Table of Contents
- NYC's Housing Maintenance Code requires owners of multiple dwellings to repaint apartments between tenancies and every three years; confirm details with HPD.
- Typical 2026 planning ranges: studio $1,500-$3,000, 1BR $2,500-$5,000, 2BR $4,000-$8,000, 3BR $6,000-$12,000, prep included.
- Most 1-3 bedroom units take 2-7 working days, so the schedule should be locked before the old tenant leaves.
- Prep, not paint, creates most overruns: wall repair, water stains, and lead-safe work in pre-1978 buildings.
- Standardizing colors and sheens across a building lowers material cost and makes touch-ups simple.
Every landlord knows the math of a vacancy: each empty week is rent you never collect, and a unit with scuffed walls and yellowed ceilings rents slower and for less. Apartment turnover painting is the cheapest way to change both numbers. A fresh, neutral, uniform coat of paint tells the next applicant that the apartment has been cared for, hides the wear of the last tenancy, and gives the listing photos a clean look.
It is also a legal obligation in New York City, not just a marketing choice. This guide covers the HPD repaint requirement, what a proper make-ready paint scope includes, 2026 planning ranges by unit size, how to schedule painters inside a tight vacancy window, where prep problems hide, and what changes from Midtown high-rises to Greenpoint row houses to East Orange Victorians. All figures are typical planning ranges as of October 2026; a written, itemized quote governs the real price.
1. What the NYC Repainting Rule Actually Requires
The Housing Maintenance Code requires owners of multiple dwellings in New York City to repaint apartment walls and ceilings on a regular cycle: every three years, and again between tenancies. The agency that enforces the code is the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and its inspectors can cite paint conditions during a complaint inspection.
Three practical points follow from that rule.
- The clock is per apartment. A unit that turned over eighteen months ago may not be due for another cycle, while the unit next door could be overdue. Keep a simple log with the date each apartment was last painted.
- Peeling paint is a separate problem. Regardless of the cycle, flaking or peeling paint is a maintenance violation in its own right and, in older buildings, a lead concern.
- Your lease and building rules sit on top. Co-op and condo owners who sublet may have house rules about contractor hours, certificates of insurance and elevator use. Rent-stabilized buildings come with their own record-keeping expectations.
We are a contractor, not your attorney, so treat this as orientation and confirm the details of your building type with HPD or counsel. For tenant-side context, our interior painting guide for NYC is useful reading, and tenants asking about their own options can start with tenant painting rights in NYC.
2. What a Turnover Paint Job Should Include
A good make-ready scope is written down before the first drop cloth goes out. The most common reason landlords feel burned by painters is not quality; it is an unclear scope. Here is a standard turnover package.
Surfaces
- Walls in every room, including closets and the hallway entry.
- Ceilings, which are usually where the nicotine, cooking film and water stains show up.
- Trim, baseboards, window casings and doors, in semi-gloss or satin so they can be wiped.
- Radiator covers and pipes, if they are painted today and not decorative.
- Bathroom and kitchen walls, in a moisture-resistant, scrubbable finish.
Prep
- Remove nails, anchors and old picture hooks and fill the holes.
- Scrape loose paint and feather the edges so ridges do not telegraph through the new coat.
- Patch dings and small cracks with joint compound, sand and spot-prime.
- Caulk gaps along trim and casings.
- Stain-block water marks and smoke or marker stains before they bleed through.
Finish
- Two finish coats on walls and ceilings, unless the existing color is close and the wall is in good shape.
- Trim and doors finished separately from the walls.
- Daily cleanup, final touch-up walk-through and a clean handover.
The more of that list you write into the work order, the fewer arguments you have at the end. If you manage several buildings, a one-page scope sheet that every painter prices against makes bids comparable. For the broader prep sequence we recommend, see our complete apartment painting guide and the Home Painter Handbook.
3. 2026 Planning Costs by Unit Size
The table below shows typical NYC planning ranges for walls, ceilings and trim with ordinary prep included. These are estimates for budgeting, not quotes. Building access, ceiling height, wall condition, the number of colors and the finish you choose all move the number.
| Unit | Typical 2026 planning range | Typical working days | What pushes it higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,500-$3,000 | 1-3 | Heavy patching, tall ceilings, dark colors to cover |
| 1 bedroom | $2,500-$5,000 | 2-4 | Water stains, painted trim and doors, separate dining area |
| 2 bedroom | $4,000-$8,000 | 3-6 | Plaster cracking, multiple closets, long hallways |
| 3 bedroom | $6,000-$12,000 | 4-7 | Two baths, skim coating, lead-safe containment |
Skim coating a damaged wall adds roughly $2 to $5 per square foot on top of those ranges, and kitchen cabinet painting, if you choose to refresh cabinets instead of replacing them, is typically $3,500 to $9,000. For a deeper breakdown by apartment size, see apartment painting cost by size and how much interior painting costs in NYC in 2026.
