I haven't installed in-walls in a while as most of my speaker installs have been in-ceiling lately. I have a job that I will be installing in-walls. It is a small job under $5000. The speakers would look so much better painted the same color as the wall, but I don't want to waste a lot of time doing it. For those of you that do this, what is a fair rate to charge a customer for painting their speakers? Do you give them a set price or price per speaker?

Hand them to the painter....

If there is no painter.. $50 a pair?

I use an edger. I lightly dip it in paint.. dab it on paper towels to get most of the paint off then i brush on the paint. The bristles in the edger are good for pushing out excess paint.

Spraying works well if you have the right gear

We installed some Sonance Cinema Ultra II LCRs on a job...

We pulled the scrim(?) cloth out and left the grilles loose so the painter would just have to pull them out, spray, and be done.

They sprayed them while they were on the speaker... with no cloth in between the grille and the speaker drivers. It essentially looks like they spray painted the $3K in speakers. Thanks guys.

Just had to tell that story. :)

I have used an airbrush before with great results. I had to thin out the paint a little and spray multiple coats but in the end it was worth the effort. I used to let the painters do the painting until i saw one of them using a roller to paint the grills. Grrr!

Spray them, oil paint only. I always carry a can of vynal or plastic prep.

I have done it before, but it was on a larger job and I just included it in on the price. I was thinking something like $25 per speaker, but I wanted to see if that was too low or too high.

We do it all the time, we generally charge $100/ color. It covers the setup and clean up and amortized cost of the sprayer. It also includes prepping the customer's paint for spraying as it often crusty, chunky and has a paint roller swimming in the can.

There's really not a huge price difference between doing one pair or ten pair so it's a flat rate based on color. So three pair painted to match the living room is $100. Two more pair painted with the bedroom paint color is another $100.

We always use latex paint as it's easier to clean up. This stuff works great to bond to the grills.

[Link: levineautoparts.com]

We usually charge an hours worth of labor, unless there is a lot of speakers to paint or multiple colors. We use a HVLP spray gun, wipe down the speakers with acetone, and use the customer's paint (make them bring us a small jar), and we NEVER let the painters do it.

We had a designer insist that the customer use a "professional" painter to paint six pairs of speakers (who said they painted inwall speakers all the time). We told the client we would do it better and cheaper but they gave in to the designer, so we made them sign a waiver saying if something was wrong they would have to pay to replace the grills and add labor for us to paint them right. Two days later I go to install the speakers and guess what, Mr. professional painter painted the grills with the scrims in. All the holes were plugged and you couldn't remove the scrims. So we ordered six pair of new grills and scrims, did it ourselves, and got to do the "I told you so" thing with the client.

Long story, but we have a couple of painters who have us paint speakers for them!

if you use a very dry roller you can get away without having to get a sprayer or airbrush. i learned to do this in two to three coats without plugging up the grills, but you need to make sure the roller barely has any paint on it.

A dry roller can work well but you have to be careful not to leave blotchy looking roller marks. I generally leave it to the painter but always have them done in advance of install and provide very clear and specific instructions including thinning instructions for different paint types and the best ways to un-clog holes. I always make sure grills are removed and that scrims are also removed prior to handing over to the painters.

Simon.

Easy, sell them triads and send the paint code in so triad will paint them for you :-)

you can always go to home depot, with a paint sample, and they can make you an aerosol can of paint. usually about 15 bucks. spray them and your done.

this brand SEM, is the shizzle. Your local trim supply houses will sell this brand.

[Link: sjdiscounttools.com]

For new construction or remodel where there is a painter on-site, I'll hand them off to them for painting. Most have HVLP setups that do a nice job.

When there's not a painter I carry a Preval spray gun in the van and use it. The thing only costs $5-$6 bucks each so the cleanup consists of throwing it in the trash. May be a little wasteful, but it takes 10 mins to clean one up and it makes a mess so can't really be done at the customers.

The Preval is a little "DIY" spray can. After a little practice, I can get results as good as the pros with their expensive spray setup.

[Link: prevalspraygun.com]

You can find them at Home Depot and many paint stores... I buy 5-6 at a time so I always have one handy.

just an fyi.

hit the grills with some primer first.

kilz does the trick.