Free Painting Quote Template & Generator
A painting quote holds up only when it says which surfaces were measured and how many coats each one gets. This template lists wall and ceiling square footage room by room, linear feet of trim and the door count, a patch allowance priced in hours rather than promised as a result, the primer a dark-to-light color change needs, and the gallon count and paint grade sitting behind the materials line.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wall preparation | 1 | $480.00 | $480.00 |
| Interior walls (square feet) | 1800 | $1.65 | $2,970.00 |
| Trim and doors | 8 | $95.00 | $760.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a painting quote
Paint disputes are almost never about color. They are about coverage and prep. The homeowner assumed closets, ceilings and the insides of doors were included, or that every nail hole and hairline crack would disappear, and the quote said "paint four rooms." Once the drop cloths are down, the only ways to settle that are to give the work away or to argue about it in somebody's living room. A deep color change is the expensive version of the same gap, because a navy wall usually needs a primer coat and sometimes a third finish coat before it reads as off-white, and none of that labor was in the number. Measured areas, a stated coat count and a prep allowance in hours turn the argument back into arithmetic.
- rooms, surfaces, or measured area
- prep and repair allowance
- primer and coat count
- paint grade and material responsibility
- furniture, cleanup, schedule, and exclusions
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Wall preparation | 1 | $480 |
| Interior walls (square feet) | 1800 | $1.65 |
| Trim and doors | 8 | $95 |
Complete it cleanly
Identify rooms or square footage, surface condition, prep standard, primer, coat count, paint brand or allowance, and protected areas. Keep drywall repair, color changes, and moving furniture explicit.
How to make a painting quote in 6 steps
Open the quote generator
Start from this page so the quote opens with fields and sample lines already set up for residential and commercial painters. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the customer name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the painting lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows rooms, surfaces, or measured area, prep and repair allowance, primer and coat count.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the quote a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
Identify rooms or square footage, surface condition, prep standard, primer, coat count, paint brand or allowance, and protected areas. Keep drywall repair, color changes, and moving furniture explicit. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
Four-room interior repaint with two navy walls going off-white
Halvorsen Painting is quoting an interior repaint for Dana Whitlock at 214 Ferndale Court after a walk-through on March 4, 2026: living room, hallway and two bedrooms. Two bedroom walls are currently deep navy and the owner has selected an off-white, so primer is priced on its own line.
- Walls, measured: 1,860 sq ft across three rooms and the hallway, two coats of eggshell at $1.15 per sq ft
- $2,139.00
- Ceilings, 640 sq ft in three rooms, one coat of flat at $0.85 per sq ft (hallway ceiling excluded, owner declined)
- $544.00
- Trim, casing and 7 doors painted both sides, 236 lf of baseboard and casing, brushed enamel
- $1,180.00
- Stain-blocking primer over the 420 sq ft of navy wall at $0.55 per sq ft
- $231.00
- Drywall patch and caulk allowance, 6.0 hrs at $70.00 per hour, billed as used
- $420.00
- Materials: 14 gal wall paint at $52.00, 3 gal ceiling flat at $38.00, 2 gal trim enamel at $64.00
- $970.00
- Quote total, valid 30 days from March 4, 2026
- $5,484.00
- Deposit due at scheduling, 25% of the quote total
- $1,371.00
- Balance due at the completion walk-through
- $4,113.00
The prep line is an allowance at an hourly rate, not a fixed price. If the patcher finds 11 hours of cracking behind the bedroom furniture, only the first 6 are inside the $5,484.00, and the rest needs the owner's written approval before anyone opens another bucket.
When this document is the right choice
Use this quote to present a fixed proposed price before work begins. A quote is best when scope and price are defined. Use an estimate instead when hidden conditions or an unfinished scope can materially change the final cost.
Frequently asked questions
The homeowner expects every nail hole and crack filled. How do I write the prep line so I am not eating the repairs?
Price prep as an allowance in hours at a stated rate, the way the 6.0 hrs at $70.00 appears above, and say on the quote that hours beyond the allowance are billed at the same rate with written approval first. Describe the standard as well: fill and sand nail holes and cracks under a stated width, caulk trim to wall, no skim coating and no texture matching unless a separate line prices it. Walls behind furniture are the ones that surprise you, so note that they were not inspected.
How do I price walls going from a dark color to a light one without guessing?
Measure the dark area separately and quote primer on its own line, as with the 420 sq ft at $0.55 above. Then state the coat count you are pricing and what happens if coverage still looks uneven: an additional finish coat over that same 420 sq ft at your wall rate, approved before it goes on. Say plainly that two coats is the quoted standard rather than a coverage guarantee, because saturated reds, deep blues and some yellows can need a third.
Does painting a bedroom include the closet, the ceiling and the inside of the doors?
Only if the quote says so, and this is the single most common misunderstanding on a residential repaint. List the ceiling square footage as its own line, list closets as either included or excluded by name, and say whether doors are painted one side or both. The example above prices 7 doors both sides and deliberately excludes the hallway ceiling with a reason attached, so nobody reads the omission as an oversight later.
The homeowner wants to buy the paint themselves. How should the quote change?
Drop the materials line, say in writing that the owner supplies paint, and state the quantity and grade you calculated so the delivery is right: 14 gallons of wall paint, 3 of ceiling flat, 2 of trim enamel here. Add that a mid-job shortfall or a shift to a lower-grade product that needs an extra coat becomes billable labor at your hourly rate. Labor rates usually stay the same either way, so the only figure that moves is the $970.00.
The family is living in the house while we paint. How should that show up on the quote?
Write the room order and say what the crew puts back at the end of each day, because an occupied repaint costs more than an empty one and the difference is setup and takedown time rather than paint. The example runs living room, hallway, then the two bedrooms, so the owner always has somewhere to sleep and the hallway is disturbed once instead of twice. Name who moves furniture and who takes down pictures, blinds and switch plates, since that work lands on the crew by default and quietly consumes the 6.0 hour prep allowance. State recoat and cure times as well, so nobody pushes a bed back against a wall that was painted four hours ago.
More quote templates
Start with the closest business workflow and adjust the details.