Interior-first painting worksheet
Start with floor area or measure rooms one by one, then see paint gallons, labor hours, component costs, and a range for walls, ceilings, and trim.
Your worksheet will show
Calculate to see paintable area, gallons, labor hours, component ranges, and side-by-side surface scopes.
Quick mode estimates wall area, then calculates paint and primer gallons, application and prep hours, supplies, labor, and contingency as separate ranges.
If a local bid is far above the range, check whether it includes ceilings, closets, trim, doors, primer, lead-safe prep, wallpaper removal, or occupied-home protection.
By-room mode calculates net wall area after openings, adds measured ceiling area, then displays paint quantities and a component-level installed range.
Doors, cabinets, wallpaper removal, major drywall repair, specialty finishes, and lead remediation still need separate written line items.
| Method | Best for | Quantity logic |
|---|---|---|
| Quick estimate | Early whole-home or whole-floor budget | Floor area × transparent layout factor × height adjustment |
| By room | Comparing painter bids or planning selected rooms | Room perimeter × height − door and window allowances |
Both modes are planning tools. A painter should still verify dimensions and surface condition before quoting.
| Line item | Confirm in writing | Common ambiguity |
|---|---|---|
| Surfaces | Walls, ceilings, baseboards, casing, doors, closets | “Whole room” may not include every surface |
| Prep | Patching, sanding, caulk, stain blocking, primer | Repair limits are often unstated |
| Paint | Brand line, sheen, color changes, coat count | Coverage language can replace a fixed coat count |
| Protection | Furniture, floors, fixtures, dust, daily cleanup | Occupied-home labor varies |
Before comparing painting quotes, make sure each written bid uses the same paintable area, prep level, coat count, material line, trim scope, and cleanup assumptions.
Vacant or easy-access rooms, limited masking, one or two coats, and little wall repair.
Two coats, standard patching, normal masking, cleanup, and occupied-home setup.
Sanding, stain blocking, high walls, occupied rooms, trim detail, full primer, or repair-heavy surfaces.
Manually curated US baseline ranges informed by public painting cost guides, contractor estimating references, and material coverage assumptions. No local quote feed or ZIP-level pricing is implied.
v0 uses a US national baseline plus broad state/region adjustment. It does not provide ZIP-level pricing.
Only when you select them. The calculator adds ceiling area and a separate trim quantity and labor allowance, so you can compare the same scope across written bids.
No. It is a planning calculator that returns a budgeting range. Final pricing still depends on measured scope, prep condition, access, material choices, and local labor.
Painting labor often depends more on prep than on the paint itself. Scraping, sanding, patching, masking, stain blocking, and primer can materially change both time and material usage.
Call a professional when the job involves lead-paint concerns, repair-heavy walls, moisture damage, high interior access, occupied-home protection, or finish expectations beyond a normal repaint.
No. It gives a range-only budget estimate using broad US baseline assumptions. A real painter still needs to measure the surfaces, inspect prep conditions, confirm materials, and price local labor before issuing a quote.
Use Quick estimate when you know floor area and need an early budget. Use By room when you can enter room dimensions and opening counts or need a more comparable worksheet for painter bids.