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Although I know that there is a wide range in pricing techniques for murals, I am in need of a place to start. Most of the murals I have done have been very simple and I've always come out very well on the pricing. Recently I did an 8' x 12' wall (brick - interior) and charged $750. It took me 6 hours, so I think I was about right. But it was a very simple mural that needed to look like an old bulletin wall.
Now I have an 8' x 30' wall (painted wallboard - interior) on which the customer wants an underwater scene - fish, coral, etc. This will take considerably longer, I'm sure.
Any ideas on pricing? I have a figure in mind and need to know how close I am to those who do this type of work all the time.
Thanks.
-------------------- Chapman Sign Studio Temple, Texas chapmanstudio@sbcglobal.net Posts: 6306 | From: Temple, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hey Ray, I would charge $23 S.F. for a real nice, detailed mural (italian restaurant type stuff) but if half of it is sky, that part is $3 S.F. I get about $12 s.f. for illustration type work (furniture, cell phones, products, etc. The Wayland murals on buildings are mostly blue fades. That is the cheap,easy part. Look at a Disney underwater scene with the little mermaid. (comic books) easy to do. Have fun
-------------------- John Arnott El Cajon CA 619 596-9989 signgraphics1@aol.com http://www.signgraphics1.com Posts: 1443 | From: El Cajon CA usa | Registered: Dec 1998
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Check out http://www.muralsplus.com they have a great community messageboard and if you search the archives, there is a good mural pricing guide available (you might have to register to get to the professional section for that, but its much like registering here..pretty painless). Its a great site of dedicated wall muralists just like we have here for sign painters. They trade tips & tricks and pretty much stay on topic..plus, they have a wonderful galley of some of the most amazing work! Check it out & enjoy! You might as well price according to the professionals of that trade.
-------------------- Karen Sartain,'Pisel' on chat 11699 E Hwy 181 Willcox, Arizona 85643
We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.We are spiritual beings on a human journey."-Stephen Covey Posts: 336 | From: Chiricahua National Monument, Az | Registered: Nov 1998
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Ray, I would just hire Bill for $25. a sq., charge $24.50, and take a loss just to watch him paint. ..........or figure time and material and double the cost for stupidy. We did a 10x 70 for $3000, which figured out at $75. per hour. Tuff call to say the least. I'd lean towards the Bill option.
-------------------- Tom & Kathy Durham House Springs, MO Posts: 654 | From: House Springs, MO | Registered: Apr 1999
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sq. ft. is the way to price it.....and then its up to finish in less hours!!!! walldogin prices should be a starting point for ya. the last job you did was 96 sq.ft and divide that into $750 gives ya $7.81 a sq.ft. and you was happy with that...right? so i would at least charge $10 minimum sq.ft. and then if your doing a REALLY DETAILED mural ask for $20-25!!!!! their is a thing called TROUMP LOI(sp) and these guys get $50 A SQUARE FOOT!!!!!! troump loi is like the coyote painting a tunnel and its so real the roadrunner goes right thur it....but he SLAMS INTO THE WALL!!!!!
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hey, I dont know where my hubby was when we were billing that mural. He said we got $3000, but it was $7500. It was for a bbz restaurant. We spent long days for 2 weeks, it was avg. height of 13' x 70 western town, painted around a hostess station that we had to blend in. They covered it in lap siding, and we painted it to look old, hung some antiques on it, Tom put a fence on top with props, and called it the watering hole. The fun part was lettering the windows with old lettering styles, and we used names we knew. We included alot of 3-d props like real door knobs on doors, trim around doors and signs to give it a cooler look. Of course all included in the price. Thought we were scoring points by putting the mayor of the towns name on it...but he had his own ideas of how it should have looked. If I could have taken a good photo it would be cool, but not enough distance and too many obstacles. I suggest everyone try this once. Good luck Ray, you know what your work is, dont be afraid to charge for it. Kat of tomkat
-------------------- Tom & Kathy Durham House Springs, MO Posts: 654 | From: House Springs, MO | Registered: Apr 1999
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Ditto on Bill's pricing or maybe Tom has the best idea, Bill does great work and he is a lot of fun to work with especially up 12 feet or so. I hate to charge by the sq. ft. alone but it can be based upon how much time you take and converted. $95 per hour is much more reasonable in today's market at your skill level. If you use sq. ft. then take out COH(contribution to overhead)and you have about 50 hours to do the sketch, layout, prep, painting and clean up. You can adjust the complexity based upon your speed and the desires of the customer.
-------------------- Kent Smith Smith Sign Studio P.O.Box 2385, Estes Park, CO 80517-2385 kent@smithsignstudio.com Posts: 1025 | From: Estes Park, CO | Registered: Nov 1998
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
& enjoy! You might as well price according to the professionals of that trade. 
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..........or figure time and material and double the cost for stupidy. We did a 10x 70 for $3000, which figured out at $75. per hour. Tuff call to say the least. I'd lean towards the Bill option.
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If I could have taken a good photo it would be cool, but not enough distance and too many obstacles. I suggest everyone try this once. Good luck Ray, you know what your work is, dont be afraid to charge for it. 
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