need help calculating square footage

A real Pro will just look and quote you, none of the sq. ft. BS. Get a real pro.

Punch your room dimensions into a calculator, height x (2x length + 2x width), subtract the rough guestimate of how much of the area is windows/doors (1/4, 1/3, 1/2, etc.). Buy 1/3 more paint than you need for the square footage given on the paint can (usually about 200 sq ft?). If you are running out before you are done, save at least 1/2 can of the color to mix with the next one so color blends.

Unless the windows are the majority of the wall, I would not take any deduct for windows or doors. Trim work is usually estimated by the lineal foot.

Nobody is going to figure your dimensions down to the inch. Round to next highest foot and multiply. For example, your first figure of 40" x 95" would be 4' x 8' = 32 SF. This will give you a good allowance for paint purchase and labor. You will need to add more labor and paint for trim work.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG

hard to figure

the actual wall

length + 2x

you need

just multiply and add up the pieces, devide by 144 to get square feet.

You are doing it the hard way. Measure the walls as if there were no openings and multiply. Then measure each opening and subtract from the whole. Figure your measurements to the nearest 1/2 foot.

you need to go back to the elementry school you went to, and demand they teach you the simple math they didnt last time around.

seriously... call the media. re-enroll. if you do maybe someone else wont have to go through life as you have without such a basic skill.

randy

And if he is quoting by the sq ft, he probably won't deduct for doors/windows.

Harry K

Doors and windows are not a deduction, but an Addition to wall painting. They have to be cut in individualy. Rolling is quick, real quick, brush work is slow. Painting just walls with no windows in a small room may take a few hours, cuting in wall paint around doors and windows and base and ceiling trim could add 4x the work And I am not talking trim paint, just walls . If a painter came to my house and started measuring, I would show him the door as I would know he is an amateur. Measuring is needed on large jobs, not rooms.

May piss you off, but he does have a point. You're looking at multiplication, addition and division. By fourth grade you should have been able to do this.

And locally, only commercial painters give you a square foot price, but it's the perimeter of the room times the height, not a bunch of bitty sections excluding windows and doors. Locally, residential is estimated by the room size. Though you may have a multi-story room for all we can tell.

Jeff