How to Bid Painting Jobs in 2026

Key Takeaways:

• The average painting contractor closes only 20%-30% of the estimates they send out
• A residential estimate costs $110-$165 in estimating time, so not every job is worth bidding 
• Labor makes up 75%-95% of the cost of a professional interior paint job, so production rates decide your profit, not paint prices
• Typical win rates sit at 30%-50% for negotiated work and 10%-20% for competitive hard bids

Say two painters walk the same 2,400 sq. ft. house on the same afternoon. One bids $6,800. The other bids $10,900.

The homeowner goes with the cheaper one, which makes sense on paper. The problem is that the low bidder planned for 80 labor hours, and the job took 120 once the trim, the patching, and the 10-ft. ceilings in the living room came into play.

After materials, his bid left him about $58 for every labor hour he planned. The real hours dropped that to $39/hr, well below his $55/hr loaded cost. He won the bid and lost close to $2,000 on the job.

The painter who bid $10,900 didn’t lose because his price was too high, but because the other guy’s price was wrong.

Today, we break down how to bid painting jobs so that the ones you win actually pay.

How to Bid Painting Jobs in 7 Steps

Painting contractors lose a lot of hours to the work around the job: color consultations, crew schedules that shift with the weather, and invoices that need chasing. Using AI for painting contractors can take some of that load off, but it won't fix a bid that doesn't cover your costs. 

A good painting bid is built in a specific order: qualify the job, see it, count the hours, count the materials, then price it. Skipping a step is how the painter in our example ended up working for less than his own costs.

1. Decide Whether the Job Is Worth Bidding

Every bid costs you money before you even know if you’ll win it. A residential estimate easily takes 2-3 hours between the drive, the walk-through, the measurements, and writing the proposal. At a $55/hr loaded cost, that’s $110-$165 per bid. 

With a 25% close rate, every job you win carries the cost of four bids, or $440-$660 in estimating time alone. Bidding everything that comes in is a fast way to stay busy and broke. Running the numbers through a service price and profit margin calculator before the walk-through can show you whether a job’s likely price clears your target margin, but it’s not the only check worth doing. 

Taking the job through a quick bid/no-bid check is equally important:

• Fit: Can your crew handle the size, surfaces, and timeline without turning down better work?
• Location: Is it inside your service area, or will travel time eat into the margin?
• Client history: Is this a property manager or GC who always picks the lowest number? If so, you’re a price check, not a contender.
• Payment terms: Can you carry 30-60 days of payment delays or a retainage hold on this job?
• Track record: Do you win this type of job often? If you close 10% of exteriors and 45% of interior repaints, your estimating hours belong with the interiors.

Two or more red flags usually mean the job isn’t worth the bid.

[CTA_INSERT]

2. Walk the Site and Take Your Own Measurements

Never bid a job sight unseen. Floor plans, client photos, and drawings miss exactly the things that blow up your labor hours: water damage, peeling paint, high ceilings, tight access, and rooms packed with furniture.

During the walk-through, check and note:

• Surface condition: Patching, sanding, caulking, stain blocking, or scraping needed before any paint goes on
• Ceiling and wall heights: Anything over 10 ft. slows production and may require planks, scaffolding, or a lift
• Occupied vs. vacant: Working around furniture, tenants, or business hours takes longer than an empty space
• Color changes: Going from dark to light often means an extra coat
• The building’s age: Homes built before 1978 may contain lead paint, which brings the EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) rule into play - certified firms, containment, and extra cleanup

Take your own measurements, even if the client provides them. You need paintable square footage (walls and ceilings), linear footage (baseboards, trim, crown), and counts (doors, windows), since each is priced differently.

3. Price Labor Using Production Rates

This is the step that decides whether you make money. Labor makes up 75%-95% of the cost of a professional interior paint job, so the hours you estimate matter far more than anything else on the bid.

Production rates turn your measurements into hours. Here are the typical starting points for repaint work in average condition, per painter, per coat:

These are general industry averages, not your numbers. The best production rates are the ones you measure yourself.

The base rate is only half the story, though. The on-site conditions you noted during the walk-through change how fast the work actually goes:

These adjustments are exactly what the low bidder in our example skipped. Ignore them across a whole house, and a 120-hour job gets bid as an 80-hour one.

4. Calculate Materials, Then Add a Buffer

The material math is straightforward:

Gallons needed = Paintable sq. ft. × Number of coats ÷ Coverage rate

Most interior paints cover 350-400 sq. ft. per gallon, while primers cover closer to 200-300 sq. ft. Use the lower end of the range for textured, porous, or previously unpainted surfaces.

For 5,600 sq. ft. of walls at two coats: 5,600 × 2 ÷ 350 = 32 gallons. The worked example in step 5 uses 39 gallons: the same 32 for the walls, plus 7 for primer and ceilings. 

