Access and staging
Include lifts, scaffolding, mobilization, daily setup, protection, and movement between phases or occupied areas.
Free commercial estimating tool
Build a commercial painting bid from the costs up.
Estimate labor, paint, equipment, overhead, contingency, and target margin without relying on a guessed square-foot price.
Calculate commercial bid02
Commercial painting bid calculator
Price the complete scope
Use measured paintable area and your crew's production rate for a transparent starting bid.
Recommended commercial bid
Total selling price$0$0.00 per sq ft
Total man-hours0 hrs
Crew duration0 days
Paint needed0 gal
Expected profit$0
Bid breakdown
Labor$0
Paint and waste$0
Equipment and other$0
Overhead and contingency$0
Use the result as a planning baseline. Verify takeoff quantities, access, schedule, contract requirements, and local costs.
Commercial bid guide
Costs commonly missed in commercial bids
Schedule restrictions
Night, weekend, shutdown, and accelerated work can reduce productivity and increase hourly labor cost.
Specification requirements
Confirm coatings, dry-film thickness, surface preparation, testing, documentation, and closeout requirements before pricing.
Risk and cash flow
Review retainage, payment timing, bonds, insurance, change-order rules, and a realistic contingency for uncertain scope.
Commercial estimating notes
How to turn the calculator result into a bid you can defend
Start with measured scope
Commercial painting prices become unreliable when the estimate begins with a guessed square-foot price. Measure paintable wall area, ceiling area, trim, doors, exposed steel, and any surfaces that need specialty coatings. Keep deductions consistent so future jobs can be compared against the same method.
Adjust production before profit
Access, masking, tenant hours, lift movement, color changes, and surface repairs affect labor before overhead or profit is added. If a crew can normally cover 300 square feet per hour but the project has occupied areas or night work, lower the production rate first instead of hiding that risk in a larger margin.
Separate direct and indirect costs
Labor, paint, sundries, equipment, mobilization, supervision, insurance requirements, and cleanup should be visible as separate assumptions. This makes the bid easier to review and helps you explain change orders when the scope grows after the first walkthrough.
Use the result as a review sheet
Before sending a proposal, compare the calculated man-hours with the schedule, crew size, and site restrictions. If the calculator says the job needs 320 labor hours, a four-person crew working eight-hour days needs roughly ten working days before weather, access delays, or inspection time.