Square Foot Pricing Myth – Still

People love to ask how much we charge per square foot of floor area. Anyone in the trade has heard it endlessly. The answer is simple. We do not paint floors so we do not price painting by square foot of floor area.

Residential work is where this question usually shows up. Commercial contractors rarely ask it because they know how pricing actually works. Smaller painters often get caught in this trap. They are told you can have the job if you can do it for a dollar per square foot of floor area. They accept. They lose money. Then they wonder how it happened. It happens because they never knew their real cost and they assumed the general contractor did. The general contractor does not.

Here is why floor area pricing collapses the moment you run real numbers.

The Numbers

Assume your actual cost to paint drywall walls and ceilings averages $0.85 per square foot of painted surface area.

Room – 12 X 15 = 180 SF Floor Area

Ceiling area is 180 SF.
Wall area (54 LF) X 8′ high is 432 SF.
Total painted area is 612 SF.
Cost is 612 X $0.85 = $520.20.
Floor area is 180 SF.
$520.20 ÷ 180 = $2.89 per SF of floor area.

Room – 14 X 18 = 252 SF Floor Area

Ceiling area is 252 SF.
Wall area (64 LF) X 8′ high is 512 SF.
Total painted area is 764 SF.
Cost is 764 X $0.85 = $649.40.
Floor area is 252 SF.
$649.40 ÷ 252 = $2.58 per SF of floor area.

Room – 8 X 6 = 48 SF Floor Area

Ceiling area is 48 SF.
Wall area (28 LF) X 8′ high is 224 SF.
Total painted area is 272 SF.
Cost is 272 X $0.85 = $231.20.
Floor area is 48 SF.
$231.20 ÷ 48 = $4.82 per SF of floor area.

Results

Room 12 X 15 = $2.89 per SF floor area
Room 14 X 18 = $2.58 per SF floor area
Room 8 X 6 = $4.82 per SF floor area

Same production rate.
Same materials.
Same method.
Three completely different floor area prices.

There is no relationship at all. Larger rooms drive the floor area SF price down. Smaller rooms drive it way up.