The client's message says: "Just a few rooms, walls only, they're white." You quote two days. You turn up and the white is a 2016 navy with a hopeful coat of primer on top, the skirting boards have been painted by someone who hated them, and the hallway has a nail hole every thirty centimetres.
That is not a two day job, and it is not the quote you would have sent if you had seen it first. Painting is the trade where the paint is the cheap part. One Melbourne painting firm's price guide puts labour at 70% to 85% of the total cost of a job, and most of that labour is preparation. Here is how to build a quote that prices the hours, not just the tin.
The short answer
Measure net wall area (perimeter × ceiling height, minus doors and windows), not floor area. Work out paint from area ÷ coverage per litre × number of coats, and price primer as its own line. Build labour from hours, with prep shown separately, because prep is where quotes go wrong. Use a per-square-metre figure only as a sanity check, and list your exclusions, especially for older homes.
Everything below is in metres, litres and Australian dollars, but the method works anywhere. Swap in your own rates.
1. Measure the walls, not the floor
Floor area tells you nothing about a paint job. Ceiling height does the damage, and two rooms with the same floor plan can be a different job entirely.
Net wall area = (room perimeter × ceiling height) - doors - windows
Ceiling area = length × width
A worked example, a 4m × 5m living room with 2.4m ceilings, one door and two windows:
| Item | Working | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Gross wall area | 18m perimeter × 2.4m | 43.2m² |
| Door | 2.04m × 0.82m | -1.7m² |
| Two windows | 2 × (1.2m × 1.5m) | -3.6m² |
| Net wall area | 37.9m² | |
| Ceiling | 4m × 5m | 20m² |
Measure each room on its own, on site, with a tape. A client's floor plan or a photo gets you a ballpark at best.
2. Work out the paint, then price it as its own line
The paint maths is simple, and Dulux publishes the coverage rates. Its Australian paint calculator works from about 16m² per litre for wall, trim and ceiling paint and about 14m² per litre for primer, and it assumes two coats.
Litres = area ÷ coverage per litre × number of coats
| Surface | Working | Litres needed |
|---|---|---|
| Walls, two coats | 37.9m² × 2 ÷ 16 | 4.7L (buy 5L) |
| Ceiling, two coats | 20m² × 2 ÷ 16 | 2.5L (buy a 4L tin) |
Treat 16m² per litre as a starting point and not a promise. Dulux notes that coverage varies with the surface and the product, including spray paints, so check the data sheet for the tin you are actually using. Porous, new or textured surfaces drink paint, and a dark-to-light colour change eats coats.
3. Prep is the job
This is the part that decides whether you made money. Filling, sanding, washing, masking, moving and covering things, and cleaning up all happen before and after a roller touches the wall, and none of it is visible to the client when they compare quotes.
Here is where the hours go on the 4m × 5m living room above, assuming sound walls and light prep:
| Task | Hours | Share of the job |
|---|---|---|
| Prep: fill, sand, wash, mask, protect | 3.0 | 24% |
| Spot priming | 0.5 | 4% |
| Walls, two coats | 4.0 | 32% |
| Ceiling, two coats | 2.5 | 20% |
| Trims and door | 2.0 | 16% |
| Clean up | 0.5 | 4% |
| Total | 12.5 | 100% |
Prep and clean-up take 3.5 of the 12.5 hours. If your quote is paint plus a labour figure you came up with in the car, those hours are the first thing to go missing.
If you want to build hours from something firmer than gut feel, Resene publishes productivity tables for professional painters. The method is area × factor = hours, then hours × your hourly rate. Use your own timed jobs to calibrate it. Not sure what that hourly rate should be? See how to set your labour rate.
What to look at on the site visit
- Peeling, bubbling or chalking paint. More scraping and more primer.
- Damp or mould. Fix it before paint, not under it.
- Cracks, nail holes and dents. Count the hallway as heavy prep.
- The existing colour. Dark-to-light adds coats.
- Furniture, floors and access. Moving things is time.
Photograph anything that affects the price. If the condition is not clear until you start, put a stated prep allowance in the quote and say anything beyond it is charged at your hourly rate after the client agrees. For how to run that conversation, see how to write a variation.
4. Coats and primer are separate lines
Two coats is the usual assumption, and the Dulux calculator builds it in. Some jobs need more, and some products are sold as one-coat. Say which you are quoting.
Primer should be its own line because it is its own product, with its own coverage rate, and not every surface needs it. Dulux's preparation guide recommends a sealer undercoat on bare, unpainted walls and ceilings. Spot priming patched areas is a small line. Priming a whole house of new plaster is a big one. If you fold it into your rate, you lose track of which jobs actually needed it.
5. Brush and roller vs spray
Brush and roller
- Best for: occupied homes, cut-in work, detailed trims.
- Where the time goes: application and cutting in.
- Quote tip: price by hours per surface.
Spray
- Best for: large open surfaces, empty rooms, new builds, big exteriors.
- Where the time goes: masking and protecting everything you are not painting.
- Quote tip: price masking and set-up as its own line, and check coverage on the data sheet.
Spray speeds up the application on big, open surfaces. It also adds set-up, masking and clean-up time, and coverage differs from a roller. Quote the method you will actually use, not whichever one sounds more impressive.
