How Long Does It

Take to Paint a Room

I know you didn’t come here to hear a basic answer like, “it depends,” so I have collaborated a list of how long it would most likely take 1 painter to paint a typical room based on 3 skill levels and 4 different difficulties. After 25 years of on hands experience and daily research in the painting trade, I was able to put together some graphs to visualize the time differences between the skill levels and difficulties.

How long does it take to paint a room?

"Basically we are looking at anywhere from 4 hrs to 22 hrs depending on skill level and room difficulty."

The Room: The room condition will affect how long it takes to paint a room. Our example room is a full paint job with white ceiling and white semi-gloss trim and doors. The ceiling and walls are the same color in the beginning but the job gets more difficult as the scenarios increase.

L-10’ x W-10’ x H-8’
2 doors and 2 windows
1 light fixture/ center of the ceiling

Scenarios: The furniture, prep, and wall color will affect how long it takes to paint a room.

1- Empty room with no prep and using only 1 color for the ceiling and walls.

Furniture- 0/3
Prep- 0/3
Color- 1

Professional- 4 hrs

Intermediate- 7 hrs

Beginner- 11 hrs

3- Average amount of furniture with a decent amount of prep, and using 2 colors. White ceiling and custom color walls.

Furniture- 2/3
Prep- 2/3
Color- 2

2- Some small furniture with little prep and using only 1 color for the ceiling and walls.

Furniture- 1/3
Prep- 1/3
Color- 1

Professional- 5.5 hrs

Intermediate- 9.5hrs

Beginner- 14 hrs

4- Cluttered and heavy furniture with a lot of prep and using 1 color on the ceiling, 1 color on walls and also an accent wall color.

Furniture- 3/3
Prep- 3/3
Color- 3

Professional- 8.5 hrs

Intermediate- 12.5 hrs

Beginner- 17 hrs

Professional- 10 hrs

Intermediate- 14.5 hrs

Beginner- 21 hrs

Factor That Impact How Long it Takes to Paint a Room:

More Than 4 Walls
Product
Drying Time
Crown Molding
Chair Railing
Wainscoting

Type of Doors
Type of Flooring
Number of Painters
Season
Temperature
And More

To answer the question, how long does it take to paint a room this is the closest and most simple answer. We could get into how long it take to perform each task by the sq.ft. and linear length but that's too much detail for just a room.

"Wall Painting 101"

"How to Paint a Room in 5 Steps"

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