Learning how to price painting jobs is mostly learning to count time. Painting is usually quoted per room, per square foot of wall, per linear foot of trim, per door, or per hour. A bid is simply the price you commit to in writing. Whichever way you quote, the bid has to beat the real cost of the job, and the only way to know that cost is to build it up piece by piece.
How to estimate a painting job, step by step
An estimate is your private working: the measurements, the hours and the costs. The bid is the price that comes out of it. Do the estimate the same way every time, and your bids get faster and more accurate.
1. Walk the job with a checklist
Never bid a painting job from photos alone if you can avoid it. Walk every room or every side of the house, and write down:
- Which surfaces: walls, ceilings, baseboards, door and window casing, doors, closets, stair rails.
- The condition: holes, cracks, peeling paint, stains, glossy surfaces, bare drywall or wood.
- The colour change: light to dark, dark to light, or the same colour again.
- Ceiling height, stairwells, and anything that needs a tall ladder, plank or lift.
- How much furniture is in the way, and who moves it.
- Parking, access, working hours, pets and kids in the home.
- On older homes, any paint that might contain lead (more on that below).
2. Measure every surface
Measure walls as length times height, room by room. For a room, add up the length of all four walls (the perimeter) and multiply by the ceiling height. Take off the big openings, like a garage door or a wide patio door. Many painters leave in normal doors and windows, because cutting around them takes as much time as painting the space.
- Walls and ceilings: square feet.
- Baseboards, casing and crown: linear feet (the length, not the area).
- Doors, windows, shutters and closet units: count each one.
3. Turn measurements into hours with production rates
A production rate is how much of one surface a painter finishes in an hour, such as square feet of wall per hour, or linear feet of baseboard per hour. Use your own rates from past jobs, not someone else's. If you do not have them yet, time your crew on the next three jobs and write the numbers down. Keep a separate rate for each surface, because open wall goes fast and trim goes slow. Our guide on how to estimate labor hours for a job shows how to build those numbers.
4. Add the prep hours on their own line
Setup, moving furniture, covering floors, masking, patching, sanding, caulking and spot priming are their own hours. Do not hide them inside the wall rate. When prep sits on its own line, you can see at a glance when a job needs more of it.
5. Work out coats and gallons
Multiply the area by the number of coats, then divide by the coverage on the paint can's label. Round up to whole gallons. Add primer for repairs and bare spots, and a gallon of trim paint if you are doing trim.
6. Price the hours at your full cost
First add drive time, loading and supply runs to your crew hours, because they are paid hours too. Then multiply total crew hours by the full cost of one person-hour. That is the wage plus payroll taxes, workers' comp, insurance and paid time off, not the wage alone. The labor burden calculator works this out for you.
7. Set the margin, not a markup
Add labor, materials and vehicle cost to get your job costs. Then divide by one minus your target margin. A 45% margin means dividing by 0.55. Do not just add 45% on top: that is a markup, and it leaves you with only about 31% of the price. Your overhead, like the office, ads, software and your own pay, comes out of that margin, so set it high enough to cover them. The page on profit margin vs markup explains the difference with numbers.
Price the prep first, not the paint
The roller is the fast part. Prep is the slow part. Moving furniture, covering floors, filling holes, sanding, caulking and taping can take as long as the painting itself, and sometimes longer.
Walk the job and list the prep before you list the coats. Ask what shape the walls are in. Old paint that peels, stained ceilings, smoke damage and glossy surfaces all need extra steps. If the customer has not seen those steps, they will not expect to pay for them. Show them on the quote.
Coats, and why paint cost is the small part
Owners spend a lot of time on the paint bill. Labor is usually the larger cost, and coats are what drive it.
- A primer coat is another full pass over the wall, not a small extra.
- Going from a dark colour to a light one often needs more coats than the customer thinks.
- Bare drywall, repairs and new wood soak up paint and need sealing first.
- Cheap paint can need an extra coat to cover. That coat usually costs more in labor than the paint saved.
Quote the number of coats you plan to apply. State that a major colour change may add a coat. Then the conversation about extra cost happens before the work, not after.
How to bid an interior painting job
Interior jobs have lots of cutting in (brushing a clean line where the wall meets the ceiling, trim or another colour), trim, doors and furniture to work around. Ceilings, closets and stairwells slow the pace. Count the trim and doors on their own, because they take far more time per foot than open wall.
- Bid each room as its own line. Walls, ceiling, trim and doors, each with its own hours. The customer can then drop a room without you redoing the whole bid.
- Ask whether ceilings and closets are in. Customers often assume yes. If they are out, say so in writing.
