Painting Subcontractors in Florida
169 Florida-licensed painting subcontractors statewide. Sign in to see phone and email and invite a sub to bid on your RFQ.
Painting subcontractors deliver the interior and exterior coatings on a project — surface preparation, priming, finish coats, specialty systems such as epoxy floors, intumescent fireproofing, and elastomeric exterior coatings, plus caulking and color matching. On commercial jobs they price from the Division 09 finishes spec and the room finish schedule, follow drywall and millwork into the building, and time their work around dust-generating trades so finishes land clean.
What GCs ask for
When a GC sends a painting RFQ, they want a quote against the room finish schedule, the Division 09 painting spec, and any specialty coating callouts on the drawings. Bids are typically broken out by square foot for walls and ceilings and by linear foot for trim, with separate lines for specialty systems — epoxy floors, intumescent on exposed steel, elastomeric on stucco. GCs want the bid to name the manufacturer and product line priced, the number of coats, and what's excluded — sealants outside the paint scope, wall coverings, prep beyond stated condition.
Licensing in Florida
Painting contracting in Florida falls under the specialty contractor classification regulated by the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) under the DBPR. A specialty contractor's license covers the scope of work listed under that classification — surface preparation, coatings application, and the specialty systems within painting — and can be held at the certified level (statewide scope) or the registered level (local jurisdiction only). Painting scope can also be performed by a general contractor (CGC/CBC/CRC) under their broader license. Florida treats unlicensed contracting as a crime, which is why every painting sub in this directory carries its DBPR license number.
Common questions
How many coats should a commercial painting bid include?
The default for new construction is one primer plus two finish coats on walls and ceilings, with prep to the substrate's stated condition. Specialty systems — epoxy floors, intumescent, elastomeric — follow the manufacturer's coat count and dry-film thickness. RFQs should call out coat count and DFT where it matters; if the spec is silent, a clean bid states the assumption.
What's the difference between paint and a specialty coating?
Standard architectural paint covers most interior walls, ceilings, and trim. Specialty coatings are higher-spec systems with different performance and pricing: intumescent for fire-rated steel, elastomeric for waterproof stucco, epoxy for chemical-resistant or high-traffic floors, and high-performance industrial coatings for tanks and equipment rooms. Bids should price these as separate lines, not roll them into a per-square-foot painting number.
Who carries caulking and sealants?
Paint-grade caulk at trim, baseboard, and door frames is typically carried by the painter as part of the finish prep. Joint sealants on the exterior envelope, expansion joints, and fire-rated penetrations are a separate scope under the sealant or waterproofing sub. RFQs that don't call out the boundary leave room for scope gaps, so a clean painting bid lists what caulk is included by type and location.
Does the painter handle wall covering?
Sometimes. Vinyl wall covering and wallpaper are often picked up by the painter when the scope is light, but on jobs with significant wall-covering area they're typically bid as a separate specialty package. RFQs should state which trade carries the wall-covering scope so bids price the same line. Expect the painting bid to exclude wall coverings unless it explicitly includes them.
What does the verification badge on a sub's profile mean?
The badge reflects what was reviewed: a verified state license earns License Verified — the usual path for a painting sub — a verified certificate of insurance earns Insurance Verified, and a sub with both reviewed shows the Verified Pro umbrella.