What to plan for when you paint an office, shop or small business

What commercial interior painting covers

For a business, interior painting means the same surfaces as in a house: walls, ceilings, trim, doors and garages. The steps are the same too. We protect the space, prep it, paint, clean up, and walk the finished job with you.

What changes is the calendar. A house sits empty while the painters work. A shop has customers, an office has staff, and either one has equipment, stock and records that can't be buried in dust. Most of the planning below is about that difference.

The same planning applies to offices, shops, waiting rooms, break rooms and shared hallways. Each has its own traffic and its own sensitivities, which is why a short call before the quote is worth more than a number sent by email.

Scheduling around the business

The EPA and NIOSH publish a guide for building owners and facility managers, and it says to try to schedule maintenance that produces odors and emissions, with painting named as an example, for when the building is unoccupied. It also says to inform occupants when such work is scheduled and, if possible, to use local ventilation to keep dust and odors in the work area.

What's possible for your space is a conversation to have up front. Tell us on the first call when the space is busiest, how many people work in it, and which areas customers see, and George will tell you what the quote assumes. We start with a phone call, and he visits if he needs to see the space.

Decide which areas matter most to keep open, too. A reception area and a sales floor carry more weight than a storage room, and it helps to arrive at the call knowing which is which.

These are good questions to put to any painter before you commit:

• How many days will the crew be on site, and which areas are affected each day?
• Which parts of the space can stay open while the work is under way?
• What's the plan for fumes, dust and the first few days afterward?
• When will each area be ready for staff and customers?

Fumes, odor and dust in an occupied space

Fresh paint has a smell, and in a business it's a smell your customers walk into. The EPA says that under normal temperature and humidity, most emissions occur during drying, in the first few days after painting. For remodeling projects, it recommends running fans and ventilating as much as possible continuously until two or three days after the painting is complete, and it notes that water-based paints generally release fewer chemicals than oil-based ones.

If your space is in a shared building, let the neighbors and the property manager know when the work is planned. The same EPA guide for building owners recommends telling occupants in advance, and it avoids complaints you didn't need.

Protecting equipment, stock and floors

Floors and furniture are covered before any paint comes out. In a business, the list is longer. Think about what's on the walls and what's near them:

• Computers, printers and phones, which don't enjoy dust.
• Files, records and anything paper that can't be wiped clean.
• Merchandise, displays and shelving along the walls.
• Signs, TVs, menu boards and artwork mounted on the wall.

Clear what you can before the start date, and tell us what's fragile. Anything hung on the wall comes down or gets worked around, and the holes it leaves are the kind of small holes we repair before painting. A quick photo of a shelving layout or a gallery wall before it comes down saves a puzzle later.

Prep in a working space

Business walls wear differently from home walls. They pick up scuffs at cart and chair height, hand marks around doors and switches, corner damage, and holes from every sign or shelf that ever hung there. In food service, add grease.

The prep is the usual one: clean, sand, repair and prime, then paint. The finish matters more than at home, because the walls get wiped. A satin or eggshell finish on walls and semi-gloss on trim and doors cleans up best, and our guide to paint finish for each room goes through the choices. For ceilings, see our post on the best ceiling paint.

Color, brand and light

Business color often has to match something: a logo, a brand guide, an existing wall. Bring a chip or a sample, and test it on the wall rather than trusting a screen or a printout. Our guides to how to test paint colors and how to choose paint colors for your home work for a shop as well as a house.

Check your lighting, too. The U.S. Department of Energy explains that higher Kelvin numbers look cooler and bluer, and lower numbers look warmer and more yellow. If your space uses cool, daylight-style bulbs, a gray that looked neutral on the chip can read blue on the wall. Test under the lights the room really has.

Dry time, cure time and getting back to normal

Dunn-Edwards says latex coatings are usually dry to the touch in one to two hours and ready for another coat in two to four. That's the pace of the work. It also says latex takes 14 to 30 days to cure fully, and that dark colors and higher gloss coatings take longer.

In practice, an area can go back into use when the job is done, but the walls are soft for the first few weeks. Keep carts, chairs and signage from rubbing the fresh paint, and hold off on scrubbing.

Leased space and older buildings

Check your lease before you choose a color. Some leases need the landlord's approval for wall colors, and some ask you to restore the original color when you leave. It's an easy question to ask the property manager and a bad one to discover after the job. If your lease or building sets insurance requirements for contractors, mention them on the first call. We're fully insured.

If the building was built before 1978, tell us when you call. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule sets lead-safe work practices for paid work that disturbs paint in homes, child care facilities and preschools built before 1978.

Getting an accurate quote

Interior painting is priced by the square footage of the space, with paint included, so the quote starts with the numbers. Have these ready when you call:

• The size of the space, or its rough dimensions and ceiling heights.
• What's being painted: walls, ceilings, trim, doors.
• The condition of the walls, with a few photos if you can.
• The color, or a chip if it has to match something.
• Anything about access: stairs, an elevator, loading rules or parking.

Our posts on what a painting estimate should include and how to compare painting quotes show what to ask any painter.

You get the quote in writing, with a start date. The written quote is the price, no extra charge if the job takes longer than expected. We accept Apple Pay, cash, check, Venmo and Zelle. We paint homes and businesses across Madison and Dane County, including Fitchburg, and you can ask for a free estimate to get started.