Free tool · Painting
Painting estimate calculator
Measure the room, put in your own rates, and get a number you can defend. Runs in your browser; nothing is saved or sent.
Wall area = the room's perimeter × wall height, minus doors and windows; add the ceiling if you're painting it. Gallons = area × coats ÷ coverage, rounded up. Labor hours = area × coats ÷ your production rate. Price = labor + paint with your markup + any prep. Every default is a starting point: use the coverage on the can and your own rates.
The room
Paint
Labor
| Paintable area | |
| Gallons (rounded up) | |
| Paint with markup | |
| Labor hours (painting + prep) | |
| Labor | |
| Price to quote (before tax) | |
| Price per sq ft of paintable area |
Doors are counted as 21 sq ft (3 × 7) and windows as 15 sq ft; change the counts if yours are larger. Trim, door slabs and cabinets aren't included: add them as their own lines.
Getting the inputs right
- Coverage is on the can. Many interior paints list roughly 250 to 400 sq ft per gallon. Rough, porous or dark-to-light walls cover less.
- Production rate is yours. Time a few rooms: how many square feet you roll and cut per hour, per coat. Use that number, not someone else's.
- Prep is where jobs lose money. Patching, sanding, caulking, masking and moving furniture go in the prep hours, or on their own lines.
- Trim and doors are separate. Price them by the linear foot or per door. A one-line lump sum hides where the time goes.
Turning it into an estimate
Put the result on an estimate as separate lines: walls (sq ft and coats), ceiling, trim, doors, paint, and prep. The painting estimate template has a worked example and the exclusions painters most often forget. In Settle, say the rooms out loud and it writes those lines from your own prices.
How do you calculate how much to charge for painting a room?
Work out the paintable area, multiply by coats, and divide by your production rate for labor hours. Multiply by your hourly rate, add paint with your markup, and add prep time.
How many gallons of paint for a 12 by 14 room?
With 8 ft walls, one door and two windows, about 365 sq ft of wall. Two coats at 350 sq ft per gallon is 730 sq ft, so 3 gallons, before the ceiling.
Does this calculator save my numbers?
No. It runs in your browser and nothing is stored or sent.
Or say the room out loud and Settle writes the painting estimate.
Free on iPhone. Unlimited estimates and invoices. 7 days of Pro to try the voice drafts, and you cancel in two taps.
Download on the App StoreiPhone, iOS 17 or later. Questions? Text Nina: (818) 945-9686