Bottom Line

Production rates

Determining how much to estimate jobs

As a leader in the painting industry, I talk to contractors all the time, and they always ask questions like, ‘What should I charge per square foot?’ and, ‘For cabinet painting, how much should I charge per door opening?’ Truthfully, you should not be charging your customers based on the square footage of their home or based on what others charge. You’re thinking, ‘I know, I should charge by market value, right?’ Wrong. You need to be able to figure out how much to charge based on what it takes YOU to personally produce a project. But how do you learn to gauge that correctly? Let’s walk through it.

Nick’s method

I believe there is a system for everything, and that includes gauging time and figuring costs. Here’s what I recommend:

First, you need to figure out how long it takes you to paint a standard room. Let’s use a 10' x 10' room with a 10' high ceiling as an example. Time yourself on literally each step of the project … how long it takes you to prep, cut in and roll/spray the 1st coat, and then the 2nd coat (including trim and ceilings)—then time how long it takes you to clean up. Next, do the same test on an averagesized bathroom. Then on an average-sized kitchen. Then, do the same test on a room with a 11'–21' tall ceiling. All of this data will give you the foundation to know how long YOU take to paint all surfaces per square footage of walls, ceilings, and linear feet of baseboard.

I know you’re thinking that sounds super tedious and time-consuming! It is, but how invaluable would it be if you knew these numbers?

You’d end up with precise timing you can apply to future projects such as the example below based on a 10' x 10' room with a 10' ceiling:

Prep

45 min X $50/hr = $37.50 ÷ 400 sq ft = $.09375/sq ft

1st Coat

75 min X $50/hr = $62.50 ÷ 400 sq ft = $.15625/sq ft

2nd Coat

45 min X $50/hr = $37.50 ÷ 400 sq ft = $.09375/sq ft

Cleanup

30 min X $50/hr = $25.00 ÷ 400 sq ft = $.0625/sq ft

If you add everything up, it equals about $.40 per sq. ft. of wall space (not of floor space). Keep in mind it does not include material costs. You could add that in, and divide it out by the square footage costs as well. Once you have this number, you can simply multiply a wall’s surface square footage and get a final cost to charge based on real numbers. This number is extremely helpful if you are using a service like Estimate Rocket to create your bids, as all you need to do is input a room’s dimensions, and the system will give you the room’s total square footage. Remember, you need to do this for all surfaces, as well as all types of rooms. And don’t forget, rooms with furniture take more time than empty rooms, so you also need to do this calculation for those situations.

Yes, this exercise is tedious, but once you know your numbers, but it will ultimately save you time and money by allowing you to create accurate bids that actually reflect what your team is able to produce. My suggestion is to do this exercise on multiple rooms in order to get an average production rate. The more data you have, the more accurate your numbers will be. NICK MAY is the founder of the Pro Painter Network, an affiliation helping other painters do more, achieve more, and reach their potential. He also owns Walls by Design, a company in operation for over 20 years, focused on interior painting and specializing in cabinets. ProPainterNetwork.com WallsByDesign.com