- Price the occupied home. Working around furniture, pets and people takes longer than an empty house. Moving in and out of a room twice a day is paid time.
- Watch the colour change. Deep reds, dark blues and bright yellows often need a tinted primer or an extra coat.
- Count stairwells separately. A tall stairwell wall needs a plank or special ladder setup, and the setup can take longer than the painting.
How to bid an exterior painting job
Exterior jobs add washing, scraping, ladders or lifts, and weather. Most of the risk sits in the prep and the access, not in the paint.
- Measure the house side by side. For each wall, length times height. For a gable (the triangle under a peaked roof), width times height, divided by two.
- Measure trim by the linear foot. Fascia, soffit edges, window and door trim, and corner boards are slow work with a brush.
- Price the prep you saw. Washing, scraping, sanding, priming bare wood, caulking gaps and masking windows. Peeling siding can double the prep, so look closely.
- Price the access. Single storey, two storey, or a lift. Height adds setup, moving and safety time on every side of the house.
- Allow for weather. Paint needs dry surfaces and the right temperature. Build a rain day into the schedule, and say in the bid how weather delays are handled.
- Check the siding type. Rough cedar, stucco and smooth vinyl or fibre-cement do not take paint at the same speed or in the same amount.
How to bid commercial painting jobs
Commercial work, like offices, stores, rental buildings and strata or condo common areas, follows the same cost method. The paperwork and the schedule are what change.
- Read the specs before you measure. A commercial job often comes with a written specification that names the product, the sheen, the number of coats and the prep. Bid what the spec says, not what you would normally do.
- Do the takeoff from drawings, then check on site. A takeoff is the list of quantities measured from the plans. Walk the site anyway, because drawings miss damage and access problems.
- Price the working hours. Night and weekend work, to stay out of the tenants' way, often means overtime. That raises your cost per person-hour, so use the higher figure for those hours.
- Price the equipment. Lifts, scaffolding, and extra protection for flooring and fixtures are real costs. Get the rental price before you bid.
- Read the payment terms. Commercial clients may pay 30 days or more after each invoice, and some hold back part of each payment until the job is done (called a holdback in Canada and retainage in the US). Waiting for your money has a cost. Count it.
- Check the paperwork they ask for. Proof of insurance, safety documents and workers' comp clearance take office time to gather.
Big commercial jobs often run several weeks. One wrong production rate, multiplied across a whole building, can wipe out the margin. Bid them from your own rates, and break the job into areas so you can track hours against each one.
How to price painting jobs by the room or square foot, and check the rate
Per-room and per-square-foot rates are quick, and customers understand them. They hide a lot of variety, though. Two rooms the same size can be very different jobs.
To test a rate, build the job from the ground up and compare.
- List the prep, the coats and the trim for the space.
- Estimate the crew hours, plus the drive.
- Multiply by your full hourly cost per person and add paint, supplies and fuel.
- Work out what your rate would charge: the rate times the area. Take the cost away from that price, then divide what is left by the price. That is the margin your rate really gives you.
If your rate only works when the room is easy, add adjustments for height, repairs, dark colours and heavy trim. Keep the base rate simple and let the adjustments carry the difficulty.
Mistakes that quietly cost you money
- Counting wall area only. Trim, doors, windows, ceilings and closets are slow and often unpriced.
- Skipping the second coat in the quote. The customer expects full coverage, and you do the work anyway.
- Underestimating repairs. A few small holes become a half day of filling, sanding and spot priming.
- Not charging for setup and clean-up. Drop sheets, masking, moving furniture and washing brushes all use paid hours.
- Ignoring drive and supply runs. A second trip to the paint store is lost time.
- Using one rate for every surface. Smooth drywall and rough stucco do not cost the same.
When to say no or raise the price
Some painting jobs only look cheap. Raise the price, or pass, when you see these.
- The customer wants a premium finish on poor surfaces and will not pay for prep.
- Rooms are full of furniture and nobody will clear them.
- The colour change is large and the customer wants to be sure of one coat.
- The schedule is tight and you would need overtime or extra crew to meet it.
- The job has lead paint, mould or water damage that someone else needs to fix first.
When a customer pushes on price, cut scope, not quality. Offer fewer rooms, a single colour, or a simpler finish. Do not cut prep, because that comes back as a callback.
A full painting bid, start to finish: two bedrooms and a hallway
Here is one complete bid, built with the steps above. The customer wants the walls, baseboards, door casing and two bedroom doors repainted, with prep and two coats. Ceilings and closets are not included. Two painters do the work. All numbers here are illustrative, including the production rates. Use your own.
