How long to paint a room?

[Uwe K.]

Just curious about those who do their own painting. How long does it take you to paint an avg. size room. Let's assume:

- a 10x12 room
- ceiling one color, with a simple piece of moulding in the same color
- walls a different color
- 2 windows, 2 doors, cutting in
- two coats needed
- not including painting baseboards and casing and prepping all done. No primer needed. Brush and roller, no spraying.

I am just finishing up a SFR that I couldn't spray. So I wanted to do a statistically irrelevant survey among BP DIYers.

[Bill Briscoe]

"In most cases, it's the prep work that takes the longest. Once the prep work is done, painting is the easiest part! "

Prep work depends on how dirty/damaged the walls are, whether the room is empty, etc.

If it is a clean room in good shape and you just want to change the color, just unscrew the outlet covers, throw down a cloth and go.

[Greg King]

A day for a bedroom? Lol.

I painted my bedroom in 4 hours with a weenie roller & brush, two coats. And it was a full of stuff.  Then again, I'm a contractor.

[Steve S.]

A full day is not measured in daylight hours or an 8 hour shift! A full day starts with the job and doesn't end til it's done!

But a 10 x 12 room should take no longer one full day that includes ALL prep and cut work. The previous advice about getting good paint is true. You don't want to cheap with paint. Another item, you don't want to go cheap with the roller! A good roller will make the job a whole lot easier. I personally look for something that will hold a decent amount of paint in it and provide good coverage without pilling.

Don't bother with tape. It's a complete waste of time and money. A good angle hand brush and a steady hand and a touch of practice and you should be good. For cutting I usually dip the brush in a tray of paint, touch the brush approx 1.5 inches above the cut line, push into the brush a little, lightly release then move the brush down to move the wet bead from the brush down to the cut line and run the wet bead along the cut line and once you get the knack you can really do a good and fast cut in.

Cut a door or window I can do in approx 10 min. So two doors and two windows that's 40 min. Cut the ceiling for a room that size is approx 30 minutes.

I would do the ceiling coat (40 minutes) the cut for the windows and doors, the cut for the ceiling, 1st coat (1 hour) wait approx 3 -4 hrs and do the second coat (1hour).

Total painting time approx 4 hours, Total time on the job 8+ hours at a good working pace. On the drying time for the walls I generally do the molding but you need a really good steady hand.

[Gilbert Dominguez]

I think that there is no need to over think this nor feel its going to be a precision scientific project. Just take a common sense approach. What would you do on a tyipal week end project and how long would that take? More or less a day or even 2 so what? Anyway it is not a complicated task. However, you do want to get good finishes and if you have not done it before then realize you are not an expert but also it is not something you can not learn to do well on your own, might need some practice at first but doing is learning.

Like someone else said they tried it and gave up after 2 days. Still remember you are working on an investment property so it may be worth it to give it the time required to learn and if what you learn is that this task is better left to professionals then that is what you learn., no biggy.

Don't think that you need to get a task like this done in the same time someone else can or does, just do your best and go from there. Eventually you wil come to a decision, either this task is something you can easily take on yourself or that for all intended purposes it is best left to a professional., again no big deal.

[Max T.]

Originally posted by @Gilbert Dominguez:

I think that there is no need to over think this nor feel its going to be a precision scientific project. Just take a common sense approach. What would you do on a tyipal week end project and how long would that take? More or less a day or even 2 so what? Anyway it is not a complicated task. However, you do want to get good finishes and if you have not done it before then realize you are not an expert but also it is not something you can not learn to do well on your own, might need some practice at first but doing is learning.

Like someone else said they tried it and gave up after 2 days. Still remember you are working on an investment property so it may be worth it to give it the time required to learn and if what you learn is that this task is better left to professionals then that is what you learn., no biggy.

Don't think that you need to get a task like this done in the same time someone else can or does, just do your best and go from there. Eventually you wil come to a decision, either this task is something you can easily take on yourself or that for all intended purposes it is best left to a professional., again no big deal.

 Gilbert you are responding to 4-5 year old posts. The guy has painted the room by now.

[Matthew Paul]

Tenants can paint a room in  2 or 3 hours all 6 surfaces 

[Don Meinke]

I KNOW this is an old post come back to life.  When people look for answers these posts are timeless.

Back in my prime before I became older than dirt I set out to paint a 4 room apartment.  That was walls and ceilings, paint AROUND doors and windows cause all trim was varnished great quality oak.  I was disappointed it took 4 hours for four rooms, all myself, no help.

On exterior house painting I painted the whole house in 8 hours.  AND no I don't own nor ever owned a paint sprayer.  It was done the hard way.  I tried to give the whole house a second coat in 4 hours but didn't make it cause somebody wanted to talk a bit.  Think I was 30 minutes over.

The LARGEST house I ever painted took 60 gallons of semi solid color stain.  The most amazing  Feat was I was painting the west side of narrow lap siding.  It was a windy gusty day.  Neighbor (maybe too loose of term) living in the next door east home comes running over to say I got paint on his wife's white car.  He said rub your hand over the window.  Couldn't see it but window had something like tree sap or maybe she drove past the highway strippers.  He "INSISTED" his car had to be completely detailed.  My insurance  didn't argue, they paid it but sure I paid in the end.  Didn't know you could paint one house and get paint to fly 2 houses over with a paint brush.  Just think of what I could paint with a sprayer. lol...

[Christopher Steele]

I budget 100sqft an hour but like everything "it depends" as noted in the wide range of answers to this one.  

[Susan M. Mendrysa]

Get a good angled brush and forego the tape.  Taping just sucks up a lot of time.  I need to do more touch up after taping than if I did not tape in the first place.  Practice cutting in free hand.  I am also lazy and have painted enough that I also don't bother with drop clothes.  I just slide over the furniture as I move around the room.