Painting estimate: measured area, coats, preparation and the access that decides the price
- Work order total
- $863.16
- Labour
- $510
- Parts, marked up
- $288
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. Jobcardo publishes no tax rate, no wage figure and no trade standard: the rate, the markup and the tax on the parts line are yours, and the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own figures.
A painting estimate is four numbers and one judgement. The measured area by surface, the number of coats the specification demands, the preparation each surface needs, and the access required to reach it; then the judgement about how much of the preparation the customer will actually see and accept. Painting is priced on labour almost entirely, and the labour is in the preparation rather than in the paint, which is why estimates from the paint quantity are always wrong.
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Measure by surface, not by room
Walls, ceilings, trim, doors, windows and any specialist surface, each with its own rate, because a door takes longer per square foot than a wall by a wide margin. A room-based rate averages across surfaces and is wrong on every room that is not the average.
Price the preparation honestly and name it
Filling, sanding, caulking, stain blocking, priming bare substrate, removing wallpaper, and washing. This is where the hours are and where an estimate is undercut by somebody who has quietly assumed less. Name the preparation in the scope so the comparison is like for like.
Access and protection are lines, not goodwill
Ladders, towers, scaffold, moving and covering furniture, masking floors and fittings, and making good. A stairwell or a double-height space can double the hours for the same area, and that is invisible unless access is estimated as its own line.
Painting estimate: common questions
How many coats should a painting estimate assume? Two on previously painted surfaces in a similar colour, more for a colour change, bare substrate or a covering problem. State the number on the estimate: the single most common painting dispute is a customer expecting three coats at a two-coat price.
Should materials be a separate line? Show them as a line and price the labour separately, because labour is most of the cost and the customer comparing quotes assumes paint is the expensive part. A quote that shows the ratio educates the customer and protects your rate.
How is preparation priced when the condition is unknown? With an allowance and a rate beyond it, exactly as deck repair is on a roof. Walls behind wallpaper and ceilings with old artex are the usual surprises, and neither should be absorbed for free.
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