Why per-unit pricing beats hourly
Landlords sometimes ask for an hourly rate because it sounds cheaper. For repeatable make-ready work it rarely is. A fixed per-unit price tied to a written scope rewards the painter for working efficiently and gives you a number you can post to the property's books before the old tenant has even handed in keys.
4. Scheduling Around the Vacancy Window
The calendar is the real constraint. Between a move-out and the next move-in you may have a week, sometimes less, and that week also has to fit cleaners, a locksmith, a plumber for the leaky faucet, and the flooring crew if the unit needs refinishing.
A workable sequence
- Pre-inspection before move-out. Walk the unit during the last weeks of the tenancy, if the lease allows it, and photograph every wall. This lets you price accurately and order materials early.
- Repairs first. Plumbing leaks, ceiling patches and electrical fixes come before paint, never after.
- Floors before or after paint, but decide. Floor sanding throws dust, so refinishing normally goes first, and painters then protect the new finish. If the floors are only being cleaned, paint first.
- Paint. Ceilings, then walls, then trim and doors.
- Punch list and clean. Touch-ups once the paint cures, then a final clean and key handover.
Cure time matters
Most interior latex is dry to touch within hours and ready for a second coat the same day, but it takes days to reach full hardness. Moving heavy furniture against fresh trim on day one is how scuffs return. If a new tenant is moving in at 9 AM the day after the final coat, say so up front so the painter can choose the right products and coat schedule.
Build in a buffer
We suggest planning one extra day for any unit that has not been seen in person, for any building built before 1978, and for any apartment where the prior tenant stayed more than five years. Long tenancies hide the most surprises behind furniture and wall hangings.
5. Prep Problems That Blow Up the Budget
Paint is the cheap part of a turnover. Prep is where days and dollars disappear. Look for these before you accept a bid.
Water stains and past leaks
Brown rings on ceilings mean water has been there. Paint over a stain without sealing it and it comes back through the new coat, usually within weeks. First fix the source, let the surface dry, then seal with a stain-blocking primer. If the plaster is soft or the paint is bubbling, the repair is larger than a paint job, so get it assessed before you set a vacancy date.
Cracked or alligatored plaster
Pre-war buildings have plaster walls that have been painted many times. Dozens of layers can develop a crazed texture. Painting over it highlights the problem under raking light. The fix is a skim coat or a heavier patch and sand, which is why we list skim coating as a separate line item.
Lead paint in older buildings
If a building was constructed before 1978, assume lead-based paint may be under the surface until tested. The EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Program requires firms paid to disturb paint in pre-1978 homes to be certified and to use lead-safe work practices, including containment, wet methods and HEPA cleanup. New York City has its own rules for older buildings, particularly those from before 1960. Dry sanding of unknown paint is exactly what the rule is meant to prevent. Ask any bidder for proof of certification before they start.
Smoke, grease and odor
Heavy smoking or cooking residue will bleed through ordinary paint. A cleaning and a sealing primer are needed, or the smell returns when the unit warms up in summer.
Mold and moisture
Dark growth in a bathroom corner or on an exterior wall is not a paint problem. It is a moisture problem and needs a fix before finishing. Bring in a mold specialist when growth is widespread or keeps returning.
6. Choosing Paint Specs for a Rental
Landlord paint is judged by one metric: how well it survives the next tenant. A few decisions pay off over several turnovers.
- One white or a short palette. Standardizing on a single ceiling white, a single wall color and a single trim finish across a building means any painter can touch up any unit with leftover paint. Keep a labeled gallon per building with the color name and date.
- Scrubbable walls. Eggshell or matte-washable finishes are forgiving on walls and still hold up to wiping.
- Semi-gloss or satin trim. Doors, baseboards and casings take the most abuse. A harder finish cleans easier.
- Low-odor, low-VOC products. Many vacant units are cleaned and shown within a day or two of painting, and a heavy solvent smell hurts showings. For background on indoor air, ventilation and a few days of airing out make a real difference.
- Primer where it counts. Use it on repairs, stains, bare plaster and major color changes, not on every wall by default.
Bold accent walls look good in a model unit and are expensive when the next tenant wants them gone. Neutral usually wins for rentals. To estimate the volume you need for a unit, use the paint quantity calculator.