Step 1: the measurements
| Space | How it is measured | Wall area |
|---|---|---|
| Bedroom 1 (12 ft × 11 ft) | 46 ft of wall × 8 ft high | 368 sq ft |
| Bedroom 2 (11 ft × 10 ft) | 42 ft of wall × 8 ft high | 336 sq ft |
| Hallway (18 ft long) | 2 walls × 18 ft × 8 ft high | 288 sq ft |
| Total walls | Normal doors and windows left in | 992 sq ft |
| Baseboard and door casing | Measured with a tape | 150 linear ft |
| Doors | 2 doors, both sides | 4 door faces |
Step 2: the hours
| Task | How it is worked out (illustrative rates) | Person-hours |
|---|---|---|
| Setup: move furniture, cover floors, mask | Walkthrough estimate | 1.5 |
| Prep: patch, sand, caulk, spot prime | About 20 small holes and cracked corners seen on the walkthrough | 2.5 |
| Walls, 2 coats | 992 sq ft × 2 coats = 1,984 sq ft, at about 330 sq ft per hour | 6.0 |
| Baseboard and casing, 2 coats | 150 ft × 2 coats = 300 ft, at about 100 ft per hour | 3.0 |
| Doors, 2 coats | 4 faces × 0.5 hours each for both coats | 2.0 |
| Clean-up, furniture back, touch-ups | Walkthrough estimate | 1.0 |
| On site | 2 painters × 8 hours each | 16.0 |
| Drive, loading, paint pickup | 2 painters × 0.5 hours each | 1.0 |
| Total crew hours | 2 painters × 8.5 hours each | 17.0 |
Step 3: the paint and supplies
| Item | How it is worked out (illustrative prices) | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Wall paint | 1,984 sq ft ÷ 350 sq ft per gallon (from the label) = 5.7, rounded up to 6 gallons at $35 | $210 |
| Trim and door paint | 1 gallon of enamel | $45 |
| Primer and supplies | Spot primer, filler, caulk, tape, plastic | $25 |
| Materials | $280 |
Step 4: the price
Now the hours become dollars. The full cost of one person-hour here is $30, which includes payroll taxes, workers' comp and insurance, not just the wage. The margin target is 45%.
| Item | How it is worked out | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | 2 people × 8.5 hours (including drive time) × $30 per hour | $510 |
| Materials | Supplies used on the job | $280 |
| Vehicle and fuel | Truck time and fuel for this job | $25 |
| Job costs | $815 | |
| Price at a 45% margin | $815 ÷ 0.55 | $1,482 |
| Left after job costs | $1,482 − $815 | $667 |
Where the price goes in this example
Every dollar of the price, split into the costs it covers and what is left over.
- Labor $510 (34%)
- Materials $280 (19%)
- Vehicle and fuel $25 (2%)
- Left after job costs $667 (45%)
The whole bar is the price the customer pays: $1,482. Illustrative numbers, built from the table above.
The hourly cost per person is the full cost of an hour, including taxes, insurance and tools, not just the wage. Materials cover paint, primer, tape, filler and drop sheets. These numbers are an illustrative example of the method. They are not a price list, and not a promise of what your jobs will earn.
Two quick checks before this bid goes out. First, the $667 left after job costs is not all profit. It has to pay the office, advertising, software, the estimate visit itself and the owner. If those costs need more than that, the margin is too low. The overhead calculator shows what your overhead adds up to. Second, compare the bid with your usual rate. $1,482 over 992 sq ft of wall is about $1.49 per square foot, with trim and doors included. If your usual square-foot rate would have come out lower, the rate was going to lose money on this job.
What goes in the written painting quote
The number is only half the bid. The other half is the words around it. A clear written quote stops arguments later, because both sides agreed to the same thing up front. Our guide on how to quote a job professionally covers the basics for any trade. For painting, include these.
- Scope. Each room or side of the house, and each surface in it: walls, ceilings, trim, doors. The prep you will do. The number of coats. The paint line and sheen, or "equal or better".
- Colours. How many colours are included, and that the customer picks them before the start date. Extra colours and changes after the paint is bought cost extra.
- Exclusions. What is not included: ceilings, closets, wallpaper removal, drywall repair beyond small holes, moving heavy furniture, rot repair, and anything behind or under appliances.
- Deposit and payment. The deposit to book the date, what it covers (paint is often bought with it), and when the balance is due.
- Change orders. A change order is a written note that adds work and price to the job after it starts. Say that any added work gets a written price, and the customer approves it before you do it. This is where painters lose the most money: "while you're here, can you also do the closet?"
