Understanding your result
The headline is the number of working days, and the sub-line gives the total labour and the finish date. The three figures show the number of rooms, the labour hours and the finish date.
The table lists the hours for each room, the total, the working days for the crew and the finish date. The day-by-day list below it shows when each room starts and ends, by day number and by date. A room can start on the same day the previous one ends, because a day is shared when one room finishes at lunchtime.
The planner uses fixed room sizes so a whole house can be planned from a count of rooms. For your actual measurements, the painting time calculator takes the areas and trim lengths directly, the whole-house estimator gives the paint for the same room counts, and the crew schedule calculator turns any total of hours into days with recoat waits added.
How we calculate this
The rates are the production rates in the production rates table: 200 sq ft of wall and 180 sq ft of ceiling per hour per coat with a roller, including cutting in, 60 linear ft of trim per hour, and three quarters of an hour for each side of a door and each window, per coat. Light prep adds 0.2 hours per 100 sq ft, and each room has half an hour to move furniture, mask and clean up.
The planner does not add a separate wait for the paint to dry between coats, because on a multi-room job the second coat in one room follows the first coat in another. With a single room, the result is at least two days at two coats, because the second coat cannot start until the first is dry. The drying and recoat guide gives the waits by paint type.
The assumptions behind the numbers
| Assumption | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Room sizes | 15 × 18, 12 × 14, 10 × 10 and 6 × 8 ft | Typical large, medium and small rooms and a bathroom, as in the whole-house estimator |
| Doors and windows | 2 and 2, 1 and 2, 1 and 1, 1 and 1 | Typical for each room size |
| Walls | 200 sq ft per hour per coat | Site production rates consistent with RSMeans daily outputs for painting and PCA guidance, rounded; roller, including cutting in |
| Ceilings | 180 sq ft per hour per coat | As above; overhead work is slower |
| Trim | 60 linear ft per hour per coat | As above |
| Doors and windows | 0.75 h per door side and per window, per coat | As above |
| Prep | 0.2 h per 100 sq ft | Light prep, the site figure for walls in fair condition |
| Setup per room | 0.5 h | Site figure |
| Painting hours per day | 6 | A realistic DIY pace in an eight-hour day |
Assumptions last reviewed October 8, 2026.
The rates assume walls in fair condition, a roller for walls and ceilings and a brush for trim. Walls that need heavy patching, a colour change that needs a third coat, or high ceilings that need a ladder for everything will take longer. The production rate calculator applies condition factors, and the production rates guide explains where the figures come from and how fast painters really work.
Two worked examples
A whole house, one painter
One large room, two medium rooms, two small rooms and a bathroom, 8 ft ceilings, ceilings and trim included, two coats, one painter at six hours a day, starting Monday, October 12, 2026.
- Large room: 22 h 44 min
- Medium rooms: 16 h 22 min each
- Small rooms: 12 h 4 min each
- Bathroom: 9 h 50 min
- Total: 89 h 25 min, 89.4 ÷ 6 = 15 working days
- Finish: Friday, October 30
The large room takes days 1 to 4, Monday to Thursday, and the second medium room starts on day 7. The bathroom closes the job on days 14 and 15.
Two rooms in the evenings
One medium room and one small room, ceilings and trim included, two coats, one person painting four hours a day from Monday, October 12, 2026.
- Medium room: 16 h 22 min, days 1 to 5
- Small room: 12 h 4 min, days 5 to 8
- Total: 28 h 26 min, 28.4 ÷ 4 = 8 working days
- Finish: Wednesday, October 21
Weekends are not counted. Painting on the Saturday and Sunday in between would bring the finish forward by two days.
Where to find your inputs
Rooms. Count the rooms by size. A room that is between sizes can go in either; a long hallway is close to a small room.
Ceiling height. The wall height from floor to ceiling.
Ceilings and trim. Untick them if you are only painting walls.
Coats. Two for a colour change, one for a refresh in the same colour.
Painters and hours a day. Count the people who will paint at the same time and the hours each will actually have a roller in hand.
Start date. The first working day of the job.
Common mistakes
- Planning in rooms rather than hours. One room with ceiling and trim is two to three days for one person.
- Counting eight hours of painting a day. Moving furniture, masking and cleaning take a quarter of the day or more.
- Painting one room at a time. Two rooms in rotation let the first coat dry without waiting.
- Leaving trim to the end of the job. Do each room’s trim when its walls are dry, so the room can be put back.
- Forgetting the drying time before furniture goes back. Latex is dry to touch in an hour but soft for days; leave a gap before pushing furniture against the walls.
- Ignoring the weather. Cold or humid rooms slow drying; the recoat guide has the adjustments.
Questions people ask
- How long does it take to paint a house interior?
- For one person working six hours a day, a house with one large room, two medium rooms, two small rooms and a bathroom, with ceilings, trim and two coats, comes to about 89 hours and 25 minutes, or 15 working days. Starting on Monday, October 12, 2026, it finishes on Friday, October 30.
- How long does one room take?
- A 12 × 14 ft room with 8 ft walls, its ceiling, trim, one door and two windows, at two coats, comes to about 16 hours and 22 minutes of work, or three days for one person at six hours a day. Walls alone, without ceiling and trim, take much less.
- Does a second painter halve the time?
- Close to it, because the rooms can be split between two people. The same six-room house with two painters at seven hours a day and ceilings left out comes to 78 hours and 13 minutes of labour, and six working days.
- Why only six hours of painting a day?
- Because a working day also holds moving furniture, masking, mixing, cleaning tools and waiting for coats to dry. Six hours of actual painting in an eight-hour day is a realistic pace for a DIY painter; professionals often manage more. Change it to suit.
- What order should the rooms go in?
- The planner lists the largest rooms first and the bathroom last. Within each room, paint the ceiling first, then the walls, then trim and doors, so each stage covers the spatter of the one before. Working two rooms at once lets one dry while you paint the other.
- Does the finish date include weekends?
- No. The dates count Monday to Friday only. If you are painting at weekends, count each weekend day as a working day and the finish date will come sooner than shown.