Paint Coverage – How Much Paint Do I Need?

Let's start with Paint Coverage for the exterior house painting jobs.

Here is how to estimate the number of square feet you will need to cover.

Your paint coverage starts with estimating the area from the ground to the height of the eaves.

To do this, add the width and length of the house, multiply this total by the height and double the figure.

In the example below,

To find the area of gables, multiply the vertical distance from eave to peak and multiply the total by half the width of the gable.

In the example below,

So know you have a good formula to estimate the paint coverage when you are asking yourself "How much paint do I need?"

Now for Paint Coverage for an Interior Room

Sometimes, you can find a good painting calculator online for some interior rooms.

First is to measure the room

To estimate paint coverage amounts, take out a measuring tape, pencil, and paper. If the project is to paint the walls and ceiling of an interior room, measure the widths of each wall and add them together. A sample room 10 feet by 12 feet would have two walls of 10 feet and two walls of 12 feet for a total of 44 feet.

Check the height of the wall. In the sample room, the wall height is 8 feet. Multiply 8 feet by the 44 feet for a total of 352 square feet.

For a flat ceiling, the square footage is determined by multiplying the room length by room width. This room would be 10 by 12 for 120 square feet of ceiling. If the ceiling is a tray shape or other design, add in the extra depth. If using the same paint for the walls and ceiling, add the ceiling measurements to the wall figures for a total of 472 square feet.

Window openings and doorways need to be measured and subtracted from the total paint calculations.

The sample room has two windows that are 2 feet x 3 feet for a total of 12 square feet. It has one doorway that is 3 feet x 7 feet for 21 square feet. The 33 square feet of opening space must be subtracted from the 472 square feet of wall and ceiling space. The result is 439 square feet.