Reference

Painting Production Rates

The hourly rates behind every time, schedule and labour estimate on this site, for one painter and one coat, with the prep and setup that go around them.

Last updated

How to use the table

A production rate is how much one painter finishes in an hour of actual painting, for one coat. Divide the quantity by the rate, multiply by the coats, and add prep and setup.

hours per task = quantity ÷ rate × coats labour hours = sum of the tasks + prep + setup working days = labour hours ÷ (painters × painting hours per day), rounded up

The rates assume a competent painter working steadily on surfaces in fair condition. A first-timer typically takes about half as long again; an experienced professional crew is faster. The best rate of all is your own: time yourself on one wall and scale.

Rates for one painter, one coat

Task Brush Roller Airless sprayer Unit
Walls, including cutting in 100 sq ft (9.3 m²) 200 sq ft (18.6 m²) 600 sq ft (55.7 m²) per hour
Ceilings, including cutting in 80 sq ft (7.4 m²) 180 sq ft (16.7 m²) 600 sq ft (55.7 m²) per hour
Trim: baseboard, casing, crown 60 linear ft (18.3 m) n/a n/a per hour
Door, one side, with edges and hardware 0.75 h per side
Window, frame and sash 0.75 h per window

Spraying rates are for the spraying itself. Masking for a sprayer takes much longer than for a roller, and on interior repaints the masking often uses up most of the time the sprayer saves; the spray versus roll calculator compares the two on paint, and the spraying versus rolling guide on time and finish.

Prep and setup

Prep level What it covers Hours per 100 sq ft Hours per 10 m²
Light Wash, fill nail holes, light sand 0.2 0.22
Medium Patches, sanding, caulking gaps 0.5 0.54
Heavy Scraping, skim coating, extensive filling 1.0 1.08

Prep is counted on the wall and ceiling area. Setup, which is moving furniture, laying drop cloths, masking and cleaning tools at the end, is one hour per job in the painting time calculator and half an hour per room in the project planner, which spreads it across several rooms.

Typical room times

These come from the rates above for two coats on walls, ceiling and trim with light prep, 8 ft ceilings, and the room sizes the planner uses.

Room Size Doors and windows Labour hours
Large room 15 × 18 ft 2 and 2 22 h 44 min
Medium room 12 × 14 ft 1 and 2 16 h 22 min
Small room 10 × 10 ft 1 and 1 12 h 4 min
Bathroom 6 × 8 ft 1 and 1 9 h 50 min

Doors are what surprise people. Both sides of a door at two coats is three hours of work, as long as rolling 300 square feet of wall twice.

Worked lookups

A room with 700 sq ft of wall, a 288 sq ft ceiling, 96 ft of trim, two doors and two windows, two coats by roller, light prep:

  • Walls: 700 ÷ 200 × 2 = 7 h
  • Ceiling: 288 ÷ 180 × 2 = 3.2 h
  • Trim: 96 ÷ 60 × 2 = 3.2 h
  • Doors: 2 × 2 sides × 0.75 h × 2 = 6 h
  • Windows: 2 × 0.75 h × 2 = 3 h
  • Prep: 988 ÷ 100 × 0.2 = 2 h, plus 1 h of setup
  • Total: about 25 h 23 min, five days for one painter at six hours a day with one recoat wait

Sources and notes

The rates are site figures, rounded, and consistent with the daily outputs for painting in RSMeans construction cost data and with the estimating guidance of the Painting Contractors Association (PCA). Contractor estimating references publish their rates in ranges by surface condition and access, and they vary by edition; ours sit in the middle for walls in fair condition, a roller with brush cutting in, and an 8 ft ceiling. High walls, stairwells, dark colours, heavy texture and furnished rooms are all slower. The prep and setup figures are site estimates and are stated as such on every page that uses them.

Calculators that use this table

The guide painting production rates explains where the figures come from and how to measure your own.