Painting
Painting Cost Calculator
Prices painting work, where the paint is a small share and the preparation is most of it.
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. Material is modest: a gallon covers a few hundred square feet on a smooth sealed surface, considerably less on bare, porous or textured substrates, so the paint on a typical job is a fraction of the price. The hours are preparation and application, and the split is usually weighted toward preparation on anything other than a repaint of sound, clean surfaces.
What moves the number
- Surface condition, which determines how much preparation is needed.
- Number of coats, since colour changes and bare surfaces need more.
- Cutting-in and detail, which is slow compared with open wall.
- Whether the building predates 1978, which brings lead-safe requirements.
Where this one goes wrong
Preparation is where quotes diverge and where failures originate. Paint applied over dirt, chalking, glossy surfaces or loose material does not bond, and it fails within a year or two regardless of the product's quality, so the cheapest quote is usually the one with least preparation rather than the one with cheaper paint. Being explicit about what preparation is included makes a quote comparable. In pre-1978 housing, scraping and sanding disturb lead paint, and the federal requirements for a certified firm and specific work practices apply rather than being optional.
Before you quote
- Specify what preparation is included rather than leaving it implied.
- Confirm lead-safe certification and practices on pre-1978 buildings.
- Count cutting-in and detail separately from open wall area.
Where the rules come from
Questions
About this calculator
Why do painting quotes vary so much?
Almost always preparation rather than paint. Cleaning, scraping, sanding, filling and priming is where the hours go and where durability comes from, so a cheaper quote usually contains less of it. Comparing quotes means comparing the preparation described, not the price alone.
How much of the cost is the paint?
A modest share on most jobs. A gallon covers a few hundred square feet on a sound sealed surface, so material on a typical house is a fraction of the total. The cost is labour, which is why choosing a cheaper paint saves far less than people expect.
Does painting an old house need special precautions?
In housing built before 1978, work disturbing painted surfaces is subject to federal lead-safe rules requiring a certified firm and specific containment and cleanup. Scraping and sanding old paint is exactly what those rules cover, so they apply to most repaint work on older homes.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
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.