Painting estimate template
Build your estimate
Fill this in and print it, or save it as a PDF. Nothing is uploaded — it all stays in your browser.
For
Customer name
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painting service | 1 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Subtotal | $0.00 |
| Total | $0.00 |
Measure walls, not floors
The most common pricing error in painting is estimating from the listing square footage. A 1,500 sq ft house has roughly 2,000 sq ft of interior wall and ceiling surface, and considerably more if the ceilings are nine feet.
Perimeter × height, less doors and large windows. Then price prep separately, because prep hours have nothing to do with area and everything to do with condition.
Break it down by room or elevation
Interior: one line per room, plus separate lines for trim, doors and ceilings. Exterior: one line per elevation, plus trim, soffits, fascia and any outbuildings.
This does two things. It lets a customer with a budget remove a room rather than remove you, and it stops the argument where they thought the hallway was included.
Describe prep as actions
“Full prep” is not a specification. This is:
Wash all surfaces. Scrape loose paint. Sand feathered edges. Fill nail holes. Caulk trim junctions. Spot-prime bare wood.
State what is excluded too — rot repair, stripping to bare substrate, lead remediation — because those are the discoveries that turn a three-day job into six.
Name the paint and the coats
Brand, line, sheen, and the number of coats per surface. Add a line noting that a significant colour change may require an additional coat at a stated price. That one sentence prevents the most predictable overrun in the trade.
Give them levels
Present two or three prep-and-coat levels as options. A competitor quoting a single low number is selling one coat over unwashed siding, and the only way a homeowner can see that is if your document shows them what the alternative looks like.
Sending them faster
QuoteIQ at $29.99/mo measures exterior wall area off satellite imagery, which gets you a defensible starting number before you drive out. Jobber at $49/mo has the best customer-facing document and optional line items on its Grow plan so the customer ticks their own prep level. Housecall Pro Max includes a proposal tool built for exactly this good-better-best presentation.
Questions operators actually ask
What should a painting estimate include?
Each surface or room as its own line, the prep described as actions, the coat count, the named paint product and sheen, and explicit exclusions. Painting estimates are compared against competitors who quote one number, and itemising is the only way a customer can see you are not selling the same thing.
How do I estimate painting by area?
Measure the wall area, not the floor area — perimeter times height, less major openings. Then apply your rate per square foot and add prep hours separately. Estimating from floor area is the most common way painters underprice a job by a quarter.
Should I offer prep levels as options?
Yes. Two or three levels — wash and coat, standard prep, full prep — presented as priced choices changes the conversation from your price to their standard, and it is the most reliable defence against being undercut by someone quoting one coat over dirt.
How long should a painting estimate be valid?
Thirty days. Paint prices move and your calendar fills. An estimate accepted four months later at a peak-season slot is a job you will regret taking.
Estimate or quote?
If your number is fixed, call it a quote and say so. If it depends on what you find under the flaking paint, call it an estimate and state exactly what could change it and by how much.