Depends on the builder. Some will charge an extra $200-$300 per additional color change. Some go crazy and ask for thousands extra. It is totally reasonable for a builder to ask for an upcharge for to allow for additional colors. Every color change costs time/energy/$$$ due to cleaning all the equipment including paint sprayers and brushes when changing colors. Plus, when more than one color is used, the painters have to be extra careful not to overspray paint from one room. And the more colors involved, the more chance there is that someone will goof up and put the wrong color in the wrong room...which means lost dollars for the builder when he has to pay for more paint and pay someone to go back and fix the mistake. Plus of course there is extra paint wasted because the leftovers from one room can't be used on the next.

A gallon may or may not fully cover all the walls even in a small kid's room. Typically a gallon is supposed to cover about 300 - 350 sq ft but actual coverage varies by manufacturer, by color, and by color of the primer underneath. Plus you have to remember that the kid's closets have to be painted and closets have a high wall area/floor space ratio. If the room takes a tiny bit over a gallon, then you have almost a full gallon of wasted paint.

I personally think a couple hundred extra for each additional paint color is not too outrageous. Any more than that and you may be better off simply repainting some rooms after you move in. Just pick the colors that you have your builder do so they include the colors that you want in any of the rooms that have extra tall walls or would otherwise be a PITA to repaint (like stair wells!)

But before you sign a contract that limits you to a certain number of paint color choices - find out exactly what the builder means. Some builders interpret the number of paint colors in a "color allowance" to include the trim paint color and the ceiling paint color as two of the choices. If so, then you're actually down to just two wall color choices.

And, SOME builders will even inform you (but only after the contract is signed) that the primer is also one of your "color choices" which means that, in fact, all your walls will have to be the same color!

You need to talk with the builder. First get clear exactly what he means by "four color choices" and make sure that the contract language is specific that it means you get FOUR wall color choices plus one primer color plus one trim color plus one ceiling color.

Then, once you know for sure what you actually get in the basic contract, find out how much your builder will charge to allow you additional choices. It doesn't much matter what most builders charge is yours has a different policy. If you want more color options, then you either have to agree to his standard charges, attempt to negotiate a different agreement, or pick a different builder.

We ran into this when we did a large addition and renovated nearly every room in the house. We had a bunch of colors - at least 11. The builder got kind of pissy about it but I put my foot down and said if the painters didn't want to do it, then they could just prime all the upstairs walls and I'd hire someone else to come in and finish up. They did end up doing exactly what I wanted, but in retrospect I never did go back to see what the upcharge was.

I get that I should pay for time spent cleaning equipment and for extra paint needed. But if one painter gives you 4 colors without an upcharge, then why not just hire a second painter to do the other 4 colors (or however many)? You'd think it would be in the painters' best interests to stay in one house with all their equipment and do everything, than to encourage customers (via pricing) to split the job between them and the competition.

I read a painting forum once where painters were complaining about customers who want multiple colors. I wouldn't hire someone like that, who seems to resent custom colors in a custom house. They can stick to tract homes in all builder's white if they don't like changing colors!

And they complained about having to deal with leftover paint... well I wanted to keep the leftover in case I had to do any near-term touch ups. Don't most people do that or am I an exception?

we kept all of our paint from building the house we are in now.

good point about cleaning the equipment. that is a pain. i hate washing and washing and washing and washing the brushes and rollers.

it definitely says 4 wall colors and one ceiling color and one trim/cabinet color.

if it's 100 upcharge per color then i will ask for it, if it's more than that then i'll just paint the upstair kid rooms myself. those should be easy enough. kitchen and bathrooms are the PITA sort of rooms to paint.