6. Interior vs exterior
Interior
- Prep: fill, sand, mask.
- Access: ladders, trestles.
- Weather: not a factor.
$15-$35 per m² one consumer guide's range
Exterior
- Prep: wash, scrape, sand, repair rot and cracks.
- Access: ladders, scaffold, sometimes elevated work platforms.
- Weather: rain days, drying times, wind on spray jobs.
$20-$45 per m² one consumer guide's range
The range in that last row comes from ServiceTasker's cost guide. A different guide, Modernize Solutions, puts the same work at $20-$60 per m² interior and $30-$80 exterior. That gap is the point. Published ranges are all over the place, so use them to sanity-check your own number, never to replace it.
Exterior work usually means heights. If your access involves a fall risk of 2 metres or more, see working at heights requirements, and price scaffold or access as its own line.
7. The worked quote
Here is the living room as a complete quote. The $80 an hour loaded rate and the paint prices are illustrative, so swap in your own.
| Item | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 12.5 hours × $80 | $1,000.00 |
| Wall paint (5L) | at cost | $85.00 |
| Ceiling paint (4L) | at cost | $60.00 |
| Primer (1L) | at cost | $28.00 |
| Trim enamel (1L) | at cost | $45.00 |
| Tape, filler, sandpaper, drop sheets | at cost | $60.00 |
| Materials with 15% margin | $278 × 1.15 | $320.00 |
| Subtotal | $1,320.00 | |
| GST | 10% | $132.00 |
| Total | $1,452.00 |
Now the sanity check. Walls and ceiling come to 57.9m², so $1,320 ÷ 57.9 is about $22.80 per m² before GST, and labour is about 76% of the subtotal. Both land inside the published ranges above and the 70% to 85% labour share. If your built-up number lands miles away from the market, find out why before you send it.
A per-metre price is a handy way for a client to compare quotes, but SureQuote's guide makes the key point: the number is meaningless unless you know what prep is included. Spell the prep scope out in writing.
8. Older homes: lead and asbestos
Quote an older house like a modern one and you can end up on the wrong side of a health problem. Two things to check before you sand or scrape:
Lead paint pre-1970 homes
The federal government's lead in house paint guidance says paints with high lead levels were used in many Australian houses before 1970, that the only way to be certain is to test, and that blasting, burning, dry scraping, dry sanding and power tools create the most serious dangers. WorkSafe Victoria's lead-based paint removal alert adds that sanding or removing paint above 1% lead by dry weight is regulated in Victoria as a "lead process" with specific employer duties. Check your own state's rules.
Asbestos pre-1990 homes
Textured ceilings, fibro eaves and old wall sheeting in pre-1990 homes can contain it. If you are not sure, read asbestos awareness for tradies before you quote, and do not cut or sand anything until it is tested.
Neither belongs in a standard repaint price. Quote testing and safe handling as a separate line or a clear exclusion.
9. Exclusions worth stating every time
- Heavy prep beyond the stated allowance, such as stripping or multiple coats of filler.
- Lead paint testing and removal on pre-1970 homes.
- Asbestos testing or removal on pre-1990 homes.
- Scaffold or elevated access, unless it is a line in the quote.
- Moving furniture, unless you have agreed to do it.
- Wallpaper removal.
- Extra coats for a colour change that was not in the brief.
- Damp, mould or structural repairs found once the walls are prepared.
Send it, then protect it
A painting quote that holds up shows net wall area, paint litres worked out from the coverage rate, labour built from hours with prep visible, primer as its own line and exclusions in writing. Add a validity period of 30 days, since paint prices move, and take a deposit on larger jobs so you are not financing the client's paint. The thinking behind that is in cash flow tips for tradies.
The Proposal and Quote Builder in Smart Tools lays out a basic itemised quote like the one above, so you are not rebuilding the table every time. For another trade that takes the same line-item approach, see how to quote a tiling job.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate wall area for a painting quote?
Multiply the room's perimeter by the ceiling height, then subtract doors and windows. A 4m × 5m room with 2.4m ceilings has 43.2m² of gross wall, and after one door and two windows the net is about 37.9m². Measure ceilings separately as length times width. Quote off wall area, not floor area, because ceiling height drives the price.
How much paint do I need per square metre?
Dulux's Australian paint calculator uses about 16m² per litre for wall, trim and ceiling paint and about 14m² per litre for primer, and it assumes two coats. The formula is area ÷ coverage × coats. Treat those as starting figures, since Dulux notes coverage varies with the surface and the product, including spray paints. Check the data sheet for the exact tin.
Should I quote a painting job per square metre or by the hour?
Build the price from hours and materials, then use a per-square-metre figure as a sanity check. A per-metre rate is the common way for clients to compare quotes, but it only means something if you know what prep it includes. A low rate that excludes prep can cost the client more than a higher one that includes it, and it will cost you if you underestimate the prep hours.
Do I need to test for lead paint or asbestos before quoting an older home?
Treat any home built before 1970 as possibly containing lead paint until it is tested, and any pre-1990 home as a possible asbestos risk, particularly textured ceilings and fibro eaves. The federal guidance says testing is the only way to be certain, and that dry sanding and power tools create the most serious lead dust hazards. Put testing and safe handling on the quote as an exclusion or a conditional line, so you are not absorbing it halfway through the job.