Commercial painting in Atlanta
Rental turnover painting in Atlanta between one lease and the next
Every day a rental sits empty costs rent. When a tenant hands back the keys, the walls need patching and paint fast, without paying for a full repaint when a touch-up would do.
We paint vacant rental homes and apartments between tenants, usually in 1 to 3 days per unit, using standard landlord colors so touch-ups stay simple. We patch nail holes and tenant damage, then touch up or fully repaint depending on condition. Typical Atlanta turnovers run $615 to $1,140 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,865 to $3,980 for a three-bedroom house. Call (470) 458-0461.
Turnover painting is about speed and judgment. A unit that housed a careful tenant for a year may just need patching and spot touch-ups, while one with smoking, pets or crayon art needs stain sealing and a full repaint. We walk the unit or look at your move-out photos, tell you which it is, and price it that way. Property managers usually want a number before approving, so we keep a price sheet for common unit types.
Using one or two standard colors across a portfolio is the biggest money saver we see. When every unit is the same flat or eggshell in the same white or greige, touch-ups blend, leftovers move between units, and the painter doesn't have to guess. We'll help you settle on a standard if you don't have one. It also shortens every turn.
Turns also have to fit around cleaners, carpet crews and maintenance. Paint goes before carpet cleaning or flooring, and we coordinate so trades don't stack up in the same unit on the same day. When a unit needs more than small patches, such as a hole from a door handle or a water-damaged ceiling section, our drywall patching is folded into the same visit, so the unit doesn't wait on a separate repair crew.
When to call
How to tell a rental needs more than a touch-up
Touch-ups flashing through
If patched spots show as shiny or off-color squares under the light, the old paint has aged and further touch-ups will only make the wall patchier.
Smoke or odor in the walls
Yellowed ceilings and a smell that lingers after cleaning mean smoke residue is in the paint. It needs a stain-blocking primer before any finish coat.
Pet damage at door frames
Scratched door frames, chewed trim and stained lower walls need sanding, filling and enamel, not a quick wipe of wall paint.
Many anchors and TV mounts
A dozen or more holes from shelves, mounts and curtain rods across a room usually costs less to repaint fully than to patch and touch up spot by spot.
Tenant-painted accent walls
Dark or bright walls a tenant painted need a primer and two coats to get back to your standard color, which changes the pricing.
Three or more turns since repaint
Most rentals need a full repaint every second or third turnover, even when they look fine at a glance in the listing photos.
Scope of work
What a turnover paint job includes
- Walkthrough or photo review with a written touch-up or full repaint recommendation
- Patching nail holes, anchor holes, doorknob dents and small drywall damage
- Stain-blocking primer over smoke, water stains, marker and crayon
- Walls in your standard landlord color, touched up or fully repainted
- Ceilings in flat white where stained, yellowed or patched
- Doors, frames and baseboards in semi-gloss where scuffed or chipped
- Kitchen and bath walls in a washable finish that handles cleaning between leases
- Photos of the finished unit sent to the property manager for the file
How the job runs
How we turn a vacant rental quickly
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| A1 | Move-out reviewWe walk the unit or review your move-out photos, list the damage, and recommend touch-up or full repaint for each room with a price you can approve the same day. |
| A2 | Schedule against other tradesWe slot paint after maintenance repairs and before carpet cleaning or new flooring, matching the dates your make-ready schedule needs. Most approvals come back within hours. |
| A3 | Patch and primeHoles and dents are filled, sanded and primed. Smoke, water and marker stains get a stain-blocking primer so they don't come back through the new paint. |
| A4 | Paint walls, ceilings and trimWalls get your standard color, ceilings are coated where needed, and doors and trim are enameled. Vacant units let us spray ceilings and trim when that is faster. |
| A5 | Clean up and reportWe clean up our materials, label leftover paint for the unit or the shop, and send photos of finished rooms so the manager can list the unit. |
Atlanta conditions
Atlanta rental stock and what it means for turnover work
Atlanta's rental market spans 1950s brick ranches in places like East Point, 1970s and 1980s split-levels across the suburbs, and newer townhomes and garden apartments. The older houses often have plaster or thin drywall with decades of paint layers, and some were painted before 1978, so any sanding or scraping on original trim follows lead-safe practices. Split-levels tend to have dark paneling and wood trim that owners want lightened, which needs a bonding primer before paint.
