Detail work is the slowest painting there is per square foot, and it is priced differently from walls. Cabinets and doors go by the unit. Baseboard, crown molding and handrails go by the linear foot. Windows go per window, because the mullions drive the time far more than the glass area does. None of it is priced by wall area, which is why these calculators are separate from the room calculators.
Pick the item you are painting from the list below.
Pick your item
| Calculator | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Cabinets | Priced per door and drawer front, not by area. The slowest work per square foot. |
| Interior doors | Per door per coat, including both faces and the edges. |
| Baseboard | Linear feet of skirting, with the cut-in against wall and floor. |
| Crown molding | Linear feet at height, so access matters as much as length. |
| Stair spindles | Per spindle. Fiddly, slow, and consistently underpriced. |
| Handrails | Linear feet of rail, usually a fine finish that needs light sanding between coats. |
| Windows | Per window, with mullions driving the cut-in time far more than glass area. |
| Wainscoting | Panel area plus the rails and stiles, which carry most of the labour. |
Why detail work is priced per unit
A door is roughly the same job every time. It has two faces, four edges, a frame and a set of hardware, and painting it properly takes a fairly predictable number of hours per coat regardless of how big the room is. The same is true of a cabinet door, a window and a spindle. Once a job is predictable per item, counting items is more accurate than measuring area.
Linear items work the same way. Baseboard and crown molding vary in profile but not much in the time per foot, so a linear rate holds up well. What changes the rate is the profile complexity and the cut-in either side, not the surface area of the moulding itself.
The cut-in is the job
On walls, most of the area is rolled quickly and only the edges are slow. On detail work almost everything is an edge. That is the whole reason a small amount of trim can take longer than a large wall, and it is why painters who price trim by converting it to square footage consistently underprice it.
Cabinets deserve their own warning
Cabinet painting is the most commonly underpriced work in the trade. The visible area is small, so the instinct is to treat it as a quick job. In practice it involves degreasing, removing and labelling doors and hardware, sanding every surface, priming with an adhesion primer, applying thin coats of a hard wearing enamel, waiting properly between them because cure time is not dry time, and then rehanging and adjusting everything.
The finish is also judged at close range, in a room where people stand still and look at it. That standard is much higher than a wall gets, and meeting it takes time. If you are quoting cabinets commercially, read cabinet painting estimate alongside the calculator.
Spindles, windows and the fiddly end
Stair spindles are priced per spindle for good reason: a staircase with forty of them is a genuinely long job with very little measurable area. Windows are similar, and a multi pane sash with slim glazing bars can take several times as long as a single large pane of the same overall size. If either of those is on your job, count them rather than estimating.
Product choice matters more here
Trim, doors and cabinets take more handling and more wear than walls, so they usually want a harder finish rather than a wall paint. Sheen also behaves differently on a narrow profile than it does on a broad flat surface, and a finish that looks right on a wall can look wrong on a moulding. The paint sheen guide covers the trade offs, and priming questions are handled in do I need primer before painting.
If you are quoting this for a customer
Detail work is where the gap between a cost and a price matters most, because the hours are high relative to the materials. That means your labour rate carries almost the entire job, and an inaccurate burden figure does more damage here than anywhere else. Start with painting labor burden, sanity check the shape of the bid with painting labor vs material ratio, and use the contractor pricing calculators to build the final number.
Coverage and production, item by item
Detail work is priced by the unit or the linear foot rather than by area, and the production rates below are why. These are the figures the calculators on this page use.
| Surface | Coverage (sq ft per gallon) | Measured in | Brush or roller rate | Spray rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen cabinets | 250 | per item | 0.75 hr per item per coat | not sprayed |
| Interior doors | 250 | per item | 0.5 hr per item per coat | not sprayed |
| Baseboard | 250 | linear feet | 110 lf/hr | 240 lf/hr |
| Crown molding | 250 | linear feet | 65 lf/hr | 120 lf/hr |
| Stair spindles | 250 | per item | 0.25 hr per item per coat | not sprayed |
| Handrail and banister | 250 | linear feet | 45 lf/hr | 90 lf/hr |
| Window sash | 250 | per item | 0.35 hr per item per coat | not sprayed |
| Wainscoting | 250 | square feet | 90 sqft/hr | 200 sqft/hr |
Read the last two columns rather than the first. Coverage barely moves across these surfaces, because they nearly all take the same trim enamel at 250 square feet per gallon. What moves enormously is the rate of work.
