Painting
Cabinet Painting Cost Calculator
Prices cabinet painting, where degreasing and the right primer are the whole job.
Result
A planning estimate, not a quote. Access, the age of the equipment, what is found once it is opened up and local labour rates all move the real figure, sometimes a long way.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Hours times crew times rate, plus materials and the call-out, priced by door and drawer count plus the boxes. The sequence is what the price buys: removing and labelling doors and hardware, thorough degreasing, scuff sanding, a bonding primer, then two or more coats of a hard-curing finish, with drying time between each. Spraying is normal because brush marks are unacceptable on cabinet faces, and that means either a spray booth off site or extensive masking in place.
What moves the number
- Door and drawer count, which is the usual pricing basis.
- Whether doors are sprayed off site or in place.
- Degree of grease contamination, particularly around the cooker.
- Cure time, which determines how long the kitchen is disrupted.
Where this one goes wrong
Kitchen cabinets carry cooking grease, and paint over grease fails, which is the single most common reason a cabinet repaint peels within months. Thorough degreasing before any sanding is essential, since sanding grease just drives it into the surface, and a bonding primer is what holds the finish to a previously finished and often glossy substrate. Cure time is the other thing to explain: cabinet finishes need days to harden fully, and reassembling or heavy use too early marks the surface permanently. Those two together are why a cheap cabinet repaint is a false economy.
Before you quote
- Degrease thoroughly before sanding, not after.
- Use a bonding primer suited to the existing finish.
- Allow the finish to cure before reassembly and normal use.
- Label doors and hardware on removal.
Questions
About this calculator
Why do painted cabinets peel?
Almost always grease. Kitchen cabinets carry cooking residue, paint does not bond to it, and sanding without degreasing first drives it into the surface. Thorough degreasing followed by a bonding primer is what makes a cabinet finish last, and skipping it fails within months.
How long before the kitchen is usable?
Longer than the painting takes, because cabinet finishes need days to cure hard. Reassembling doors or putting them back into heavy use too early marks the surface permanently. That cure period is a real part of the disruption and should be in the conversation up front.
Should cabinet doors be sprayed off site?
It gives the best finish, with no overspray risk and controlled drying, at the cost of transport and the kitchen being without doors for the duration. Spraying in place needs extensive masking. Both are legitimate; the trade is finish quality against disruption.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
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How to use this calculator
- Hours on site (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 32 h.
- People needed. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $68.
- Parts and materials ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $520.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $95.
- Sales tax (%). Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to estimated total, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Hours on site | 32 h |
| People needed | 1 |
| Labour rate charged | $68 |
| Parts and materials | $520 |
| Call-out or diagnostic fee | $95 |
| Sales tax | 0% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total main result | $2,791 |
| Labour | $2,176 |
| Before tax | $2,791 |
| Sales tax | $0 |
About $2,791: $2,176 of labour, $520 of parts and a $95 call-out.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour rate charged, this is what happens to estimated total. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour rate charged ($) | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| $34 | $1,703 |
| $51 | $2,247 |
| $68 example above | $2,791 |
| $102 | $3,879 |
| $136 | $4,967 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Hours on site (h)
- Measured in h, between 0 and 400, starting at 32 h.
- People needed
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($)
- A money amount, starting at $68.
- Parts and materials ($)
- A money amount, starting at $520.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($)
- A money amount, starting at $95.
- Sales tax (%)
- Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Estimated total | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour | A money figure. |
| Before tax | A money figure. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.