Humidity matters more in vacant units than people expect. When the AC is set high or turned off between tenants, Atlanta summers push indoor humidity up, which slows drying and can lead to mildew spots on bathroom ceilings and closet walls. We ask managers to keep the AC running during turns. Musty bathrooms get mildew treatment and a mildew-resistant bath paint, and basements in hillside houses often need a stain-blocking primer over old water marks.
Where we do this work most
Built pages for neighborhoods and cities we cover, with ZIP codes.
Typical costs
Rental turnover painting costs in Atlanta
Turnover pricing depends mostly on whether a unit needs touch-up or full repaint and how much damage the last tenant left. Standard colors keep costs predictable across a portfolio. These are typical 2026 metro Atlanta ranges for vacant units; see the full price guide for other interior work. Rush turns cost a little more.
| Work | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Touch-up turn, patching plus spot painting | $265 to $585 per unit |
| One-bedroom apartment, full repaint walls and trim | $615 to $1,140 per unit |
| Three-bedroom house, full interior repaint | $1,865 to $3,980 per house |
| Smoke-damaged unit, stain-blocking primer plus two coats | $1.35 to $2.45 per sq ft of wall |
Typical Atlanta ranges, not a quote. Your written estimate follows a free walkthrough. Compare other jobs on our painting price guide.
What moves the price
- Touch-up versus full repaint
- Smoke, pet or water damage
- Tenant-painted dark or bright colors
- Ceilings and trim included or not
- Rush scheduling for a move-in date
Paint and primers that keep rentals simple
For rental walls we usually recommend a contractor-grade eggshell such as Sherwin-Williams ProMar 200 or Benjamin Moore Ultra Spec 500, since flat hides touch-ups well but cleans poorly and semi-gloss shows every patch. Ceilings take flat white. Doors and trim get a semi-gloss acrylic enamel. Smoke and nicotine need a shellac-based primer such as Zinsser BIN, while water stains and marker are sealed with an oil-based stain blocker. Bathrooms get a mildew-resistant paint. We buy standard colors in five-gallon pails for portfolio clients to keep the cost per unit down.
Paints, primers and stains our painters work with every week, from Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore to PPG and Romabio.
Questions
Rental turnover painting questions from Atlanta homeowners
Should we touch up or fully repaint between tenants?
Touch-up works when the existing paint is less than two or three years old, the same sheen and color is still available, and damage is limited to a few holes. If patches flash, the tenant painted, or there's smoke or pet staining, a full repaint costs less in the end because touch-ups would cover most of the wall anyway. We'll recommend room by room.
What standard color should a landlord use across all units?
Most landlords do well with one warm white or light greige on walls, flat white on ceilings and a white semi-gloss on trim. Light neutrals show well in listing photos, cover in fewer coats over patches, and suit most tenants' furniture. Pick one exact color and sheen and keep it on record, so every crew and every touch-up uses the same thing.
How fast can you paint a unit after move-out?
A touch-up turn usually takes one day. A full repaint of a one- or two-bedroom apartment takes one to two days, and a three-bedroom house two to three days, longer if there's smoke sealing or heavy patching. With enough notice we can often start the day after keys come back, so cleaners and flooring stay on their dates.
Can you cover smoke smell and nicotine stains in a rental?
Yes, though paint alone won't hold it. Walls and ceilings are washed with a degreasing cleaner first, then sealed with a shellac-based primer that locks in both the stain and the odor. Two finish coats go over that. Carpet, vents and cabinets also hold smoke, so the unit needs cleaning there too for the smell to go away.
Do you work with property managers on multiple units a month?
Yes. Managers with steady turns usually set up a price sheet by unit type and a standard color schedule with us, then send move-out dates as they come. Each unit gets a quick confirmation of touch-up or full repaint before we start, and finished photos come back for the file. It keeps approvals quick and pricing consistent from one unit to the next.
Related work
Jobs that often go with this one
Apartment & Multifamily Painting
Apartment exteriors, breezeways, stairwells, corridors and unit interiors painted building by building, with resident notices planned ahead.
Drywall Repair & Patching
Holes, cracks, nail pops and water-damaged patches repaired, with texture matched to orange peel or knockdown so the fix disappears under paint.
Interior House Painting
Walls painted room by room or across the whole house, with furniture moved, floors covered and two full coats rolled over clean cut lines.
Ceiling Painting
Flat ceiling paint rolled without lap marks, water stains sealed with stain-blocking primer, and tall or vaulted ceilings reached safely.
Talk through your rental turnover painting job
Call any time. We will ask a few questions, set a walkthrough time and put the scope and price in writing.