The numbers that explain why cabinets cost what they do
Cabinets run at 0.75 hours per door per coat. An interior door is 0.5. A stair spindle is 0.25, which sounds trivial until a staircase has forty of them.
Multiply those by two coats and a typical kitchen and the labour is the entire job. The paint is a rounding error. That is the single most useful thing to understand before pricing or accepting a quote for cabinet work.
Crown molding against baseboard
Both are linear, both take the same product, and they are not the same job. Baseboard runs at 110 linear feet an hour; crown molding at 65. The difference is height and the fact that crown is cut in against a ceiling you are trying not to touch. Pricing them at one rate underprices every ceiling line in the house.
What each item will catch you out on
| Surface | What to watch for |
|---|---|
| Kitchen cabinets | Priced per door and drawer front, not by wall area. A 24 front kitchen is a different job from a 40 front kitchen regardless of room size. |
| Interior doors | Priced per door, counting both faces plus edges. Roughly 40 sq ft of painted area per door. |
| Baseboard | Measured by the foot along the wall. Caulking the top edge is what makes baseboard look finished and is most of the prep. |
| Crown molding | Slower per foot than baseboard because it is overhead work on a ladder with two cut lines, one to the wall and one to the ceiling. |
| Stair spindles | Priced per spindle. Small area, very high labor, because every spindle is a full wrap by brush. |
| Handrail and banister | Slow per foot. A handrail is a full wrap with a finish that has to be smooth to the touch, so it is usually sanded between coats. |
| Window sash | Priced per window. Divided lights multiply the time, since every muntin is cut in by hand. |
| Wainscoting | Panelled walls take far longer than flat walls of the same area. Every panel has inside corners that are cut in by brush. |
Frequently asked questions
Why is trim priced by the linear foot instead of area?
Because the time per foot is fairly consistent regardless of the profile width, while the surface area is not a useful guide to how long it takes. Almost all of the work on a moulding is cutting in and finishing edges, so length predicts labour better than area does.
How long does it take to paint a door?
It is measured per door per coat, covering both faces, the edges and the frame, plus removing and refitting hardware. The exact figure depends on condition and finish, which is what the interior door calculator asks for. What matters is that you count doors rather than trying to convert them into square footage.
Why is cabinet painting so expensive?
Because the visible area is small but the process is long: degreasing, removal and labelling, sanding every face, adhesion priming, several thin coats of a hard finish with proper waits between them, then rehanging and adjusting. It is also judged at close range, so the standard is far higher than a wall. It is the slowest work per square foot in the trade.
Do I count windows or measure them?
Count them. Glazing bars drive the cut-in time, so a multi pane sash can take several times as long as a single large pane covering the same opening. The window calculator prices per window and asks about the panes for exactly that reason.
Can I use wall paint on trim and cabinets?
It is not a good idea. Trim, doors and cabinets take handling and wear that walls do not, so they want a harder wearing finish that levels well and cures properly. Wall paint on a high traffic edge tends to mark, chip and show brush texture sooner.
Are these calculators free?
Yes. Every calculator on the site runs in your browser with no signup, no email and nothing to install.
Why are cabinets priced per door instead of by area?
Because a door is a repeatable unit of work at about 0.75 hours per door per coat, and that holds whether the door is large or small. Area is a poor predictor here, since almost all the time goes on degreasing, sanding, edges and handling rather than on covering surface.
Is crown molding really slower than baseboard?
Substantially. Baseboard runs at about 110 linear feet an hour and crown molding at about 65, because crown is worked at height and cut in against a ceiling. Pricing both at one linear rate underprices every ceiling line in the house.