Price a painting job from the wall area: how much paint you need for the number of coats, how many labour hours at your production rate, prep time and a margin on materials. Then turn it into a quote your client can accept.
1,200 sq ft of wall, 2 coats: 2,400 sq ft ÷ 350 = 7 gallons at $45 + 15% = $362.25. Labor: 2,400 ÷ 150 = 16 hours + 4 hours prep = 20 hours at $50 = $1,000. Price to quote: $1,362.25, about $1.14 per sq ft of wall.
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Price = paint (area × coats ÷ coverage, rounded up, plus markup) + labour (area × coats ÷ painting speed + prep hours) × your hourly rate.
Multiply each wall's length by its height and add them up, then subtract large doors and windows. Ceilings and trim are usually priced separately.
Multiply the area by the number of coats and divide by the paint's coverage, which is printed on the tin. Round up to whole gallons or litres; a fresh repaint over a dark colour may need a primer coat too.
Divide the total coat area by how fast you paint, then add prep (filling, sanding, masking, moving furniture) and clean-up. Prep is where quotes go wrong, so time it on real jobs.
A markup on materials covers the time spent buying and carrying them; your labour rate should already include overhead and profit. Not sure what it should be? Work it out with the labor cost calculator. For reference, the median US painter earned $23.75 an hour in May 2025 (BLS); a business charge-out rate sits above that once on-costs, overhead and profit are included.
Press Turn this into a quote to open the free quote maker with these lines, then bill the job with the painting invoice template.
Measure the wall area, work out paint from area × coats ÷ coverage, work out labour from the coat area divided by painting speed plus prep time, multiply labour by the hourly rate and add a margin on materials.
Multiply the wall area by the number of coats and divide by the coverage on the tin, then round up. Most interior paints cover about 350 to 400 sq ft per US gallon, or about 12 to 16 m² per litre, per coat.
It depends on prep and the painter, but rolling walls typically runs at a steady area per hour once prep is done. Time your own jobs and enter that speed for accurate quotes.
Many painters add a markup on materials to cover buying, collecting and storing them. Show it as part of the materials line rather than a separate fee.
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General information only; reviewed August 2026.