Free tool: Division 09 painting
Painting cost per square foot calculator
Work out paintable area, gallons by coat and spread rate, labor hours and your painting cost per square foot. Every default is editable, and the costs are yours.
Fixed price in 2 business hours. Pay only after you accept.
- Fixed price agreed before any work starts
- Plan review is free
- You pay only after you accept the price and delivery date
- Single-trade estimates in 48 hours
Quick answer
The Bidmere painting estimate calculator turns wall and ceiling dimensions into paintable square feet, gallons to order and labor hours. Enter your own paint prices, crew rate and production rate to get a total and a painting cost per square foot. It is free, runs in your browser and stores nothing.
Division 09: Painting
Painting estimate calculator
Paintable area, gallons by coat and spread rate, labor hours and cost per square foot at your own prices. Every assumption is editable.
Results
Bidding a commercial job? Send the plans and get a measured takeoff
Get a fixed quote Fixed price in 2 business hours. Plan review is free. Pay only after you accept.Need the whole job measured? This calculator covers one area at a time. Send the plans and we return the full takeoff and estimate. Fixed quote within 2 business hours. Plan review is free, and you pay only after you accept.
Get a fixed quoteHow to use the painting estimator
Fill in the surfaces first, then the coating assumptions, then your costs. Results update as you type, and the copy button puts the whole breakdown on your clipboard.
- Surfaces. Enter the wall perimeter and height, or switch to a wall area you already measured. Add the doors and windows you deduct and their sizes.
- Ceilings and other surfaces. Add them only if they get the same coating system. Run a different product as a second calculation.
- Coating assumptions. Set finish coats, primer coats, spread rate and waste from the specification and the product data sheet.
- Labor. Price labor by hours (production rate times a loaded crew rate) or by a rate per square foot.
- Your unit costs. Paint and primer per gallon, sundries per square foot and any lump sum such as lifts.
The results panel shows gallons to order, a 5-gallon pail split, labor hours, the total, and your painting cost per square foot of paintable area.
How the painting estimate is calculated
Paint quantity is paintable area times coats, divided by the spread rate, plus waste. The calculator rounds gallons up because you cannot order part of a can.
| Step | Formula |
|---|---|
| Gross wall area | Perimeter (LF) x wall height (ft) |
| Net wall area | Gross wall area minus door and window deductions |
| Paintable area | Net wall area + ceilings + other surfaces in the same system |
| Finish gallons | Paintable area x coats / spread rate x (1 + waste %) |
| Primer gallons | Paintable area x primer coats / primer spread rate x (1 + waste %) |
| Labor hours | Paintable area x (finish coats + primer coats) / production rate per coat |
| Cost per SF | Total cost / paintable area |
The default spread rate is 350 SF per gallon. Sherwin-Williams gives about 350 to 400 SF per gallon for paint and 200 to 300 SF for primer. Your product data sheet is the better number. Porous block, rough stucco and deep color changes all lower real coverage.
Fictional example: a small office interior
Fictional example. A painter is pricing the walls of a single-story office suite with 240 LF of wall at 9 ft and 8 doors at 3 ft x 7 ft. The spec calls for two finish coats over previously primed board.
- Gross wall area: 240 x 9 = 2,160 SF
- Door deductions: 8 x 21 = 168 SF
- Paintable area: 2,160 minus 168 = 1,992 SF
- Finish paint: 1,992 x 2 / 350 x 1.10 = 12.5 gallons, so order 13 (two 5-gallon pails and three 1-gallon cans)
- Labor at a fictional 175 SF per hour per coat: 1,992 x 2 / 175 = 22.8 hours
The cost line depends on the painter’s own paint price and loaded labor rate. Divide that total by 1,992 SF and you have the painting cost per square foot for this scope, not a market average.
What drives painting cost per square foot on commercial work?
Painting cost per square foot is mostly labor, so production rate moves it more than paint price. Two jobs with the same square footage can price very differently.
We do not publish a national cost per square foot figure. No sourced number fits every market, and a borrowed average can sink a bid. These are the drivers to price instead:
- Coating system. Epoxy, elastomeric and dry-fall systems cost and produce differently than standard latex.
- Number of coats and primer. New gypsum board, patched walls and color changes add coats.
- Surface preparation. Patching, sanding, caulking and the preparation level in the spec.
- Height and access. Lifts, scaffolds and work above 12 ft cut production.
- Cut-in density. Small rooms with many doors and corners paint slower than open walls.
- Occupied space and phasing. Night work, protection and multiple mobilizations.
- Doors, frames and trim. Usually priced by count and lineal foot, not by wall area.
When you use your own production rates and crew cost, the calculator gives a cost per square foot you can defend.
