Free painting estimate template

What goes on a painting estimate

A painting estimate needs the walls as you found them, what each room includes, the paint by brand and product line, and a price room by room. Those are the lines this template adds to the scope, materials, timeline, labor and terms any estimate has (explained in what a service estimate needs), and each is explained below in the order it appears on the estimate.

1. 1

   The walls as you found them

   Wall condition / prep

   Write down the condition of the walls and the prep they need before paint: wallpaper to strip, stains to block, holes to patch. Prep is labor the customer will not see in the finished room, so it has to be seen on the estimate. The sample leaves “Wall condition / prep” to fill in, and prices the prep itself as its own line below.

2. 2

   Interior, exterior and cabinets, as ranges

   ProjectsPrice range

   Full interior paint

   3-bed/2-bath home — walls, ceilings, trim, doors (2 coats), includes prep and primer

   Low to high depends on the walls and the prep they need

   $3,500–$6,000

   List the projects with a range each. The painting sample quotes a full interior of a 3-bed/2-bath home, two coats with prep and primer, at $3,500–$6,000; a 2,200 sq ft exterior at $4,000–$7,500; and thirty cabinet doors sprayed in two coats at $3,000–$5,500. The interior’s range depends on the walls and the prep they need, which is why their condition is written into the job details.

3. 3

   What each room includes

   Included Walls Ceilings Trim Doors

   Say what each room includes and what it does not: walls, ceilings, trim, doors. “Paint the living room” means the walls to one customer and everything to another. The sample ticks all four; untick what you are leaving out, so the difference shows before the work starts instead of when the customer looks up at an unpainted ceiling.

4. 4

   The paint, by brand and product line

   PaintBenjamin Moore Regal Select; Kilz Original primer

   Name the paint by brand and product line for each area. Lines within one brand differ in price and finish, and naming the product lets the customer compare two quotes on the same paint. The sample writes “Benjamin Moore Regal Select; Kilz Original primer” — the same products its materials lines price by the gallon.

5. 5

   Room by room

   Also quoted · a separate job

   Two rooms, priced room by room

   Labor$1,225.00

   Materials$339.00

   This job$1,564.00

   Measure each room and price it on its own line, so the customer sees what each costs and can drop one without asking for a new quote. The second job on this sample is two rooms priced that way — the living room and the bedroom, with trim and prep on lines of their own: $1,225.00 of labor and $339.00 of materials, $1,564.00 in all.

6. 6

   The paint, the warranty and the signatures

   2.A 50% deposit is required to schedule the work.

   Deposit received $ on

   Customer signature & date

   Contractor signature & date

   The painting sample’s terms carry a 90-day labor warranty. If the customer supplies the paint, say so there, and say how that changes your warranty on the finish. Half books the work — $782.00 of the $1,564.00 for two rooms — and both signatures go under the room-by-room lines, so dropping a room later changes a signed price instead of starting a new quote.