Painting job estimate calculator

Estimate a painting job from your own measurements and numbers: how many gallons to buy, how many hours it takes and what to charge. You enter the coverage printed on your paint and your own painting pace; the calculator does not assume any. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

Paint

Paintable area (sq ft) Number of coats Coverage per gallon from your paint label (sq ft) Price per gallon ($) Sundries: tape, plastic, caulk ($) Materials markup %

Labor

Area you paint per hour, per coat (sq ft) Prep and cleanup hours Hourly rate charged ($)

Coverage depends on the paint, the surface and how it is applied. Use the coverage on your paint can or the maker's data sheet; the 300 above is only an example number, not a coverage claim. Your painting pace is yours to measure. Example numbers, not typical rates: replace every one with your own.

How it works

Paint needed = area × coats ÷ coverage per gallon. Gallons to buy = paint needed rounded up to a whole gallon. Materials with markup = (gallons to buy × price per gallon + sundries) × (1 + markup). Painting hours = area × coats ÷ area per hour. Labor = (painting hours + prep hours) × hourly rate. Estimate = materials with markup + labor.

Worked example (the values above): 850 sq ft × 2 coats = 1,700 sq ft of painting. At the 300 sq ft per gallon on this example label that is 5.67 gallons, so you buy 6 gallons: 6 × $48.00 = $288.00. Add $60.00 of sundries and a 15% markup: ($288.00 + $60.00) × 1.15 = $400.20. At 120 sq ft an hour, 1,700 sq ft takes 14.17 hours; with 4 hours of prep and cleanup that is 18.17 hours, and 18.17 × $60 = $1,090.00 (exactly 1,700 ÷ 120 × $60 = $850.00 plus 4 × $60 = $240.00). Estimate: $400.20 + $1,090.00 = $1,490.20.

If you buy paint in other sizes, adjust the gallons yourself. To see what you keep after wages and overhead, use the job profit calculator. See also all calculators.