Whole house paint calculator
Repainting a whole house? Rough math: a 2,000 sq ft home needs ~12 gallons interior + ~8 gallons exterior + 2 gallons trim — about $700 to $1,800 in paint depending on brand. The inputs below return your gallons plus a real per-gallon price for any of 15 brands. For the full paint-plus-labor total, use thecost calculator.
How the whole-house total adds up
Interior wall area runs about 2.25 times a home's floor area, so a 2,000-square-foot house has roughly 4,500 square feet of interior wall. Exterior wall is perimeter times height times stories. Each surface is divided by its own coverage rate — about 388 sq ft per gallon for interior body, 350 for exterior, 425 for semi-gloss trim — then multiplied by its coats. The calculator handles the three buckets separately and bundles them into one purchase plan.
Quick reference numbers
- 1,000 sq ft home: ~6 gal interior + ~4 gal exterior + ~1 gal trim
- 2,000 sq ft home: ~12 gal interior + ~8 gal exterior + ~2 gal trim
- 3,000 sq ft home: ~18 gal interior + ~12 gal exterior + ~3 gal trim
Budget and phasing the work
Paint alone for a 2,000-square-foot repaint is roughly $700 to $1,400 in premium product; hiring the job out can reach $4,000 to $10,000 inside and $1,500 to $4,000 per 1,000 square feet outside, because labor is 70 to 85 percent of a contractor bill. Don't try to do interior and exterior at once. Exterior needs dry weather above 50 degrees for several hours, so it is a warm-season job; interior can happen any time. DIY crews spread it over a season, while a contractor compresses the same work into about two weeks.
Paint cost by brand
Paint cost is gallons × price per gallon, and coverage is similar (about 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon) across the major interior lines, so the price tier is what moves your bill. These are current per-gallon prices for the brands the calculator can price for you:
| Brand & line | Price / gal | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Backdrop Interior Standard | ~$59/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Marquee | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Dynasty | ~$65/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Ultra | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Premium Plus | ~$33/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Aura | ~$80/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Regal Select | ~$64/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Ben | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Ultra Spec 500 | ~$40/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| C2 Paint LUXE | ~$82/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| C2 Paint Studio | ~$70/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| C2 Paint LoVo | ~$65/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Clare Wall Paint | ~$54/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Diamond Vogel Avalon | ~$48/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Diamond Vogel Assure | ~$36/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Diamond Vogel Artistry | ~$42/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dunn-Edwards Everest | ~$67/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dunn-Edwards Suprema | ~$60/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dutch Boy Platinum Plus | ~$38/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dutch Boy Dura Clean | ~$35/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dutch Boy Forever | ~$30/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dutch Boy Pristine | ~$46/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion | ~$120/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Farrow & Ball Modern Emulsion | ~$140/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Farrow & Ball Dead Flat | ~$130/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Glidden Diamond | ~$37/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Glidden Premium | ~$22/gal | 350 sq ft/gal |
| Glidden Essentials | ~$18/gal | 350 sq ft/gal |
| Glidden High Endurance Plus | ~$28/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Infinity | ~$46/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Showcase | ~$38/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Ovation Plus | ~$33/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit ONE | ~$40/gal | 388 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit PRO | ~$52/gal | 388 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit NEO | ~$65/gal | 425 sq ft/gal |
| Magnolia Home Interior | ~$50/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Portola Paints New Standard | ~$80/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Timeless | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Diamond | ~$36/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Manor Hall | ~$55/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Speedhide | ~$28/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG UltraLast | ~$48/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Rodda Horizon Interior | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Rodda RESIST-X | ~$58/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Emerald | ~$74/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Duration Home | ~$70/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Cashmere | ~$60/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint | ~$60/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams ProMar 200 | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Valspar Reserve | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Valspar Signature | ~$40/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Valspar Simplicity | ~$22/gal | 350 sq ft/gal |
Run the calculator, pick a brand and line in the result panel, and it multiplies your gallons by that product's price for an exact paint cost. Prices are US averages and vary by region and retailer.
What it costs to paint a house
For a 2,000-square-foot home, a DIY interior repaint is mostly material: about $700 to $1,800 in paint and supplies for roughly 12 gallons of body color, 2 gallons of trim, and the rollers, tape, and drop cloths to go with it. Add the exterior and you are looking at another 8 gallons of paint on top.
Hiring it out is where the bill jumps. A professional interior repaint of a 2,000-square-foot house typically runs $3,000 to $7,500, at about $2 to $6 per square foot, because labor is 60 to 70 percent of the cost. A full exterior repaint adds roughly $1,500 to $4,000 per 1,000 square feet of wall. For a full breakdown with labor by region, use thepaint cost calculator.