How much paint do I need?
The total amount of paint required to do your paint job, is an equation:
Total surface area (m2) x Spreading rate (m2/Ltr.) x Coats/layers of paint
Step 1 - Calculate the total surface area you wish to paint.
Step 2 - Find the paint’s spreading rate.
Step 3 - Evaluate how many coats your wall would need, in order for the new paint to fully cover the old paint or the plaster.
Step 4 - Divide the ‘square footage’ of the surface (step 1) with the ‘spreading rate’ of the paint (step 2), and multiply with the ‘number of coats’ (step 3). This gives you the amount of paint you need to buy.
Read an example below
Step 1: How to calculate the square footage of the surface area
Measure the length of the wall.
Example: Length of wall: 9,5 mtr.
Measure the height of the wall
Example: Height of wall: 2,5 mtr.
Multiply the length by the height of the wall. This gives you the square footage of the wall.
Length x Height = Square footage (m2)
Example: 9,5 mtr x 2,5 mtr = 23,75 m2.
Measure the length and height of doors and windows on the wall.
Example: Door
Length: 0,9 mtr.
Height: 2 mtr.
Example: Window:
Length: 2 mtr.
Height: 1,2 mtr
Multiply the length and height of the door, and the window. This gives you the square footage of each door and each window.
Example: Door:
Length x Height = square footage
0,9 mtr x 2 mtr = 1,8 m2
Example: Window:
Length x Height = square footage
2 mtr x 1,2 mtr = 2,4 m2
Subtract this square footage of each door and window from the square footage of the wall.
This gives result of STEP 1, the total square footage of the surface you are about to paint
Example: Square footage of wall = 23,75 m2.
Subtract the square footage of door = 1,8 m2
And subtract the square footage of window = 2,4 m2
23,75 - (1,8+2,4) = 19,55 m2
So the result of STEP 1, total square footage you need to paint, is 19,55 m2.
Step 2: Find the paint spreading rate
The spreading rate of Blēo paint is 8-10 m2/L.
So result of STEP 2, is that 1liter of Blēo paint covers 8-10 m2.
Step 3: Evaluate how many coats your wall would need
Surfaces differ. Some are old and have been painted several times before. Other surfaces are new; newly plastered walls or untreated wooden doors for instance. Such new surfaces need either to be primed before painting, or be painted several times before the surface is fully saturated and the paint looks even.
We recommend priming a surface properly before painting, when necessary. See our guide on when and how to prime here.
The result of STEP 3 is: 2 coats if the surface you wish to paint is primed properly, or 3 coats, if the surface is very textured, dry, has never been painted or primed before or is already painted in very dark colours.
Step 4: Calculate the amount of paint
Divide the ‘square footage’ of the surface (step 1) with the ‘spreading rate’ of the paint (step 2), and multiply with the ‘number of coats’ (step 3). This gives you the amount of paint you need to buy.
Example:
Square footage: 19,55 m2
Spreading rate: 8-10 m2/L
Number of coats: 2
19,55 m2 / 8m2 pr. L x 2 = 4,8 L
19,55 m2 / 10m2 pr. L x 2 = 3,9 L
So, in this example, result of STEP 4 is that we need between 3,9-4,8 Liters of paint for our wall.
Blēo paint comes in 2 Liter and 5 Liter containers, so in this example you will need 2 containers of 2 L.