Walk the rooms, bid it before the next one.
You've got the room sizes, the trim footage and the door count on your notepad. Redline turns that into a priced bid with prep, coats and a deposit to buy paint, then keeps it in front of you until the homeowner answers.
From walkthrough to final payment
Walk the rooms
Wall and ceiling square footage, trim and baseboard footage, doors, windows, and the condition: patching, peeling, stains that need primer. Note the year the house was built.
Message it room by room
Redline lays out each surface at your rates, with prep and primer as their own lines and the number of coats on each.
Give them a choice
Walls only, walls and ceilings, or the full room with trim and doors. Good, better and best, each with its own total and a deposit percentage.
Follow up, because they're comparing
Painting is competitive. Set a reminder for three days out, and watch the pipeline card turn amber at 7 days in Quoted.
Deposit, paint, punch list, final
Invoice the deposit when they say yes (Solo and up). After the final walkthrough and punch list, invoice the balance, with any color change or extra coat added to the amount.
Three rooms, bid on site
That's about 1,280 sq ft of wall and 476 sq ft of ceiling. Three drafts for Lena Ortiz, one per option:
Good walls, 2 coats, patching, $2,480
Better plus trim and 6 doors, $3,610
Best plus ceilings with stain-block primer on the dining stain, $4,350
35% deposit on each. Save them?
Saved to the Ortiz file, and both colors are noted there.
Quotes by chat work on every plan. Example prices only.
What's on a painting estimate
| Line | Unit | Why it's separate |
|---|---|---|
| Prep: patch, caulk, sand, scrape | per sq ft or flat | The part that varies most house to house |
| Primer | per sq ft | Stains, new drywall or big color changes |
| Walls | per sq ft | Coats noted on the line |
| Ceilings | per sq ft | Often the option they add |
| Trim and baseboards | per linear ft | Measured along the run |
| Doors | each | Both sides or one, say which |
| Paint | per gallon | Brand, sheen and color, or included |
| Furniture moving and protection | flat | So it's not a surprise |
Two things that cost painters money
The first is the color mix-up. The homeowner said Agreeable Gray in the kitchen and Repose Gray in the hall, and by the time the crew shows up nobody remembers which was which. Put the color schedule on the job in Redline and it's there when you or the crew look it up.
The second is the final payment. The balance waits on the walkthrough, and the walkthrough waits on a punch list. Invoice the balance from the job the day the punch list is done, with a card pay link, and the overdue alerts at day 3, 7 and 14 tell you if it's sitting.
Straight answers on painting bids
Redline does
- Turn room sizes and counts into a priced bid
- Work out wall and ceiling area when you ask (check it before saving)
- Good, better and best options with a deposit
- Keep color schedules in the job notes
- Invoice the balance after the deposit (Solo and up)
Redline doesn't
- Calculate gallons from a paint spread rate on its own
- Show the homeowner colors on their walls
- Keep lead-safe (RRP) records for older homes
- Let the homeowner accept the bid online
- Text the bid or the pay link (email it from your Gmail)
Questions contractors ask
Does it figure out how much paint I need?
Not on its own. It knows the square footage you gave it. If you want a gallon line, tell it your coverage and coats and check the number it comes back with.
How do I bill the change order when they switch colors mid-job?
Bill it on its own ("invoice Lena $280 for a third coat in the hall"), or tell Redline to add it to the balance. A chat invoice is one amount with a one-line description, so the $280 goes into the total and the description names it.
Can I bid exteriors the same way?
Yes. Siding by the square foot, trim and fascia by the foot, with washing, scraping and priming as prep lines. When rain moves the start, push it by chat. Quoting is free; deposits and invoices need Solo at $29 a month.
More for painters
Bid the next house before you leave it.
Redline is free to start. Send the rooms and it builds the bid.
Keep reading
- Painting softwareRoom-by-room quotes, deposits for paint, colors on the job and the final after walkthrough.
- Remodeling estimate softwareFixed scopes plus finish allowances, in finish-level options with a deposit.
- Quotes and estimatesItemized quotes by chat or from a photo, with a deposit. Options and tax in the composer.
- Drywall softwareBook trips around drying time, quote by finish level and chase slow-paying GCs.