For homeowners with an interior painting quote, or a job to get quoted
Have a person read your painting quote.
Walls, ceilings, trim or cabinets. Send the quote you have, or describe the job if you have none yet. A person at finalist.cc, which we run, reads it and writes back by email.
See a sample note on an interior repaint quote
No painter list here. This site publishes no list of painters. We do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors.
- Quote in hand: a benchmark note
- What the quote includes, what is missing or vague, the arithmetic, questions to send back to the painter, and a plain scope so a second quote prices the same job.
- No quote yet: a scoping document
- What the job is, the measurements still needed, what a bid should price line by line, and the questions painters will ask. You send it to painters yourself.
Elevation A Dining room, one wall
- Ceiling flat
- Walls eggshell
- Trim and doors semi-gloss
- Cabinets satin
Illustration. A common sheen for each surface, not a rule.
What happens next
The forms live on finalist.cc, the desk that writes the notes. This site is one door into it for interior painting.
- You send it. Paste the quote into the form on finalist.cc, or say it is a PDF or a photo and we ask for the file when we reply. No quote yet? Describe the rooms and surfaces instead, or use the checklist form on this page.
- A person reads it. Someone at finalist.cc reads it against a standard interior painting scope: prep, primer, coats, sheens, which surfaces and which rooms.
- You get a note by email. A benchmark note on your quote, or a scoping document for a job not yet quoted. If photos would help, we ask for them in the reply.
- You decide who sees it. We do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors, and we take no payment from contractors for referrals.
Before you ask for quotes: the interior painting scope checklist
Painters usually price the ceiling, the walls, the trim and the cabinets separately, because the prep, the paint and the hours differ. This is what each one involves and what a painter will ask you about it. A quote that skips one of these questions is worth asking about.
| Surface | Usual sheen | What a painter will ask |
|---|---|---|
| Ceilings | Flat | How high, since stairwells and vaulted ceilings need taller ladders or scaffolding. Any texture, such as popcorn. Water or smoke stains, which need a stain-blocking primer before the finish coat. |
| Walls | Matte or eggshell; satin in kitchens and baths | How many rooms and how tall. How much patching. Whether the color changes a lot, since going from dark to light can take an extra coat. What furniture stays in the room. |
| Trim and doors | Semi-gloss or satin | How many doors, and one side or both. Roughly how many feet of baseboard, casing and crown. Whether the old trim paint is oil-based, because latex over oil needs a bonding primer. |
| Cabinets | Satin or semi-gloss | How many doors and drawer fronts. Wood, laminate or thermofoil. Whether the doors come off to be sprayed elsewhere or get brushed in place. Whether the cabinet boxes and insides are part of the job. |
The sheen scale
Sheen is how much light the dry paint gives back. Each step up wipes cleaner and shows more of whatever is under it. Below is one color at six sheens, with the same window reflected in each.
-
Flat
Goes on ceilings, and walls with dents, patches or strong light from the side.
Hides the most, and touch-ups blend in. Marks easily and doesn't like scrubbing.
-
Matte
Goes on bedrooms, living rooms and dining rooms.
Nearly as forgiving as flat. Many matte paints take a gentle wash.
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Eggshell
Goes on living areas, halls and family rooms.
A low glow that wipes clean. Shows a little more of the wall than matte.
-
Satin
Goes on kitchens, baths, kids' rooms and busy halls, and trim or cabinets if you want less shine.
Stands up to scrubbing. Roller marks and patches show more.
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Semi-gloss
Goes on trim, doors and cabinets.
Hard and washable. Every dent and brush mark underneath shows.
-
Gloss
Goes on cabinets, railings, furniture and doors meant to stand out.
The toughest and the shiniest. Needs near-perfect prep.
Hides flaws, touches up wellWipes clean, shows every flaw
Names drift between brands: one maker's eggshell can be another's satin. Put a sample on the wall and look at it in daylight and at night before a whole room gets two coats.
