Trim & Door Painting Cost Calculator
Trim and doors are their own line — different sheen, lots of cutting-in. Price the trim by the linear foot and the doors by the each, add prep and a buffer, and get one planning cost from your own numbers.
100 lf of trim at $1.50/lf plus 6 doors at $50.00 each is about $495.00. Trim, baseboard and doors are often a separate line (a different sheen/enamel and a lot of cutting-in) — this is painting trim & doors, never installing them (windowcalcs/floorscalcs).
Calculator inputs
Trim and doors don’t price like walls, so they get their own tool. They usually take a different paint — a harder enamel in a satin or semi-gloss — and a lot of slow, careful cutting-in. The natural units are the linear foot for baseboard, casing and crown, and the each for doors (which are painted on both faces plus the edges).
So the estimate is two simple products added together: trim run × your per-foot price, plus doors × your per-door price, with the fiddly prep — filling nail holes, caulking, sanding glossy trim — broken out as add-ons. To measure the run itself, use the trim & baseboard linear-feet calculator first. This paints the trim and doors — it does not install them (that is windowcalcs / floorscalcs).
Formula
Two products plus prep, with a buffer:
total = (trim_lf × $/lf + doors × $/door + add‑ons) × (1 + contingency%)
- trim_lf — the run length of baseboard, casing and crown, not an area.
- $/lf — your painter’s per-linear-foot trim price.
- doors × $/door — each door painted on both faces and its edges.
- add-ons — filling, caulking, sanding and any extra jambs.
Worked example
100 linear feet of trim at $1.50 a foot, plus 6 doors at $50 each, no add-ons, 10% contingency:
(100 × $1.50 + 6 × $50) × 1.10 = ($150 + $300) × 1.10 = $450 × 1.10 = $495
About $495. The doors ($300) outweigh the trim ($150) here — a reminder that a door, painted properly on every face, is real work despite its small footprint.
Measure first, avoid re-orders
Measure the run, not the area. Trim is a linear-foot item — take the length of baseboard, casing and crown and add a little for miters and waste. The linear-feet calculator does that cleanly.
- Doors are priced each, and each is more than it looks. Both faces, the edges and often the jamb — a proper door takes prep, two enamel coats and dry time between them.
- Prep is where trim time hides. Filling nail holes, caulking gaps and sanding old glossy enamel is slow, exacting work — keep it visible as an add-on.
- Trim wants a harder finish. A satin or semi-gloss enamel is standard for durability and crisp lines — see the sheen selector if you are unsure.
- This paints trim and doors — it does not install them. New casing, doors or flooring trim is a carpentry job, priced elsewhere.
Reference table
Labeled cabinet planning bands — a sanity check only. You enter your real per-unit price; cost swings with door style, spray vs brush, the number of coats, degreasing and how much boxes/frames work is included.
| Basis | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Paint, per door or drawer front | $50.00–$100.00 |
| Paint, per sq ft of cabinet face | $30.00–$60.00 |
| Reface, per linear foot of run | $150.00–$350.00 |