How to bid a painting job, step by step

How to bid a painting job: the steps

1. Walk the job or read the drawings and the finish schedule.
2. Measure the paintable area by surface: walls, ceilings, trim, doors.
3. Work out paint and primer in gallons from coats and spread rate.
4. Work out labor hours from your own production rates.
5. Price materials, labor, equipment and sundries.
6. Add overhead and profit, and write the inclusions and exclusions.

Measure the paintable area

Walls are perimeter times height, minus the openings you deduct. Ceilings are floor area. Trim is linear feet, doors are counted. Keep each surface and system apart: a wall with two coats of eggshell and a ceiling with one coat of flat are different lines.

Paint and primer: gallons from the spread rate

Gallons equal paintable area times coats divided by the spread rate, plus waste. Use the spread rate on the product data sheet: Sherwin-Williams lists 350 to 400 SF per gallon for its ProMar 200 Zero VOC interior latex flat at 4 mils wet. Rough, porous or deep-color surfaces cover less.

Labor hours from your production rate

Labor hours equal paintable area times coats divided by your crew’s production rate in SF per hour per coat. We do not print a production rate: it depends on the surface, the height, the method and your crew, and no source we could cite fits every job. Track it on your own jobs and use that number.

Price it, then add overhead and profit

Material is gallons times your price; labor is hours times your loaded wage. Add equipment, masking and sundries, then overhead and profit. The contractor markup calculator shows the price and the margin from your percentages.

Worked example: an office suite, run through the calculator

This is the example on the painting estimate calculator: 240 LF of wall at 9 ft with 8 doors of 3 x 7 ft, two finish coats over primed board.

• Gross wall area: 240 x 9 = 2,160 SF
• Door deductions: 8 x 21 = 168 SF
• Paintable area: 1,992 SF
• Finish paint: 1,992 x 2 / 350 x 1.10 waste = 12.5 gallons, so order 13
• Labor hours: 1,992 x 2 / your SF per hour per coat

Residential painting bids

Homeowners compare a short written scope and a price. State the rooms and surfaces, the number of coats, the products by name, prep and repairs included, furniture moving and cleanup. Price by measured area rather than by room count, so a large room is not priced like a small one.

Commercial painting bids: specs, wage rules and the bid form

• Specification. Division 09 painting sections name the products, coats and surface prep. Price what the finish schedule says, not your usual system.
• Wage rules. The US Department of Labor says the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts apply to federally funded or assisted construction contracts over $2,000, including painting and decorating, and require locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits. Many states have their own prevailing wage laws for public work.
• Bid form. Unit prices, alternates and addenda acknowledgment as the form asks.
• Exclusions. Patching by others, high work, exposed structure, special coatings.

For a commercial takeoff by surface and system, see commercial painting estimating. To lay out the bid, use the bid sheet template or the construction estimate template.

Frequently asked questions