7. Doing It Yourself, With a Handyman, or With a Painting Contractor
This is a real choice, and the right answer depends on how many units you own and how much risk you carry.
| Option | Best for | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| Landlord or super | One small unit, good walls, no pre-1978 paint | Slow, uneven results; the unit sits empty longer |
| Handyman | Light touch-up between short tenancies | Lead-safe certification, insurance and capacity for several units at once |
| Licensed painting contractor | Multiple units, older buildings, tight windows | Needs a clear scope and schedule up front |
The hidden cost of a slow DIY paint job is lost rent. A $600 saving on labor disappears if the apartment sits five extra days at $3,500 a month. And because contractors in New York who perform residential remodeling work are generally expected to hold the proper licensing, it is worth checking what a bidder actually holds. The DCWP home improvement contractor checklist explains the license for residential work in the city.
8. Why Landlords Hire N.Y. Renovation Services for Turnovers
Turnover work looks simple until you are running six of them across three buildings and each has a different super, different elevator rules and a different move-in date. That is where a coordinated contractor earns its fee.
N.Y. Renovation Services is a fully licensed and insured, in-house design-and-build company, so painting does not live in a silo. If the vacant unit also needs a floor refinished, a bathroom re-tiled or a kitchen refreshed before it lists, the same team sequences all of it, and one schedule governs the whole make-ready.
Here is what that looks like for a landlord.
- Itemized pricing. Each unit gets its own line items: walls, ceilings, trim, repairs, skim coat, cabinet refresh. You can see where the money goes and compare unit to unit.
- Lead-safe handling. Where a pre-1978 building calls for it, we plan lead-safe containment and cleanup into the schedule instead of discovering it on day two.
- Building paperwork. We handle certificates of insurance, access forms and elevator reservations for managed buildings, and we ask your managing agent about working hours before we quote.
- Clear contracts, no hidden fees. The scope, price and dates are in writing before work starts.
- Floors, tile and painting under one roof. Our priority services are gut renovation, tile, flooring, interior painting and exterior painting, so a make-ready that grows beyond paint does not require a second contractor search.
We also donate 5% of total project cost to a nonprofit of the client's choice, which some portfolio owners like to point to when they report on community involvement.
Call (347) 455-1741 or use the quote form and tell us how many units you expect to turn over this year. Even a rough annual number helps us plan crews around your calendar.
9. Neighborhoods and ZIP Codes We Serve
Turnover painting in New York is never the same job twice, because the building stock changes so much between neighborhoods. Here is how it looks in the areas we cover most often for landlords.
Midtown, Manhattan: ZIPs 10017, 10018, 10019, 10022, 10036
Midtown is a mix of high-rise condos, pre-war co-ops and buildings with commercial space on the lower floors. Expect strict contractor hours, certificate-of-insurance requirements and booked freight elevators. A unit that looks like a one-day touch-up can take longer if the freight elevator is only available in a narrow morning window. We recommend confirming service-elevator reservations before you confirm a start date. See our Midtown interior painting page.
Greenpoint, Brooklyn: ZIP 11222
Greenpoint blends wood-frame row houses with newer waterfront condos. Row-house rentals often have several coats of old paint, uneven plaster or lath and plaster hiding under newer drywall patches, so wall condition drives the price. Newer condos are the opposite: flat walls, tall ceilings and fast turns. Our Greenpoint interior painting page covers the local details.
Jamaica Estates, Queens: ZIP 11432
Large detached homes and Tudors dominate. A rented single-family home turns over differently from an apartment: more rooms, stairwell ceilings, wood trim with many layers of finish, and sometimes a finished basement. Plan around a longer window than any apartment and price the exterior entry areas separately.
Eltingville, Staten Island: ZIP 10312
Detached homes and attached townhouses are the norm here. Townhouse rentals are quick to access, with street parking and no freight elevator, and are good candidates for a standardized paint package. Detached rentals benefit from a combined interior touch-up and garage or porch refresh.
Baldwin, Nassau County: ZIP 11510
Capes and ranches are common, along with flood-prone pockets near the south shore. If a basement or lower level has seen water, treat it as a moisture problem first, and paint only once it has been dried and repaired. Long Island rentals are governed by the local town or village for any permit-triggering work, so check with the municipality for anything beyond cosmetic painting.
East Orange, Essex County, NJ: ZIPs 07017, 07018
Older multifamily buildings and Victorians mean plaster walls, tall ceilings and a strong possibility of lead paint. New Jersey permits come from the local municipal construction office under the Uniform Construction Code, and contractors need to be registered with the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs. The NJ Division of Consumer Affairs is the right place to confirm registration, and the NJ rules for rental housing differ from NYC's, so ask your local code office about paint and habitability requirements.
10. Common Landlord Mistakes in Turnover Painting
After many rounds of make-ready work in NYC buildings, we see the same errors repeat.
- Painting before the repairs are finished. A plumber opens a wall after the painters leave and the whole job is redone.