What this painting calculator does not cover
This tool handles one coating system on flat wall and ceiling area. A commercial painting estimate has more lines, and the misses below are where bids get lost:
- Doors and frames by count and sides painted
- Trim, base, handrail and guardrail by the lineal foot
- Exposed structure, deck, joists and piping called out for paint
- Exterior elevations by substrate, plus lifts and swing stages
- Special coatings: epoxy floors, intumescent, high-performance and anti-graffiti systems
- Wallcovering, which is often in the painting section of the specification
- Finish schedule conflicts between the plans, room finish schedule and specification
- Addenda that change finishes after you priced the job
If you are bidding a commercial job, a measured takeoff by room and coating system closes these gaps. See commercial painting estimating for what we measure, and what plans you need for a painting estimate.
When a painting estimator calculator is not enough
A calculator is right for budgets, checks and small repaints. A bid on a full plan set needs every surface measured from the drawings.
Bidmere prepares painting takeoffs and estimates from your plans and specifications. We measure walls and ceilings by coating system, count doors and frames, and price the quantities with the rates you approve. Assumptions, exclusions and open questions are written out. Single-trade estimates are from $195 and ready in 48 hours. You get an Excel estimate with live formulas, color-coded marked-up PDF plans, and a written list of assumptions, exclusions and open questions. You review the number, set your markup and submit the bid.
Sample takeoff
What a takeoff looks like
| Item | Quantity | Unit | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross wall area | 2,160 | SF | 240 LF x 9 ft |
| Door deductions | 168 | SF | 8 doors at 21 SF |
| Paintable area | 1,992 | SF | One coat |
| Finish paint | 13 | gal | 2 coats at 350 SF/gal, 10% waste |
| Labor | 22.8 | hr | 175 SF/hr per coat, fictional rate |
Fictional example: office suite walls, two finish coats
Before you send plans
Common questions about handing off the work
Why does the calculator not give me a price per square foot?
Because no single sourced figure fits your market, crew or coating system. Enter your own costs and it calculates your number.
Is a calculator good enough to bid a commercial job?
For budgets and checks, yes. For a bid, you need doors, trim, special coatings and finish schedule conflicts measured from the plans.
Will an outside estimator change my number?
No. Bidmere prices quantities with your rates. You set the markup and the final bid.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate painting cost per square foot?
Add up the cost of paint, primer, labor, sundries and equipment for the scope, then divide by the paintable square footage. Paintable area is wall area minus openings, plus ceilings and other surfaces in the same system. Labor is usually the largest share, so your production rate and loaded crew cost matter most. The calculator does this division for you once you enter your costs.
How many square feet does a gallon of paint cover?
Sherwin-Williams gives about 350 to 400 square feet per gallon for paint and 200 to 300 for primer. Real coverage depends on the product, the surface and the application method. Porous block, rough stucco and deep color changes cover less. Use the spread rate on the product data sheet for the specified coating, and add waste for spraying and texture.
How many coats should a painting estimate include?
Use the number of coats in the specification. Many commercial interior specs call for a primer plus two finish coats on new gypsum board, and fewer on repaints. If the spec is silent, state your coat count as an assumption in the proposal. That way the general contractor or owner can see what the price includes and what it does not.
Should I deduct doors and windows from wall area?
Many painting estimators deduct large openings and ignore small ones, because cutting in around an opening takes time anyway. Pick a rule and use it every time. The calculator lets you set the count and size of each deduction, or set them to zero. Price doors and frames separately by count and sides painted.
What is a good production rate for commercial painting?
There is no single right number. Production depends on the coating, the surface, the access and the crew. The most reliable rate is your own, taken from past jobs as square feet per hour per coat. Enter it in the labor section. If you price labor per square foot instead, switch the labor method and enter that rate.
Does this painting estimator save my numbers?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and does not send or store what you type. Use the copy results button to paste the breakdown into your estimate, a spreadsheet or an email. Reset defaults clears your entries and restores the starting assumptions.
Can Bidmere do the painting takeoff from my plans?
Yes. Send the plans and specifications and we review them for free. You get a fixed quote within 2 business hours. Single-trade painting estimates are from $195 and ready in 48 hours after you accept. Quantities are measured by room and coating system and priced at your rates. You pay only after you accept the price and delivery date.
For your website
Embed this calculator
You can put the painting estimate calculator on your own website for free, for example on a trade association, school or company resources page. Copy the code below into your page’s HTML. It shows the same calculator in a frame that fits phone screens, with a visible “Calculator by Bidmere” credit that links back to this page.
Get a fixed quote
Share the project basics. You get a fixed price and delivery date within 2 business hours. Plan review is free, and you pay only after you accept.