Do you run out of paint half way through your job? Or do you have gallons of paint left over when you are finished? Don't know how much paint you need to paint your room with? Do you need a paint calculator?

Then follow these simple tips and you will be able to accurately calculate how much paint you need for your job.

First you will need to calculate the area of the room you wish to paint. With a normal rectangular room, which has normal sized doors and windows;

Measure the length and width of each wall that you wish to paint. Round off the numbers that you get to either the nearest foot or half meter. Add together the lengths of the walls you want to paint. Measure the height of the room, from skirting to cornice. Then multiply the room height by the total length of your walls, the result will be the area of your walls in either square meters or square feet.

From your total, subtract 1.5 square meters or 16 square feet, for each window and 2 square meters or 22 square feet for each door.

If you have a room that has an unusual shape, then you need to measure the height and width of each wall separately and then multiply these numbers together for each wall.

If you have a triangular section, which often happens when you have stairs, measure the width and height of the triangular section, multiply the numbers together and then halve the result for the total square meters for that wall.

Remember this is for only one coat of paint, you will need to double these figures to allow for two coats of paint.

Four litres of paint will cover approximately 64 square meters with a single coat.
One Gallon of paint will cover approximately 640 square feet with a single coat.

Who needs a paint calculator, when you can quickly do it yourself!