- Choosing the cheapest bid without comparing scope. One bid includes ceilings and trim, another does not. Always compare line by line.
- Skipping sealing on stains. The mark returns, and the tenant notices before you do.
- Ignoring building rules. Showing up at a co-op after 5 PM, or without an insurance certificate, can stop the job at the front desk.
- Using different whites across a building. Touch-ups never match, and every unit looks slightly different in photos.
- Disturbing old paint without checking the year. In a pre-1978 building, careless sanding creates both a health risk and a compliance risk.
- Letting trim go for several cycles. Doors and baseboards that were never fully stripped build up thick, chipping layers.
A simple portfolio habit
Keep a spreadsheet by apartment with the date it was last painted, the wall color, the trim color, the brand and the quantity used. At the next vacancy you will know the cycle date, can order paint in advance and can hand the painter a precise brief.
11. Beyond Paint: When Turnover Becomes Renovation
Some vacancies uncover more than paint can fix. A kitchen with failing cabinets, a bathroom with cracking grout and a hollow floor, or a plaster ceiling that has to come down all push the unit into renovation territory. At that point the sequence changes, and permits, building approvals and board paperwork may come into play.
A few markers that a turnover has become a renovation:
- Paint will not hold on a wall because of repeated moisture.
- Tile in the bathroom is loose, cracked or has failed waterproofing. Tile removal typically runs $4 to $12 per square foot and a new waterproofing membrane adds roughly $3 to $10 per square foot.
- Floors are cupped, soft or beyond a refinish. Typical refinishing is about $4 to $10 per square foot, while new engineered hardwood runs roughly $12 to $28 per square foot.
- Wiring or plumbing is exposed during repairs and needs to be updated.
Most alterations in New York City need a Department of Buildings permit, filed by a registered design professional, while cosmetic painting generally does not. The DOB guidance on obtaining a permit explains the process, and our permit guide summarizes what typically needs a filing. For a sense of budgets when a turnover grows, the NYC renovation cost guide for 2026 is a good reference, and the full apartment painting guide shows how painting fits inside a larger project.
12. How We Run a Turnover So the Unit Rents Sooner
Speed on a turnover comes from sequencing, and sequencing is what an in-house team does well. When you hire N.Y. Renovation Services, the estimator who prices your unit is part of the same company that schedules the crew, orders the material and signs off the finished work, so nothing gets lost between a sales call and the apartment.
Here is the difference that makes in practice.
- One point of contact per building. You do not chase a painter, a plasterer and a cleaner separately. We coordinate them and report against the dates we gave you.
- Pre-ordered materials. Because we ask for your palette and unit list in advance, paint and primer are on site before the old tenant's last day, not after.
- Realistic dates. We would rather quote seven working days and finish in five than promise three and slip. A missed handover costs you more than an honest schedule ever will.
- Defects fixed, not debated. If a touch-up is needed after the walk-through, it goes on the punch list and gets done.
- Escalation path. If a hidden condition turns up, such as a soft ceiling or suspect old paint, we stop, show you, and price the change in writing before continuing. Nothing is added on the quiet.
The cost of getting it wrong is easy to see. A rushed paint job over a live stain returns in weeks. A careless sanding job in a pre-1978 apartment can leave you with a lead dust problem and a compliance headache. A painter who arrives without the building's insurance certificate loses a day at the front desk. A licensed, insured contractor who has done this before prevents all three, which is why many owners treat the contractor fee as insurance on their vacancy schedule rather than an expense.
13. Next Steps: Get a Written Quote for Your Next Vacancy
The easiest way to protect your rent roll is to have a painting partner lined up before the next tenant gives notice. Here is how to start.
- Gather the basics. Unit address, bedroom count, ceiling heights, any known water or crack issues, the building's contractor hours and your target vacancy dates.
- Send them through the quote request form. Photos of the worst walls help. If you have several units, list them all and tell us which are most urgent.
- Get an itemized estimate. We review the information, visit where needed, and send a written quote with each unit and each scope item separated, so you can accept all, some or one.
- Lock the dates. Once you approve, we line up crews, materials and any elevator or building access, and confirm a start and finish date in writing.
- Walk the unit. We do a final walk-through, fix touch-ups and hand the apartment back clean.
If you only have one apartment, that is fine. If you have forty, even better: a repeatable scope and a standard palette make every later turnover quicker.
All cost figures in this guide are typical planning ranges as of October 2026 and are not quotes. Building rules, access, lead and asbestos conditions, finishes and scope can change the final price, and the written itemized quote governs.
Safety Note: All work follows OSHA 30 safety and EPA Lead-Safe practices for pre-1978 homes. Check local permit requirements before starting.
James - Lead Renovation Editor. With over 20 years in renovation and construction, James writes and edits our guides. More about James