Free painting estimate template
Priced the way paint jobs are actually sold — wall and ceiling footage measured, prep on its own line, coats and sheens stated, trim and doors counted, and bad substrate handled in writing.
In short
A painting estimate is built from measured wall and ceiling square footage plus trim linear feet and door and window counts. Prep — patching, sanding, caulking and masking — gets its own line, primer and the number of coats are stated explicitly, and paint is converted to gallons at roughly 350 to 400 square feet per gallon per coat. It should name the sheens, say who moves the furniture, and exclude carpentry, wallpaper removal and lead-era coating work unless priced. The template below covers all of that and is free to print or copy.
The painting template
A worked four-bedroom interior repaint with ceilings, trim and eleven doors is filled in as an example. Swap in your own footage, coats and local prices.
[Your Business Name]
[Street address, city, state ZIP]
[Phone] · [Email]
License #: ____________
Estimate
Estimate #: ____________
Date: ____________
Valid until: ____________
Prepared for
Name: ____________________
Phone: ___________________
Email: ___________________
Job location
Address: _________________
City / State / ZIP: ________
Start date: ______________
Scope of work — Interior repaint — 4 bedrooms and hall, walls, ceilings and trim
- •Mask and protect floors, fixtures and remaining furnishings daily
- •Patch nail pops and drywall defects; sand smooth
- •Caulk base, casing and crown joints as needed
- •Spot prime all patches and the water-stained ceiling area
- •Two finish coats flat white on all ceilings (approx. 620 sq ft)
- •Two finish coats eggshell on all wall surfaces (approx. 1,450 sq ft)
- •Trim, casing, base and 11 doors in semi-gloss enamel
- •Remove all masking, clean work areas and haul debris
- •Final walkthrough and touch-up with the homeowner
Labor
Surface prep, patching and sanding
Masking, floor protection and daily setup
Spot priming patches and stained ceiling
Two finish coats, walls and ceilings
Trim, base and 11 doors in enamel
Cleanup, debris haul and touch-up walkthrough
Materials
Interior latex wall paint, eggshell, 5 gal pail
Ceiling paint, flat white, 5 gal pail
Trim enamel, semi-gloss, 1 gal
Drywall primer/sealer, 5 gal
Spackle, joint compound and paintable caulk
Sandpaper, roller covers, brushes and liners
Masking paper, plastic sheeting and tape
- Subtotal
- $3,538.94
- Sales tax
- $48.18
- Total
- $3,587.12
Not included
- •Drywall or plaster replacement beyond patching — billed at $62.00 per hour plus material
- •Carpentry, trim replacement or rot repair of any kind
- •Wallpaper or texture removal
- •Lead-era coating containment or abatement (pre-1978 homes)
- •Closet interiors, basement, garage and unfinished spaces
- •Moving or reassembling furniture, appliances or electronics
- •Third coat for color changes — $0.38 per sq ft if required
Terms
- •One third deposit to schedule and order material; balance due on completion
- •Estimate valid for 30 days from the date above
- •Customer to clear rooms of small items and valuables before start
- •Two-year workmanship warranty on peeling or blistering of applied coatings
- •Paint products warranted by the manufacturer only
- •Changes to scope are priced by written change order
Customer signature / date
Contractor signature / date
Or skip the typing entirely
A blank template still means an hour at the kitchen table. With QuickBidAI you talk through the painting job into your phone while you're still standing in it, and a filled-in estimate — scope, labor, materials, exclusions, terms — comes back in under a minute. You set every price before it goes out.
How to price a paint job
Measure walls and ceilings, don't guess rooms
Perimeter times ceiling height gives wall area; length times width gives the ceiling. Don't deduct for normal doors and windows — cutting in around them takes back any time you'd save.
Put prep on its own line
Patching, sanding, caulking, scraping, wallpaper removal, pressure washing. Prep is where the hours hide and where a cheap bid cuts corners, so make it visible instead of burying it in a square-foot price.
State primer and the number of coats
Spot prime, full prime over bare or stained substrate, or a bonding primer on slick trim. Two coats is standard; a dark-to-light change may need three. Write down what you priced.
Count trim, doors and windows separately
Trim is priced by the linear foot and doors and windows by the unit. Two rooms with identical wall footage can differ by a thousand dollars on millwork alone.
Convert paint to gallons at the spread rate
Roughly 350 to 400 square feet per gallon per coat on primed drywall, less on porous or textured surfaces. Multiply by coats, divide by the rate, then round up to whole gallons or five-gallon pails.
Say who protects and moves what
Floor covering, plastic on cabinets, masking fixtures, and whether the homeowner clears the rooms. On an occupied house, setup and breakdown is real labor every single day.
Painting lines that get left off
Height and access
Two-story foyers, tall gables and stairwells need ladders or staging. Price the height, not just the square footage.
Color changes and extra coats
Deep reds, dark-to-light changes and unpainted drywall can need a third coat. Quote the coats you priced and an adder per extra coat.
Carpentry and rot repair
Rotted exterior trim, failing plaster and damaged drywall behind wallpaper belong in exclusions with a stated hourly or unit rate.
Lead-era coatings and dust containment
Pre-1978 homes may require containment and specific practices. Exclude it or price it — never assume it away.