How do I price prep work?

Estimate prep hours separately — patching, sanding and masking vary far more than the painting itself.

Should I charge per square foot or per room?

Either works if it's grounded in real labor hours; square-foot pricing scales more cleanly across jobs.

How many coats should I quote?

Two for most repaints; three for deep colors or big color changes.

Estimating

How do I estimate a paint job?

Quick answer

Calculate paintable wall area (perimeter × height minus doors and windows), divide by 350 square feet per gallon, and multiply by coats to get paint. Then add prep, primer, labor hours and materials like tape and plastic.

Definition

A paint estimate prices the paint, primer, prep and labor to coat a defined surface area to the finish the customer expects.

Step by step

1Find paintable area: perimeter × height minus openings.
2Divide by 350 sq ft/gallon and multiply by coats.
3Add primer, caulk, tape, plastic and sundries.
4Estimate prep and paint labor hours, then price it out.

Key takeaways

One gallon covers ~350 sq ft per coat.
Prep often costs more than the paint itself.
Most jobs need two coats for even coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Handy calculators

Paint Calculator

How many gallons of paint a room needs, minus doors and windows.

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Labor Cost Calculator

Total labor cost from crew size, hours and hourly rate.

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Put it to work

Interior Painting

Room-by-room paint jobs scoped from a quick video.

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Exterior Painting

Whole-home exteriors scoped from walk-around photos.

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Turn know-how into a signed job.

EstimateVision reads the scope from photos, video and voice, prices it for your area, and sends a proposal you can sign on the spot.

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