Guide · painting takeoff

How to measure painting quantities from plans

Avo estimating team · Last checked against the sources below on 19 October 2026

Measure paint by surface, not by floor area: walls (the lined area less tiled walls), ceilings, and doors, frames and skirting as counts or linear metres — each with its coating system. If you already have a plasterboard takeoff, most of the paint quantities come straight from it.

Paint by surface

Floor area is a poor proxy: ceiling heights, wet areas and tiling all change the paintable area. Measure each surface and keep the systems apart, because a ceiling, a wall and a door frame take different products, coats and labour.

Walls and ceilings from the board takeoff

Painted walls are the lined walls less tiled areas; painted ceilings are the ceiling board areas. Work from the same room-by-room numbers so the two trades agree.

Doors, frames and skirting

Count doors per face (an internal door is painted both sides). Skirting is the room perimeter less the door widths, in linear metres, if it is in your scope — many jobs leave it out, so say which.

Coating systems

AS/NZS 2311:2017 Guide to the painting of buildings is the reference guide to paint products and procedures; where no specific standard applies, it points to the manufacturer’s recommended specification. Price each system separately. The plasterboard level of finish also matters — see the levels of finish guide.

Worked example

Using the made-up ground floor from the plasterboard guide, with 12.0 m² of tiled wall in the bathroom and tiled skirting in the bathroom.

Made-up example — not a client project.
Line	Working	Quantity
Walls	105.60 standard + (22.02 − 12.00) bathroom	115.62 m²
Ceilings	11.88 + 5.04 + 22.68 + 5.76	45.36 m²
Skirting	Bed 1 12.98 + Living 18.38 + Hall 9.54	40.90 lm
Doors	3 doors × 2 faces	6 faces

From quantities to a price

Apply your own rates to each line, then check the total against the hours you expect the job to take. Rates vary too much by region, product and access for a guide to give you one.