How much paint is needed?

Questions & AnswersCategory: General Paint QuestionsHow much paint is needed?
Theresa asked 10 years ago

I am painting a 10×12 room and a 10×20 room. Was wondering how much paint I will need to buy for each room? Can you help?

4 Answers
Anonymous answered.

Assuming your walls are 8' tall and you're going to apply 2 coats of the finish paint, you'll need 2 gallons for the smaller room and 3 for the larger.

This is according to the <a href="//www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=contentrenderer_1_4&contentrenderer_1_4_actionOverride=%2Fbm%2Fcms%2FContentRenderer%2FrenderContent&contentrenderer_1_4currentNodeUUID=%2FBEA+Repository%2F6002&contentrenderer_1_4NodeUUID=%2FBEA+Repository%2F366008&_pageLabel=fh_learnhow" target="new">paint calculator at the Benjamin Moore site</a>.

I plugged your info in and included only 1 window and door in each room. If you input the exact numbers, you may end up with a different result and need less paint.

I'd suggest using the tool to determine the total square footage to be covered and then checking the actual paint you want to use to see how many square feet it will cover.

If you're painting the rooms the same color, you can save some money by buying a 5-gallon bucket of paint. This also allows you to use a roller grid so that you can avoid using a paint tray (see the great info on this site for more about that).

How much Paint is needed for a room?

This is a question i am constantly faced with as an Estimator for Save on Painting Co Vancouver.
There is a few ways to calculate the amount of Paint needed to paint the interior of your home.

The two most common way's to calculate paint coverage is by:

A: Surface sq/ft (total sq/ft of walls)
which is calculated with the formula (H)x(L)x(W) "height of wall x total length of Room x total width of Room

B: Area sq/ft (total sq/ft of area)
which is calculated with the formula
(L)x(W) "total length of room x total width of room

Which Formula to use?

Contrary to the previous answer to this question when calculating paint needed to paint the interior of your home measured by the total sq/ft of your walls, most often results in inaccurate results in the form of over-calculation for the reason that this formula does not take into account Doors, Windows etc..

Best Solution: Find listed on every side print of Gallon or Pale purchased the coverage area/amount for the given paint which most commonly ranges from 300sq/ft-400sq/ft (350sq/ft as the median. This measure directly correlates to the formula (L)x(W) mentioned above.

Given the total area of 10×12 for room A and 10×20 for Room B and assuming 2 coats are needed for even coverage.

Room A: 10×12=120
120×2=240
240/350= 0.7 lbs needed

Room B: 10×20=200
200×2=400
400/350= 1.2 lbs needed

Total paint needed for Room A+B= 1.9 lbs

Note: If Both rooms are Painted in the same colour 2 gallons are needed

If Room A and Room B are being coated in different colours 1 gallon is needed for room A and 2 Gallons are needed for Room B

campbellronald7 answered.

I would have to agree with Bunny from North Carolina on this one. That calculator is definitely a handy tool to use. What type of interior paint do you intend to use? I recently painted one of my rooms with California Paint's interior paint and it looks beautiful.

Anonymous answered.

How well the wall absorbs paint is a factor… Are you thinning the paint with an additive? That can save you an extra gallon and you can eat prime rib that night while it dries! Those paint-calculators always make me laugh (industry hype) Ive been painting for years, and I eat prime rib often 😉