Paint Cost Calculator
Gallons and installed cost for one room or a whole house exterior.
Estimated total cost
$1,271.33
- Surface to paint
- 432 sq ft
- Net of openings
- 387 sq ft
- Painted area (2 coats)
- 774 sq ft
- Paint needed
- 2.21 gal
- Cans to buy
- 3 gal
- Paint
- $135.00
- Labor
- $870.75
- Primer
- $0.00
- Prep
- $150.00
- Contingency (10%)
- $115.58
- Cost per sq ft
- $3.29/sq ft
- Paint-only (DIY)
- $135.00
Cans round up — paint is sold by the gallon, and a fresh gallon beats running short mid-wall.
Hanging or patching the wall first? Use the drywall calculator →
How this is calculated
surface = 2 × (length + width) × height + ceiling or gables net = surface − windows and doors painted = net × coats gallons = painted ÷ coverage cans = ceil(gallons) paint = cans × $/gallon labor = net × labor $/sq ft total = (paint + labor + primer + prep) × (1 + contingency%)
Labor is priced on net wall area once, not per coat — painting quotes are quoted for a finished two-coat job, and the second coat goes far faster than the first.
Paint needed for common rooms
Walls only, 9 ft ceilings, two coats at 350 sq ft per gallon, 45 sq ft deducted for a window and a door. Same function as the calculator above.
| Room | Wall area | Net | Gallons (2 coats) | Cans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 room bedroom | 360 sq ft | 315 sq ft | 1.80 | 2 |
| 10 × 12 room bedroom | 396 sq ft | 351 sq ft | 2.01 | 3 |
| 12 × 12 room living room | 432 sq ft | 387 sq ft | 2.21 | 3 |
| 12 × 14 room living room | 468 sq ft | 423 sq ft | 2.42 | 3 |
| 12 × 16 room living room | 504 sq ft | 459 sq ft | 2.62 | 3 |
| 14 × 20 room great room | 612 sq ft | 567 sq ft | 3.24 | 4 |
What painters charge
| Job | DIY paint only | With a painter | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single bedroom | $60-$140 | $400-$900 | Two coats, walls only |
| Whole interior, 2,000 sq ft | $700-$1,400 | $4,000-$9,000 | Walls, ceilings, trim |
| House exterior, 2,000 sq ft | $900-$1,800 | $3,000-$10,000 | Includes prep and ladders |
| Trim and doors only | $80-$200 | $600-$1,600 | Slow, detailed work |
| Ceiling only | $40-$90 | $250-$600 | Flat white, one or two coats |
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to paint a house?
Interior painting of a whole 2,000 square foot house typically runs $4,000 to $9,000 with a crew, or $700 to $1,400 in paint if you do it yourself. Exterior work on the same house lands between $5,000 and $12,000, since it carries prep, ladders and weather risk that interior work does not.
How much does it cost to paint a room?
A standard 12 by 12 bedroom has about 400 square feet of wall. Two coats need roughly two and a half gallons, so $80 to $180 in paint. With a painter, expect $400 to $900 for that room including prep, tape and cutting in — labor is the large majority of any painting quote.
How much paint do I need?
One gallon covers about 350 square feet in a single coat on primed, previously painted drywall. Measure the perimeter, multiply by ceiling height, subtract windows and doors, then multiply by the number of coats and divide by 350. Rough, porous or bare surfaces can drop coverage to 250.
Do I need primer?
Primer earns its cost on bare drywall, patched repairs, stains, glossy surfaces and any dramatic color change — especially going light over dark. Repainting a similar color over sound, previously painted wall does not need it, and a paint-and-primer product is adequate there.
How many coats of paint do I need?
Two is the working default and what every quote assumes. One coat is realistic only when refreshing the same color over a sound surface. Going from dark to light, or using a saturated red or yellow, regularly takes three even over primer, because those pigments cover poorly.
Why is labor so much more than the paint?
Paint is a small fraction of a professional job. The hours go into moving furniture, masking, filling and sanding, cutting in edges by hand, and the second coat. That is also why the price per square foot falls as the job gets bigger — setup is spread over more wall.
Painting quotes swing widely with surface condition, color change and access. These are planning figures, not quotes — collect at least three bids before committing.