Painting Formulas

Before reading this article, please make sure you are familiar with Measurement - Parts & Labour in Groundplan.

Parts, labour and the formula used are unique to each project and company, the information below details an example of Painting 2.4m ceilings being measured on a 2D plans and the formulas used to calculate additional parts and labour.

The formula given is a guideline to be used to calculate your own measurement parts and labour.

Topcoat and Undercoat

Calculating the topcoat and undercoat required when measuring single sided 2.4m walls:

1. Undercoat - number of Litres- calculating the Litres of paint when 1 litre of paint covers 6 sqm.

UOM: Litres
Formula: len * 2.4/ 6

Breakdown:
len - the number of meters measured;
* 2.4 - multiplying by the wall height to turn meters into sqm;
/6 - dividing by the number of sqm covered per Litre of paint;
ceil(len) - (optional) to show the number of litres by rounding up a decimal value to the next whole number.

2. Undercoat - number of 20 Litre buckets- calculating the Litres of paint when 1 litre of paint covers 6 sqm and you purchase the paint in 20 Litre Buckets.

UOM: buckets
Formula: len * 2.4/6 /20

Breakdown:
len - the number of meters measured;
* 2.4 - multiplying by the wall height to turn meters into sqm;
/ 6 - dividing by the number of sqm covered per Litre of paint;
/20 - dividing by the number of Litres per bucket to get the number of buckets required;
ceil(XXX) - (optional) to show the number of buckets by rounding up a decimal value to the next whole number.

3. Topcoat - number of Litres calculating the Litres of paint when you apply 2 coats of top coat and 1 litre of paint covers 6 sqm.

UOM: Litres
Formula: len * 2.4/ 6 * 2

Breakdown:
len - the number of meters measured
* 2.4 - multiplying by the wall height to turn meters into sqm
/6 - dividing by the number of sqm covered per Litre of paint
* 2 - multiplying by the number of coats required
ceil(XXX) - (optional) to show the number of litres by rounding up a decimal value to the next whole number.

4. Topcoat - number of 20 Litre buckets- calculating the Litres of paint when you apply 2 coats of top coat, 1 litre of paint covers 6 sqm and you purchase the paint in 20 Litre buckets.

UOM: buckets
Formula: len * 2.4/6 * 2 /20

Breakdown
len - the number of meters measured;
* 2.4 - multiplying by the wall height to turn meters into sqm;
/6 -dividing by the number of sqm covered per Litre of paint;
* 2 - multiplying by the number of coats required;
/20 - dividing by the number of Litres per bucket to get the number of buckets required;
ceil(XXX) - (optional) to show the number of buckets by rounding up a decimal value to the next whole number.

Cornice and Skirting

Calculating cornice & skirting from within the same measurement:

1. Cornice - calculating the linear meter of cornice.

Formula: len

Breakdown:
len - the number of meters measured;
ceil(len) - (optional) to show the number of meters by rounding up a decimal value to the next whole number.

2. Skirting - calculating the linear meter of skirting.

Formula: len

Breakdown:
len - the number of meters measured;
ceil(len) - (optional) to show the number of meters by rounding up a decimal value to the next whole number.

Total Wall Area

This part is used to quantify the sqm of walls that need to be painted, commonly used where you have multiple measurements being used to quantify the same parts e.g. single sided walls 2.4m and double sided walls 2.4m

UOM: m2
Formula: len * 2.4

Breakdown:
len- the number of meters measured
* 2.4 - multiplying by the wall height to turn meters into sqm

The Final Measurement

For additional formula assistance, please see our Measurement Parts & labour FAQs or click on help and click send us a message to contact one of our team.

Calculating Door and Window Removal

Please make sure you are familiar with how to link parts & labour measurements in Groundplan

If your calculations include door and window removal, these would be calculated using additional measurements, any additional parts included in the first measurement would need to be added into these measurements using the same principles listed in the formula below:

There are four different ways to calculate door and window removal from your parts totals:

1. Count Measurement: - calculating a 2400mm x 2200mm sliding door to be removed from the Total Wall Area.

UOM: m2
Formula: - count * 5.28

Breakdown:
- making the total a negative number;
count the number of doors counted to be removed;
* 5.28 multiplying by the count by the smq of the door (2.4m * 2.2m = 5.28m2).

In the Quantities page, you will see how this negative count measurement deducts the total area of 2 sliding doors from the Total Wall Area.

2. Length Measurement - calculating a 1200mm high window from a measured length to be removed from the Wall Area Total

UOM: m2
Formula: - len * 1.2

Breakdown:
- making the total a negative number
len- the measured length of the window to be removed
* 1.2- multiplying by the window hight to get the smq total of the window

3. Area Measurement - calculating the area to remove from the Wall Area Total when measuring off elevation plans

UOM: m2
Formula: - area

Breakdown:
- making the total a negative number
area- the measured length of the window to be removed

4. Using a percentage - to allow 30% for door and window removal from the Wall Area Total when measuring walls on a 2D plan

UOM: m2
Formula: len * 2.4 * 0.7

Breakdown:
len the measured wall length
*2.4 multiplied by the wall height to get the square meters
*0.7 to get 70% of the total measurement, to allow for 30% wastage.