Free painting estimate template: price rooms and print a quote

You walked the house this afternoon. The homeowner liked you. Now it's 8:30 at night, the notes are on a legal pad, and you're trying to turn them into a number that wins the job without losing money on it.

This free estimate builder does the math for you. Put in the rooms, choose the prep and coats, and use your own rates. You get the labor hours, paint, cost, profit and a quote you can print or save as a PDF.

Painting estimate builder

Free · no signup

1. $1,750×
   LengthftWidthftHeightftDoors
   WallsCeilingTrim
2. $1,209×
   LengthftWidthftHeightftDoors
   WallsCeilingTrim

+ Add a room

Prep

LightStandardHeavy

Nail holes, caulk, spot prime

Coats

1 coat2 coats

Target margin 40%Price = cost ÷ (1 − 0.4). A 40% markup would only be a 29% margin.

Your rates Start from your own job history

Labor, burdened$/hrWallssq ft/hrCeilingssq ft/hrTrimft/hrPer doorhrCoveragesq ft/galWall paint$/galCeiling paint$/galTrim paint$/galSupplies% of paint

Quote price$2,95940% margin · $1,184 gross profit

Labor

26.0 hrs · $1,170

Paint

10 gal · $540

Supplies

$65

Total cost

$1,775

Your companyHomeownerAddress

Print or save quote (PDF)Download worksheet (CSV)Check every number against your own jobs before you send it.

Send this $2,959 quote for real

On a free 30-minute call we set this exact job up in dropcloth: the homeowner gets an email, approves the quote and pays the deposit from their phone.

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How to use the template

1. Add each room. Length, width and ceiling height give wall and ceiling area. Turn walls, ceiling and trim on or off, and count the doors.
2. Choose the prep. Light is clean, sound surfaces. Standard covers nail holes, caulk and spot priming. Heavy is repairs, peeling and full priming. Prep changes the labor, so it changes the price.
3. Set your coats. Most repaints are two coats. Use one only when the color and surface allow it.
4. Open "Your rates." Replace the starting numbers with your own: burdened labor rate, how many square feet your crew paints per hour, coverage from the paint's data sheet and what you pay per gallon.
5. Set your margin. Slide to the gross margin you need to cover overhead and profit.
6. Print the quote. Add your company, the homeowner and the address, then print or save as PDF.

Where the numbers come from

Build the price from the job, not a square-foot guess

1. Step 1 of 3

   Scope + tasks

   Record each area, surface, prep, product and coats, then break it into crew tasks.

2. Step 2 of 3

   Cost basis

   Labor hours × burdened rate, materials from product coverage, direct costs and overhead.

3. Step 3 of 3

   Price by margin

   Total cost ÷ (1 − target margin). Then compare estimate vs actual after the job.

Markup isn't margin: a 15% markup on cost is about a 13% margin on price.

• Wall area is the room's perimeter × ceiling height. A 14 × 12 room with 8 ft ceilings has 416 sq ft of wall.
• Labor hours are area × coats ÷ your production rate, then adjusted for prep.
• Paint is area × coats ÷ coverage, rounded up to whole gallons.
• Supplies cover caulk, tape, plastic and patch as a percent of paint.
• Price is total cost ÷ (1 − margin). At a 40% margin, a $6,000 cost becomes a $10,000 price.

Markup is not margin. Adding 15% to your cost only gives you about a 13% margin. Price from the margin you want, not a markup.

The starting rates are placeholders so the tool works on first load. They are not industry standards. Your own completed jobs are the best source. After each job, compare the hours you estimated with the hours it took, and adjust.

What the homeowner sees

The printed quote lists each room with its surfaces and price, the prep and coats included, space for colors and sheen, what's not included, the deposit and start date, and signature lines. It also says any extra work is priced and approved in writing before it starts. That one sentence saves a lot of arguments later.

Pricing room by room also helps when the total comes in high. Instead of ghosting the whole bid, the homeowner can drop the guest bedroom or the hallway and still say yes to the rest. Our change order guide covers what to do when it happens.

Before you send it, run through the painting estimate checklist. For the full method behind these numbers, read how to estimate a residential painting job.

Want to price the job without the template layout? The painting estimate calculator does the same room-by-room math on one page, and the painting contractor software page shows how a priced quote turns into deposits, a crew plan and final payment.

When a spreadsheet stops being enough

A template works for one quote. It gets harder when you have six open quotes, a crew asking for colors, and a homeowner asking where to send the deposit.

dropcloth does this same room-by-room math on your phone during the walkthrough, then sends the homeowner one email where they review, sign and pay the deposit. See how it works on the painting estimating software page.