Measure a room
Your tape measure, simple geometry: the wall area less doors and windows, the ceiling, the baseboard run, and how much paint covers it. No prices. You don't need it to send a quote. It helps you check the square footage a quote is based on, or put sizes in the checklist form below.
| Walls before doors and windows | 416 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Less 1 door and 2 windows | 51 sq ft |
| Walls to paint | 365 sq ft |
| Ceiling | 168 sq ft |
| Baseboard | 49 ft |
| Wall paint, 2 coats | 2.09 gal buy 2 gal 1 qt |
| Ceiling paint, 2 coats | 0.96 gal buy 1 gal |
Paint to buy is rounded up to the next quart. Keep a little of each color for touch-ups.
Your rooms
| Room | Size | Walls | Ceiling | Baseboard | Paint to buy | Remove |
|---|
Send this checklist for a scoping document
No quote yet? Fill in the rooms and surfaces here instead of on finalist.cc. It goes to the same desk.
Who reads it
A person at finalist.cc, which we run.
What you get back
An email with a scoping document, or questions first if something is unclear: what the job is, the measurements still needed, what a bid should price line by line, and the questions painters will ask. If photos would help, we ask for them in the reply.
Where it goes
To finalist.cc and nowhere else. We do not send your request or your details to contractors. You send the scoping document to the painters you choose.
Have a quote already? Send it for a benchmark note. We don't sell your details. The privacy page says what we keep and why.
Questions
Who reads what I send?
A person at finalist.cc, which we run. That person reads your quote or job description and writes the note or the scoping document, and replies by email.
Will you send my job to painters?
No. We do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors, and we take no payment from contractors for referrals. You decide who sees the note or the scoping document.
Do you do the painting, or find me a painter?
No to both. We are not a painting company, and this site publishes no list of painters. What you get is a written note you can use with the painters you choose.
Will this get me more bids?
We don't promise any. The scope in the note lets a second painter price the same job as the first, so two quotes can be read side by side.
Is this for outside painting too?
No. This site is for inside work only: walls, ceilings, trim, doors and cabinets. Siding, decks, fences and outside trim are a different job. Outside work goes to House Painting Directory: housepainting.directory.
Do I need measurements?
No. Room names are enough to start. The note lists the measurements a painter will still need, and the room calculator on this page works them out from a tape measure.
Why do you ask whether the rooms are lived in?
Furniture, floors and people add work: moving and covering things, protecting what stays, and working a room at a time. An empty home or a unit between tenants is a different job.
Can you tell me what it will cost?
No. We don't publish prices or say whether a price is fair. A benchmark note checks what the quote includes, what it leaves out and whether its arithmetic adds up.
My home was built before 1978. Does that matter?
Yes, so say so in the notes. Homes built before 1978 may have lead-based paint under newer coats. Paid work in one that disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface in a room generally falls under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, which requires the firm to hold the EPA's lead-safe status. Ask any painter whether theirs does.
Words painters use
- Cutting in
- Brushing a straight edge where a wall meets the ceiling, the trim or another color, before the roller fills in the rest.
- Sheen
- How much light the dry paint reflects, from flat to gloss. See the sheen scale.
- Primer
- A first coat that seals new drywall and patches, blocks stains, or helps paint grip a glossy or oil-based surface.
- Flashing
- Dull or shiny patches where filler or a touch-up takes paint differently from the wall around it. Priming the patches first prevents it.
- Lap marks
- Stripes left by rolling over paint that has started to dry. Painters keep a wet edge to avoid them.
- Level 5 finish
- A thin coat of joint compound over the whole drywall surface, so walls lit from the side or painted in a higher sheen look even.
- VOC
- Volatile organic compounds, the solvents that evaporate as paint dries. Low-VOC and zero-VOC paints give off less of them.
- Dry and cured
- Paint is dry to the touch in hours but reaches full hardness over days or weeks. Go easy on scrubbing and on hanging things until then.
Detailed interior painting scope guides
Read our surface-specific checklists for cabinet refinishing, drywall repair, and room staging before comparing bids.
- Kitchen & Bathroom Cabinet Painting Quote Guide Degreasing, oak grain filling, bonding primers, spraying doors off-hinge vs brushing in place, and cabinet enamels.
- Drywall Patching, Skim Coating & Interior Paint Prep Nail pops, settlement cracks, plumbing cutouts, spot priming to stop flashing, and Level 5 skim coating.
- Painting Occupied Homes vs Empty Rooms Scope Guide Furniture moving, floor protection, closet interiors, hardware removal, and room-by-room staging.