Painting Estimating Services & Takeoffs Painting numbers that cover the job.
A dedicated painting estimator, working as part of your shop — surface prep, primer and finish coats, interior and exterior, and high-performance coatings, with quantities and unit rates benchmarked to the live market and your own completed jobs. Full-time, part-time, or as-needed.
15 days of free estimating is available to qualified contractors, subject to approval. If you choose to continue afterwards, service moves to a quarterly agreement (3-month term) that renews each quarter until cancelled — full-time, part-time, or as-needed.
- 600+estimators
- 140,000+jobs estimated
- 45 states+ D.C. & PR · Canada · Australia
- 50+trades & scopes
Hiring an estimator is slow, expensive, and risky.
Or have a dedicated estimator on your bids in under 7 days.
Hiring in-house
| 12,435 | open estimator positions across the US — everyone is competing for the same people |
|---|---|
| 3–5 months | typical time to hire an estimator |
| $50,000 | typical cost of a bad hire |
| $100K–$120K | estimator salary, plus benefits, payroll taxes, and overhead |
| 20–25% | typical recruiter or placement fee, charged on first-year salary |
With Bidding Enterprise
- A fraction of the in-house costNo salary, payroll tax, benefits or recruiter fees
- One simple monthly paymentNo benefits to pay. We handle payroll and expenses; it's all included in one monthly payment
- No placement feesZero recruiting or placement fees
- Free replacementNot the right fit? We swap your estimator at no cost
- QA team includedQA and technical managers at no extra cost
- Start within 7 daysYour estimator onboards in about a week
- Your hours, your time zoneWorks your schedule and reports directly to you
Fully managed and AI-enabled. Hiring, training and coverage are handled by us; Build Intel and Dexter speed up the work, and your estimator and our QA team check every output.
Market figures are typical industry estimates and vary by region and role.
Every painting scope, quantified and priced.
Interior, exterior, or industrial — we quantify the prep, the primer, and the finish coats by surface and system, then price it so your bid is both competitive and defensible.
Surface prep
Sanding, patching, caulking, pressure-wash, and abrasive blast — quantified by surface and condition, not lumped into labor.
Primer & finish coats
Primer, intermediate, and finish coats by system — gallons at real spread rate with second-coat and touch-up accounting.
Interior & exterior
Walls, ceilings, doors, frames, trim, and soffits inside and out — with sheen, color-change, and access factored in.
High-performance & industrial coatings
Epoxy, urethane, DTM, and intumescent systems — mil thickness, multi-coat builds, and cure windows.
Drywall level coordination
Finish-level checks and skim-coat callouts so the painted result matches the spec — flagged before it's a callback.
Protection, masking & labor
Masking, poly, floor protection, staging, and realistic crew hours by surface — not just material counts.
Paint calculator.
Rough your gallons and pails in seconds. A quick planning check — your dedicated estimator delivers the full, drawing-based takeoff.
Paint quick estimate
A bid-ready deliverable — not a wall of numbers.
Clean, organized quantities and pricing you can drop straight into your bid, with assumptions and exclusions spelled out. Sample below (illustrative only).
| Description | Qty | Unit | Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09 91 00 — Painting | ||||
| Interior walls — prime + 2 coats | 62,000 | SF | $1.05 | $65,100 |
| Ceilings — flat, 1 coat | 18,600 | SF | $0.85 | $15,810 |
| Doors & frames — enamel | 140 | EA | $85 | $11,900 |
| 09 96 00 — High-Performance | ||||
| DTM — exposed structural steel | 8,400 | SF | $2.10 | $17,640 |
| Epoxy floor coating — mech rooms | 3,200 | SF | $3.75 | $12,000 |
| Estimated subtotal | $122,450 |
One package, or your whole painting desk.
Bid more, hire less
Chase every painting package without adding seats. Extra capacity when you're slammed, or a dedicated estimator who learns your crews and rates.
Cover your self-perform
Independent painting numbers to check subs, carry self-perform scope, and level bids apples-to-apples.
Quote with confidence
Paint and coating quantities pulled straight from the plans, so your quotes match the job.
Build your painting estimating team.
Tell us your trade and the bids you're chasing. Book a free 1-hour pre-construction assessment — we'll review your process; assessment and setup take about an hour, and your estimator is typically on your bids in under 7 days.
Qualified contractors get 15 days of free estimating — your dedicated estimator works your live bids at no cost, full-time, part-time, or as-needed.
Or reach us: Estimate@Biddingenterprise.com · 718-717-2729
Painting estimating services — common questions
What does a painting takeoff include?
A painting takeoff covers surface prep, primer and finish coats, interior walls and ceilings, doors and frames, exterior surfaces, and high-performance coatings. We measure by surface type and finish schedule, count coats per spec, and price production rates to your crews and market, with inclusions and exclusions clearly listed.
What software do your painting estimators use?
Any of the 100+ tools you already run. Our painting estimators work natively in your software, templates, and cost data — PlanSwift, Bluebeam Revu, and STACK are common examples — and deliver in your format, ready to drop into your bid. Your team also gets Build Intel, our AI-assisted estimating software for drawing review and QC checks.
Can I hire a part-time painting estimator?
Yes. Many clients start with a part-time or as-needed painting estimator and move to full-time as their bid list grows. Your estimator is dedicated to your company, trained on your standards and past bids, and backed by our QA and management, so you can chase more painting packages without hiring, training, or covering PTO yourself.
How fast can you start painting estimating for us?
Most clients finish the free assessment and setup in about an hour, with their estimator typically on their bids in under 7 days. We review your painting scope, software, and the bids you're chasing, then map the estimator or team we'd assign. Timelines for individual bids depend on project size and drawings, so we agree on them bid by bid rather than promising a fixed turnaround.
Is your painting estimating AI-enabled?
Yes. Every painting estimating team we build works with Build Intel, our AI-assisted estimating software, and Dexter, our AI co-estimator, which reads drawings and specs and gives cited answers. AI speeds up the first draft; your dedicated estimator checks every quantity and our QA team reviews the work before it reaches you. You review and approve the final bid.
How fast can I get an estimator?
Typically in under 7 days. The free assessment and setup take about an hour; then we match a dedicated estimator trained for your trade, and most clients have that estimator on their bids in under 7 days. It is a good-faith target, not a guarantee — timing depends on your trade, software, and bid volume.