Labor cost to paint a 12x12 room
- Labor cost for the room
- $265.16
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Painting hours
- 4.98
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Total labor hours including prep
- 6.98
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Labor cost per square foot of wall
- $0.59
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
Every figure here comes from the numbers you enter and the method stated beside it: your own wall area, your own coats, your own crew's production rate, your own fully loaded labour cost. This site publishes no book rate for painting and no price list. What a job should sell for in your town is your figure, not ours.
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The figures above start from a worked example ($265.16). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Labor cost to paint a 12x12 room worked example (CSV)
This worksheet costs the labor in a room from your own figures: the wall area you measured, how many coats it is getting, the rate your crew actually rolls at in square feet an hour a coat, the prep hours the room really needs, and what an hour of your labor truly costs you once employer costs and non-billable time are in it. It gives you painting hours, total hours including prep, the labor cost for the room and what that comes to per square foot of wall.
Labor cost to paint a 12x12 room: common questions
Why 448 square feet for a 12 by 12 room?
A 12 by 12 room with 8 foot walls has a 48 foot perimeter, and 48 times 8 is 384 square feet of wall, plus the 144 square foot ceiling if you are painting it. The default sits between the two because most rooms lose some wall to openings and gain some to a ceiling; measure yours and replace it.
What production rate should I put in?
Whatever your crew actually achieves, measured on a room you remember, in square feet an hour a coat. Cutting in and rolling differ enormously, and this single input changes the answer more than any other on the page, so a borrowed figure is worth correcting the first week you can time a job.
Why is the labour cost an hour higher than what I pay?
Because the number that matters is fully loaded: the wage plus payroll taxes, insurance, holiday, and the hours the crew is paid for but not on a wall. Estimating against the payslip figure is the commonest way a painting business finds it worked a full week for nothing.
Does this include paint?
No, it is labor only. On interior repaints labor is most of the number, so the room worksheet keeps it separate; the painting cost calculator adds gallons, coverage and paint price to give a full job cost and a price.