On top of the paint itself, account for:

• A 5%-10% waste buffer, so you don’t stop work for a supply run halfway through the job
• Sundries: tape, plastic, caulk, patching compound, sandpaper, roller covers
• Equipment rentals: lifts, scaffolding, or sprayers you don’t own

The counterintuitive part is that materials are usually the smallest line on the bid. In our worked example below, they account for less than 20% of the final price. Getting the paint count wrong by 10% will burden your painting costs by a couple hundred dollars. Getting the labor wrong by 10% costs you a lot more.

5. Turn Your Costs Into a Price

Price labor at your loaded cost (wage plus payroll taxes plus overhead), not at the wage you pay your painters. 

With that in mind, here’s how the $10,900 bid from the intro breaks down:

• Loaded labor cost: $27.50/hr wage + 20% payroll taxes and workers’ comp + $22/hr overhead = $55/hr
• Labor: 120 hrs (walls, trim, doors, prep, and a high-ceiling adjustment) × $55 = $6,600
• Materials: 39 gallons of paint and primer + a 10% buffer + sundries = $2,120
• Price: ($6,600 + $2,120) ÷ 0.80 for a 20% net margin = $10,900

That’s a healthy 44% gross margin and $4.54/sq. ft., which is right in the market range. So is the $6,800 bid, which is why only your hours can tell you if a price is right.

6. Write a Proposal With Clear Exclusions and Tiered Options

The proposal is where you turn the number into a sale. At a minimum, the proposal should include:

• Scope of work: Every room and surface included, the prep level, and the number of coats
• Products: Brand, product line, and sheen for each surface
• Timeline: Start date, estimated duration, and working hours
• Payment terms: Deposit, progress payments, and final payment
• Warranty: What your workmanship warranty covers and for how long
• Exclusions: What’s not included in the price

Next, give the client options instead of a single number. A good-better-best proposal could look like this:

• Good: Walls only, two coats, standard product line
• Better: Walls, trim, and doors, two coats, premium product line
• Best: Everything in Better + ceilings, upgraded prep, and an extended warranty

Tiered pricing changes the client’s question from “should I hire this painter?” to “which option should I pick?” And many clients end up picking the middle one, which should be the one you priced to win.

7. Respond Fast and Follow Up

Aim to send the bid within 24-48 hours of the walk-through, while the client still remembers you, then follow up on a set schedule instead of waiting by the phone:

• Day 2: A quick check-in to answer any questions about the proposal
• Day 5: A reminder about your schedule availability and start date
• Day 10: A final follow-up before you close the bid out

When you lose a bid, ask why. Reasons like the price, timing, scope, trust or even the generic “we went with someone else” are free feedback on your pricing and your process.

How to Bid Residential vs. Commercial Painting Jobs 

The 7 steps apply to both, but commercial bids come with extra paperwork, longer payment cycles, and requirements that need to be priced in from the start. Here’s how the two compare:

As a general rule, residential work suits smaller shops that need fast cash flow and higher margins. Commercial work brings bigger tickets and steadier volume, but only if you have the paperwork, insurance, and cash reserves to carry it.

How to Tell If Your Painting Bids Are Priced Right

Your win rate is the simplest pricing signal you have. Win too few bids and you’re likely overpriced or bidding the wrong jobs. Win too many and you’re probably leaving money on the table.

Here’s how to read your own:

Two things matter more than the overall number, though.

Track your win rate by job type, not overall: A 30% average can hide a 50% close rate on interior repaints and 10% on exteriors. 

Compare estimated vs. actual hours after every job: This is how the painter from our intro would have caught his problem. If your crew consistently paints walls at 150 sq. ft./hr when your bids assume 175, every bid you send is underpriced. 

Building a price book once is the easy part. Keeping it current every time supplier prices move is the part nobody has time for. If you’re done doing this by hand, we’re building a way to change prices by just saying what changed. Apply for early access. 

FAQ

How to bid painting jobs without underpricing them?

Build the bid from your labor hours, not from what competitors charge. Measure the job yourself, apply realistic production rates, adjust for on-site conditions like high ceilings and heavy prep, and price labor at your loaded cost (wage + payroll taxes + overhead) before adding your profit margin.

What profit margin should painting contractors target?

Aim for a 40%-50% gross margin and a 10%–25% net margin on most jobs. Residential repaints typically support higher margins, while competitive commercial and new construction work usually runs lower.

Should I charge hourly or by the job for painting?

Most painting contractors bid by the job, since clients prefer a fixed price they can plan around. Hourly pricing makes more sense for small touch-ups, unpredictable repair work, or jobs where the scope is impossible to define in advance.

What’s a good win rate for painting bids?

Most residential painters close 20%-30% of their bids, so anything above 30% is strong. On competitive commercial hard bids, 10%-20% is the typical range. 

What should I exclude from a painting bid?

Common exclusions include drywall repair beyond minor patching, wood rot replacement, lead abatement, mold remediation, moving heavy furniture, and color changes after work begins. Anything not listed in your scope or exclusions can turn into unpaid work, so spell it out in writing.

How long should it take to send a painting bid?

Send it within 24-48 hours of the walk-through. The first contractor to respond wins a large share of jobs regardless of price, so a fast, accurate bid often beats a slightly cheaper one that arrives a week later.

‍