How to Measure for Paint Jobs

Measuring for paint jobs allows you to determine the amount of paint you will need, while estimating the cost for purchasing required materials and the labor required. Measuring for exterior paint jobs might be slightly different from interior jobs, as exterior wall surfaces are generally weathered, masonry and porous and tend to absorb twice as much paint as regular interior walls or wooden surfaces. This fact should be taken into account when calculating an overall paint job. You can find various web-based calculation utilities to help you measure any paint job easily.

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the area of walls that will be painted. Multiply the width by the height of each wall to get the area in square footage, rounding up to the nearest foot. For example, a rectangular wall with dimensions of 16-by-10-foot will be calculated as 16 x 10 = 160 square feet. Obtain triangular surface areas by multiplying half of the base by the height.
- 2
  Calculate the square footage of all walls and add the overall totals. For example, consider a paint job that consists of four walls with the following dimensions:
  Wall one is 10-by-12 foot and equals 120 square feet.
  Wall two is 10-by-12 foot and equals 120 square feet.
  Wall three is 15-by-12 foot and equals 180 square feet.
  Wall four is 15-by-12 foot and equals 180 square feet.
  The total square footage will be 120 + 120 + 180 + 180 = 600 square feet.
- 3
  Divide the total square footage by 175 to calculate the estimated amount of gallons of paint required for the primer coat if the room is being painted for the first time. For example, if the total square footage is 600 square feet, then the amount of paint for the primer is calculated as 600 / 175 = 3.42. You will need approximately 3.5 gallons of paint for the primer coat.
- 4
  Divide the total square footage by 300 to calculate the estimated amount of gallons of paint required for the finishing coat of paint. For example, if the total square footage is 600 square feet, then the amount of paint you will need is calculated as 600 / 300 = 2 gallons of paint. You will need approximately two gallons of paint for the finished coating of a 600-square-foot paint job.
- 5
  Measure the surface area of doors separately only if you will be using a different type of paint; otherwise count the area of the doors as a prolongation of the wall. Most professional painters do not subtract the surface area of windows from the overall calculation since these areas generally represent a small percentage of the overall paint job.
- 6
  Browse the web for online paint job calculation tools, if necessary.

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