How to Estimate Painting Labor Hours

Determine how much you want to be paid an hour. This amount should reflect the fact that painting is hard work that can be hard on the back, but balance with this the fact that painting is an unskilled labor and people who do it often charge competitive rates.

Measure the area to be painted to get an idea as to how many square feet you will be covering in paint to come up with a rough estimate of how long it may take you to do the job. Multiply the number of hours by the amount you want to be paid hourly.

Find out what others in the area are charging for comparable jobs. Contractors often charge as much as $2,000 to paint a space between 1,200 and 1,500 square feet, according to the Cost Helper website, but that usually includes all paint, primer and materials. Estimate how much all this will cost, or ask the homeowner if he has already purchased them, and deduct this from the $2,000 amount to come up with a basic rate that a contractor might charge for labor alone. Compare this to the figure you came up with in Step 2 and reconcile the two by choosing an amount somewhere in the middle.

Ask the homeowner whether you will be required to move heavy furniture, or whether he or someone else will do that prior to your arrival to paint. If you will be required to move furniture around, you may add an extra charge you think is appropriate.

Inquire whether crown molding or baseboards, or other trims, will also need to be painted. Such details require a slow, careful approach, so they will add considerably to the time it takes you to finish the job. Thus, you will need to take this into consideration when coming up with a final figure.