elbow grease needed. I did my one and only....the second I gladly paid.
 
Our club is undergoing a paint project for our Skylane, N55WB. We intentionally over budgeted $12,500 for the job since we chose one of the best in the area (does the work for Van Bortel) and we have our share of dings and small surface corrosion patches we want properly addressed.

Only part of it that is a big downer for JCranford and I is that we're out an aircraft to use from Feb 15 to April 2. :(
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
just materials?.....$3-4K for stripping, primer, and paint.

Lots of labor and elbow grease needed. I did my one and only....the second I gladly paid.
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You forget all the L&I BS gear, and EPA disposal fees. Has/mat shipping costs. 2 Qts Aristech fabric primer opts harder, plus 1 gallon thiner $350.00
 
At least $10k if you just want to drop it off and have a decent job done. Sometimes more.
 
Between 12 and 15 k for a decent job.
 
Everyone thus far has failed to mention the $2,000 cost for beer (at minimum). A very real consideration on any large project.

Even if you're just watching.

Actually, especially if you're just watching!
 
Airplane costs vary a good bit depending on what part of the country you live in. I've seen prices range from $5500 to $12,000 depending on whether you get a sand and paint versus strip and paint. Also the complexity of your paint scheme affects the price. The more colors involved in your scheme and the more elaborate the layout, the labor involved taping up the plane to spray each color will add to the cost.
 
Weight and looks. If you don't strip the old paint then you have to carry it around with you. From past experience painting, not stripping will make the final job look bad and migh even cause premature flaking on the new paint job.
 
Thanks. What's the approx. cost difference? It sounds like stripping would be worth it.
 
bflynn said:
Was thinking about something - what's the cost of repainting an airplane, say a 172 or PA-28? Is it 1k, 5k, 20k?

Surely someone in this fine body of ladies and gentlemen knows....
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About the same cost to strip and paint 3 Chevy Suburbans. (about the same painted surface area)
 
bflynn said:
Weight and looks. If you don't strip the old paint then you have to carry it around with you. From past experience painting, not stripping will make the final job look bad and migh even cause premature flaking on the new paint job.
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Depends on the condition of the substrate (old paint). Sometimes, a good sand and paint can be just as good, if not better, than a full strip and paint.
But in most cases, folks have let their paint go way too long, or have had poor quality paint work in the past, and therefore must be stripped.
 
bluerooster said:
Depends on the condition of the substrate (old paint). Sometimes, a good sand and paint can be just as good, if not better, than a full strip and paint.
But in most cases, folks have let their paint go way too long, or have had poor quality paint work in the past, and therefore must be stripped.
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If you want keep weight increases to a minimum I would think a full strip would be better then leaving the old paint and painting over it.
Also not mention you are suppose to remove control surfaces and reweigh to make sure they are still in balance, pretty common for this step to be skipped.
 
teejayevans said:
If you want keep weight increases to a minimum I would think a full strip would be better then leaving the old paint and painting over it.
Also not mention you are suppose to remove control surfaces and reweigh to make sure they are still in balance, pretty common for this step to be skipped.
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As to keeping the weight to a minimum, if the old paint is in good shape, the prep process will most likely cause the paintjob to weigh less than a full strip, due to the amount of material removed in the process, and the weight of any prime coat saved. Plus less material required to acheive coverage and shine. (rule #1 in painting apply no more material than needed to do the job properly)
Yes, balanced control surfaces need to be removed, and checked for balance after paint. I usually strip all control surfaces, prior to paint. But not allways. Depends on the manufacturers reccomendations. (Piper reccomends that after paint, if balance is not within set paramiters, to strip and re-paint, so I just go ahead and strip, never been out of spec)
Also, depending upon what you use to strip the old paint, and how anal you are about every nook and cranny (airplanes have lots of those) future corrosion issues, and poor adhesion of the substrate can become a problem. I've run into those troubles before, on paintjobs that were done by what I thought to be reputable firms. But stuff happens, and sometimes things can be missed.
 
I've been getting quotes the past two weeks for my Cessna 150 (which should be similar to a 172)...My lowest is $9000, my highest is $18,000 for strip and paint. All shops say that is "base" pricing, most likely will be more.
 
bluerooster said:
As to keeping the weight to a minimum, if the old paint is in good shape, the prep process will most likely cause the paintjob to weigh less than a full strip, due to the amount of material removed in the process, and the weight of any prime coat saved. Plus less material required to acheive coverage and shine. (rule #1 in painting apply no more material than needed to do the job properly)
Yes, balanced control surfaces need to be removed, and checked for balance after paint. I usually strip all control surfaces, prior to paint. But not allways. Depends on the manufacturers reccomendations. (Piper reccomends that after paint, if balance is not within set paramiters, to strip and re-paint, so I just go ahead and strip, never been out of spec)
Also, depending upon what you use to strip the old paint, and how anal you are about every nook and cranny (airplanes have lots of those) future corrosion issues, and poor adhesion of the substrate can become a problem. I've run into those troubles before, on paintjobs that were done by what I thought to be reputable firms. But stuff happens, and sometimes things can be missed.
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both piper and Cessna provide methods to balance flight controls in place.
 
tawood said:
I've been getting quotes the past two weeks for my Cessna 150 (which should be similar to a 172)...My lowest is $9000, my highest is $18,000 for strip and paint. All shops say that is "base" pricing, most likely will be more.
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This is by far the most realistic price for a strip and paint listed. If you have corrosion or bent metal the price only goes up, in any case it will probably be more.
 
timwinters said:
Everyone thus far has failed to mention the $2,000 cost for beer (at minimum). A very real consideration on any large project.

Even if you're just watching.

Actually, especially if you're just watching!
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Tim, that's a LOT of beer :). Is the real cost $500 for beer and $1500 for part of the deductible for liver transplant surgery?
 
Tom-D said:
both piper and Cessna provide methods to balance flight controls in place.
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may be something they'd recently come up with. I haven't seen the procedure in any MX manuals that I have.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
Tom works magic.....:D
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Must be magic to read the 100 service manual. and the associated SBs the horizontal surfaces can be done in place by disconnecting the controls, rudder is a little harder. :)
 
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Yeah, $10K for a single and $20K for a twin for basic quality. High end paint job, will be 1.5x times as much, roughly.
 
bluerooster said:
As to keeping the weight to a minimum, if the old paint is in good shape, the prep process will most likely cause the paintjob to weigh less than a full strip, due to the amount of material removed in the process, and the weight of any prime coat saved. Plus less material required to acheive coverage and shine. (rule #1 in painting apply no more material than needed to do the job properly)
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I don't understand how a full strip, then prime coat+finish coat would weigh more than plane with above plus another coat of paint, which may have to be thick to cover the previous coat breaking rule 1 not to mention if this is the 3rd time it's been repainted.
A strip should remove all the material with small exception of small amount in seams.
 
that's the problem with paint pricing. It's indexed for 250K airplanes. 20k to coat a 250k airplane sounds like good deal. 15k to coat my 40k clap trap not so much. ill just keep the 15k for non-cosmetic mx and avgas, and take a smaller hit on resale.
 
teejayevans said:
A strip should remove all the material with small exception of small amount in seams.
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Please do not leave any paint that has been in contact with stripper in any seam. that paint will in time destroy the aircraft.
 
stratobee said:
Yeah, $10K for a single and $20K for a twin for basic quality. High end paint job, will be 1.5x times as much, roughly.
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A little sandpaper couple of gallons of automotive paint some paint brushes good to go for less than a $1000. Cheap paint job is a 50' paint job that looks good, a little closer not so good.
 
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