Interior painting gets quoted two ways and the units are not comparable.
Per square foot of floor — $2.00–6.00, the figure in most published guides. Per square foot of wall and ceiling — $0.90–2.20, what a painter actually works to.
A 2,000 ft² house has roughly 6,400 ft² of paintable surface, so the two figures describe the same job. Quote in the wrong unit and a bid looks half price.
What the scope covers
| Scope | Per ft² of floor | 2,000 ft² house |
|---|---|---|
| Walls only, one coat over similar color | $1.60–2.60 | $3,200–5,200 |
| Walls only, two coats | $2.20–3.40 | $4,400–6,800 |
| Walls + ceilings | $2.80–4.20 | $5,600–8,400 |
| Walls + ceilings + trim + doors | $3.60–6.00 | $7,200–12,000 |
| Full scope + color change to dark | $4.50–7.50 | $9,000–15,000 |
The step from walls to full scope roughly doubles the price, and it is almost entirely labor. Trim and doors are a small fraction of the surface area and a large fraction of the hours — a single six-panel door is a quart of paint and most of an hour, twice.
Materials against labor
| Line | Share |
|---|---|
| Paint and primer | 12–18% |
| Sundries — tape, plastic, caulk, filler, sandpaper | 3–5% |
| Labor | 78–85% |
That ratio is the single most useful fact in this whole topic. Choosing a $28 paint over a $58 paint on a 2,000 ft² house saves roughly $450 on a $9,000 job — 5% — and if the cheaper paint needs a third coat anywhere it costs more than it saved.
Buy the better paint. It is not where the money is.
The seven things that move a bid
1. Color change. Similar shade over similar shade may cover in one coat. White over dark, or any saturated color, is two coats and often a tinted primer — three coats' worth of labor unless the primer is used.
2. Wall condition. Nail holes, patches, old wallpaper adhesive and previous bad repairs are prep hours. Prep is the line that varies most between bids and the one least visible when comparing them.
3. Ceiling height. Above 9 ft means staging. Vaulted ceilings and open stairwells can add 25–40%.
4. Occupied or empty. Painting around furniture, moving it, masking floors and working around a household adds 15–30%. An empty house is materially cheaper and worth scheduling for.
5. Trim quantity and profile. Crown molding, wainscot and multi-piece casings are brush work by the linear foot. A house with plain 3 1/4 in base and flat casing is a different job from the same house with millwork.
6. Number of colors. Every additional color is another cut-in, another setup, another cleanup. Two accent walls can add a day.
7. Sheen. Higher sheen is less forgiving of surface flaws and of application, and it takes longer to lay off properly. Flat, eggshell and satin do not cost the same to apply.
What a fair bid looks like
For a 2,000 ft² occupied house, full scope, two coats on walls, one on ceilings, brushed trim:
| Line | |
|---|---|
| Prep — patch, caulk, sand, mask | 3 days |
| Ceilings | 2 days |
| Walls, two coats | 4 days |
| Trim and doors | 4 days |
| Labor, 2 painters × 13 days | ~208 hours |
| @ $45–65 / hr loaded | $9,360–13,520 |
| Materials | $1,200–1,600 |
That lands at the top of the published range, which is why bids well under it usually mean one coat, no ceilings, or minimal prep. Those are legitimate scopes — they just need saying out loud.
Reading three bids
Ask each one for the same four things: how many coats on the walls, are ceilings included, is trim included, and what prep is in the price. Bids that differ by 40% almost always differ on one of those four rather than on rate.
Then ask how they charge. Per hour against per room changes who carries the risk when the prep turns out worse than it looked, and on an older house that is the real variable.
Doing it yourself
Materials for a full-scope 2,000 ft² house run $1,200–1,600 — plus $200–350 of tools if starting from nothing. Against a $9,000 quote, the saving is real and so is the time: figure 80–120 hours for a competent amateur doing the same scope.
The half worth hiring out, if any, is the ceilings and the trim: ceilings for the staging and the neck, trim because brush work is where an amateur job shows.