How do you mesure a room to paint it?

I have always done my own painting.Now people want to hire me to paint their rooms.I know there is a formula that professional painters use to estimate the cost.Are there any professional painters out there that can help me?How do you mesure a room to paint it?
I am a remodeling contractor and when I need a room painted for a customer...


I figure square footage...


Divide square footage by coverage per gallon...


Write down price...


Make an educated guess of how long it would take to paint room...


Figure labor costs, including insurance, special equipment needed and the like...


Combine all the costs...


Add overhead margin...


Add profit margin.How do you mesure a room to paint it?
just to let u know, a gallon covers just over 400sq.ft. and a quart does just over 100sq.ft.
How long does it take you to paint a room for yourself? Add about 20% to that, and multiply that by your Hourly rate ($20 to $30 per hour). Then multiply that by the number of rooms. Add in your material costs plus 20%, and that's your bid rate.
(length x height x 2) + (width x height x 2) for a rough estimate of sq. feet of coverage. Multiply that by the number of coats needed...usually 2 coats for light colours but up to 4 coats for dark colours. Check the price and coverage of the specific brand and colour of paint they want to use per gallon. Add the cost of rollers, spackle, cleaners, sandpaper...at least one per different colour. That's your material cost.





Estimate how long it will take you to paint one coat based on the square footage....base your hourly rate on that....then multiply 'hourly rate' x 'time to do one coat' x 'the number of coats needed' + 'time needed to wash, spackle and sand for prep to paint. Then add the cost of all materials and taxes. To that add 10% buffer just in case there are unforseen problems and expenses.
Wall length X Height X number of walls, coverage will be on the side of the can depending on type of surface.
length of wall x height of wall = sq ft of wall....add up all the sq to get total of room's walls....1 gal of paint will cover about 200 sq ft......





lic. gen. contractor