- Hidden damage. If you find rot, mould, water damage or lead paint once the work starts, you stop and price it before going on.
- Schedule and weather. The planned start, how long it takes, and how rain days are handled on exterior work.
- How long the price is good for. Paint prices and your schedule change. A bid that is valid for 30 days protects you.
Here is how the scope for the example above might read:
After you send it, follow up. A customer who goes quiet has often just not decided yet. The guide to quote follow-up shows a simple schedule. CrewBrain keeps every quote on the customer's record and can send automatic follow-ups when a customer goes quiet. Once the job is done, crew hours tracked by job in the crew app show you how close the bid came.
Printable painting bid worksheet
Print this page, or copy the table onto a clipboard sheet, and fill in one per job. Write in your own production rates once, and use them every time.
| Line | What to write | Your numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walls | Square feet × coats ÷ your wall rate per hour | ____ hours |
| 2. Ceilings | Square feet × coats ÷ your ceiling rate per hour | ____ hours |
| 3. Trim | Linear feet × coats ÷ your trim rate per hour | ____ hours |
| 4. Doors and windows | Count × your hours per door or window | ____ hours |
| 5. Setup and prep | Furniture, floors, masking, patching, sanding, caulking, priming | ____ hours |
| 6. Clean-up | Furniture back, touch-ups, tools | ____ hours |
| 7. Drive and supply runs | Both ways, for every painter, every day | ____ hours |
| 8. Total crew hours | Lines 1 to 7 | ____ hours |
| 9. Labor cost | Line 8 × full cost of one person-hour | $____ |
| 10. Paint | Square feet × coats ÷ coverage per gallon, rounded up, × price per gallon | $____ |
| 11. Primer and supplies | Primer, filler, caulk, tape, plastic, rollers | $____ |
| 12. Equipment and access | Lift or scaffold rental, extra ladders | $____ |
| 13. Vehicle and fuel | Truck days and fuel | $____ |
| 14. Job costs | Lines 9 to 13 | $____ |
| 15. Bid price | Line 14 ÷ (1 − your margin), e.g. ÷ 0.55 for a 45% margin | $____ |
| 16. Check | Line 15 ÷ line 8 = price per crew hour. Is it above your target? | $____ per hour |
Try it with your own numbers
The calculator below starts with the bedrooms-and-hallway bid from above. Change any number to test your own job.
Job costs means crew time (with drive time), materials, vehicle and fuel. Hourly cost per person is the full cost of an hour, including payroll taxes and insurance, not just the wage. This is a simple calculator, not a quote.
Built for painting: the painting estimate calculator works from walls (two coats), ceilings (two coats), trim and baseboards, with example speeds you can change to your crew’s.
Keep going
- CrewBrain for painting companies: how the software handles quoting, scheduling and crew time for this trade.
- How to price a service job: the five-step method behind every page in this series.
- Job price calculator: the same calculator as above, on its own page.
- Price increase calculator: see how many customers you can lose before a raise stops paying.
- How to price roofing jobs
- How to price junk removal jobs
- How to price moving jobs
- What is a good profit margin for a service business?
- How to estimate labor hours for a job
- How to quote a job professionally
- All pricing guides by trade
Questions owners ask
How do I price a room for painting?
Count the prep, the coats, the trim and the ceiling, estimate the crew hours, and multiply by your full hourly cost. Add paint and supplies, then divide the total by one minus your margin.
Should I price painting by the square foot or the hour?
Square-foot rates are quick to quote, but check each one against the real hours and cost for that job. Use hourly for repairs and unknown conditions.
How do you bid a painting job?
Walk the job and measure every surface. Turn walls, ceilings, trim, doors and prep into crew hours using your own production rates. Multiply by the full cost of one person-hour, add paint, supplies and vehicle cost, then divide by one minus your target margin. Put the scope, exclusions, deposit and change-order rule in writing.
What is the difference between a bid, an estimate and a quote?
The estimate is your working: measurements, hours and costs. The bid or quote is the price you send the customer in writing. Many painters use bid and quote to mean the same thing. What matters is that the written price says exactly what is included.
How do I estimate the labor cost for a painting job?
Divide each surface by your production rate for it to get hours, add prep, setup, clean-up and drive time, then multiply the total by the full cost of one person-hour. That cost includes payroll taxes, workers' comp and insurance, not just the wage.
What markup should a painter put on a bid?
Think in margin, not markup. A 45% margin means dividing your job costs by 0.55. Adding 45% on top only gives you about a 31% margin. Pick a margin that covers your overhead and your own pay, and still leaves a profit.