Buy too little and you’re interrupting your project to run back to the store.
Buy too much and you’re stuck with cans that you’re free to’t safely dispose of.
Before rolling up the sleeves, ensure you know how to calculate how much paint you’ll need.
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Plan to have enough paint for two coats of paint.
How to Quickly Calculate Paint Quantities
Is there a faster way to calculate paint quantities?
Yes, there is.
Omit two steps: subtracting the non-paintable areas and adding in wastage.
Itemizing all of the cutouts can be a painstaking process.
Eliminating that step makes the process easier.
The 10- to 15-percent wastage amount will replace the cutout subtractions.
If you’re unsure of exactly how much paint you need, we included some average estimates below.
This sample calculation excludes 20 square feet for one entry door from the total wall space.
Powder rooms tend not to have windows.
This calculation excludes both a window and an entry door from the total wall space.
An alcove tub and surround calculated at 65 square feet of wall space are excluded, as well.
Buy quality paint ineggshell or semi-gloss sheensfor easier kitchen cleanup.
That’s because most bedrooms have few built-in obstructions.
One door is the entry door.
The other door is a single-width closet door occupying 20 square feet of unpainted wall space.
With this calculation, one window and three doors are excluded.
One of those doors is an entry door.
The other two doors account for a double-width closet door that uses 40 square feet of unpainted wall space.
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