Paint and Supply Costs
Measure the home or room. To figure out how much a paint job will cost, or how much you plan to charge, you need to know the square footage of the wall and/or ceiling you're painting. You can find this somewhere in the paperwork you signed when buying or renting your home. If you're painting for someone else, ask them for the information. However, if you don't have that information on hand, use a ruler or tape measure to measure the length and width of the home/room. You can enter this into an online calculator to determine the square footage.
Subtract areas that won't be painted. Not every inch of a home or room will be painted, so subtract as necessary. Doors, windowsills, and trim will all need to be painted, but windows will not be painted, so measure these areas and subtract their measurements from the total square footage. As a general estimate, you can subtract about 20 square feet per door and 15 square feet per window. Say a 700 square foot room has one door and two windows. You would subtract 20 for the door, and 30 for the window, resulting in a square footage of 650.
Determine how much paint you need. A gallon of paint covers 250 square feet. So, a room that's 650 square feet would need roughly two gallons of paint because 650 divided by 250 comes out to about 2.6. However, you always need two coats, so expect to buy around six gallons of paint for a room of this size.
Figure out the cost of paint. Once you've determined how much paint you need, figure out how much your paint will cost. Paint costs vary depending on factors like color and quality. Paint is generally $20 to $40 per gallon, with higher quality paint costing more. Say you want two coats of a decent quality paint for a 650 square foot room, which requires six gallons of paint. If you plan to buy paint at $30 a gallon, expect to pay around $180 for paint.
Determine the cost of materials. What supplies do you have and what supplies do you need to buy? You will likely need masking plastic, masking paper, paint tape, caulking, tarps, brushes or rollers, and a gallon of primer. Find the average cost of these supplies by visiting local suppliers and adding up the total. For example, say the masking plastic costs $25, the masking paper costs $15, the tape costs $10, the caulking costs $15, and the primer costs $20. This means cost of supplies is around $115.
Labor and Other Costs
Factor in the basic cost of labor. If you're hiring workers to help, you need to know how much you'll pay them. If you're painting for someone else, you need to know how much is fair to charge them. One to two painters can usually paint 2,500 square feet in one to two days. It usually costs around $500 to $600 a day. For a small room, such as the 650 square foot example, it should only take a few hours. Divide 650 by 2,500 to get roughly .25. This means you will probably only pay a quarter of the cost of a full day's worth of work, meaning the paint job will be roughly $200.
Think about anything that could lengthen painting time. If there is a lot of furniture to move or if you're painting with different colors, this will tack on extra time. If you believe the job will require extra labor, tack on some extra money. For example, if you're painting your 650 square foot room two different colors, add $100 on to the labor costs. This brings labor costs to $300. Other factors to consider include: Whether or not you need big ladders or scaffolding. If you have to paint overnight. Whether or not there are any wall repairs.
Account for potential accidents. Unfortunately, paint jobs do not always go as planned. Parts of a home may become damaged, paint may spill, and so on. It's a good idea to give yourself a little wiggle room. You can give consumers an estimate roughly $50 to $100 higher in case of an accident.
Calculate the total cost. After you have all the individual costs calculated, add them together to get a rough estimate. In the 650 square foot example, the estimate would come to around $535. In case of accidents, you can quote about $635.
Ask for a professional estimate. If you're hiring painters, it's not always a good idea to try to calculate costs yourself. Get a quote from several different companies, explaining your needs and the size of your home. This will give you a more accurate price and help you budget for a paint job.
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