How To Estimate Labor Cost For Painting?
Estimating labor for a paint job is part math, part site reading, and part local knowledge. If you manage a facility in Edmonton — especially a warehouse in Northwest Industrial, Strathcona, or near the Anthony Henday — getting the labor right means your project stays on budget and on schedule. This guide breaks the process into practical steps we use on real projects. You can use it to price a small office repaint or a full warehouse painting in Edmonton.
The focus here is straightforward: understand production rates, calculate surface areas, include prep and access, price materials and labor separately, and apply the right overhead and profit. Along the way, you will see how Edmonton-specific factors — winter humidity swings, concrete dust, forklift traffic, and high-bay access — add or subtract time. If you’d rather a professional handle it, Depend Exteriors can survey your site and give a firm, written estimate that fits your deadlines.
Start with the work type and building realities
Labor hinges on the scope. A drywall office repaint sets a different pace than a steel-deck warehouse ceiling. In Edmonton, we see five common scopes: warehouse walls, high-bay ceilings and structural steel, concrete block (CMU) walls, floor lines and safety zones, and office areas attached to warehouses. Each behaves differently.
Warehouse walls can be 8 to 14 metres tall with mixed substrates — CMU on the lower third, corrugated metal or insulated panels above. These heights affect access and coverage. High-bay ceilings include open web joists, purlins, and metal deck; overspray control and lift logistics drive labor. CMU block drinks paint on the first coat and needs proper block filler or heavy build primer. Floors require shot blasting and strict cure windows, which pace the crew. Offices introduce trim and doors and typically need better finish.
Edmonton warehouses often run busy. That means night work, phased areas, and coordination with forklift routes. All three add hours. Winter also matters. Cold bays slow cure times, and heaters or warm-up breaks change production. Keep these in mind before you calculate.
Measure surfaces the right way
Accurate square footage is the backbone of any estimate. Use a laser measure and a wheel for long walls. Work in sections if the layout is irregular and sketch as you go. For walls, take total linear metres times wall height, then subtract large openings. Do not waste time subtracting for regular racking gaps unless they exceed a third of the wall surface.
For CMU walls, measure block courses to confirm height. For corrugated metal or insulated panels, measure flat height, then add a small factor for profile if the corrugation is deep. For ceilings and structural steel, calculate the roof area for the deck, then estimate steel surface area by linear metres of joists multiplied by a surface factor. If you do not have drawings, count joist bays and spacing from the floor using a laser or camera zoom.
A quick rule for structural steel in older Edmonton warehouses: open web steel joists at 1.2 m spacing with 12 m runs often yield steel surface area equal to 1.1 to 1.3 times the floor area when you include joists, bridging, and minor steel. Newer tilt-up buildings with bar joists and flat deck often sit closer to 0.7 to 0.9 times. Treat these as starting points, then adjust after a test count in one bay.
Pick realistic production rates
Production rates describe how many square feet a painter covers per hour in a defined condition. They are not universal. They shift with access, height, substrate, and paint type. Use a baseline, then correct for the job.
For brush-and-roll on drywall or previously painted CMU under 4 m high, a typical pace is 150 to 250 square feet per hour per coat per painter. On raw CMU with block filler, cut that to 60 to 100 square feet per hour because block filler is heavy and slower. For airless spraying on clean, open walls with easy lift access, 500 to 800 square feet per hour per coat is realistic, but only if the crew can move without barriers and you have proper masking.
High-bay ceilings move slower. Spraying metal deck and open web steel with a lift often ranges from 80 to 200 square feet per hour per coat once you include lift repositioning, hose management, and overspray control. In Edmonton, heated work during cold months can drop productivity by 10 to 20 percent, especially near dock doors. Floors and lines are different again: after prep, line striping can move fast, but concrete preparation is labor-heavy, often surpassing the paint time.
Always clarify the coating. A zero-VOC acrylic sprays quicker than a high-build commercial interior painting Edmonton epoxy. Some intumescent or rust-inhibitive primers require strict mil thickness and slower passes. If the warehouse is active, cut your production rates again. We often apply a 15 to 30 percent slowdown for working around inventory, forklifts, or shared areas.
Account for prep time honestly
Prep is where labor hides. On Edmonton warehouse painting, the common prep tasks are power washing, degreasing, spot priming rust, patching holes, pole sanding, caulking control joints, and masking sensitive equipment. On ceilings, prep includes cleaning dust from steel and deck with blow-down and vacuum, and draping plastic over racking or production lines.
If a wall looks clean, still plan at least 10 to 15 percent of paint hours for light prep. For oily walls near loading docks, add degreaser and rinse time. For rusted structural steel near old unit heaters, budget for wire brushing or needle scaling and a rust-inhibitive primer. On CMU, plan for block filler if the first coat beads; without it, finish coats flash and look patchy.
Masking makes or breaks productivity. In warehouses with open racking, we often budget a full day for draping and sealing before any spray work. If your tenant can clear loading zones, you save hours. Ask for windows where the bay is empty and schedule around those windows.
Lift access, safety, and setup
Lift time is labor. Scissor lifts, booms, and swing stages require trained operators, safety checks, and battery charging or propane swaps. Every move and every descent to reset hose or refuel adds minutes that stretch into hours.
For a typical 8 to 10 m high bay in Edmonton, a 26 to 32-foot scissor lift handles most wall work. For ceilings and joists, a 45 to 60-foot boom lift is common. Indoors, electric booms avoid fumes but need clean concrete and more space; rough-terrain units help on gravel yards but may be barred inside. Include 30 to 60 minutes per lift per day for inspections and charging. Add a helper on the ground for hose management when spraying overhead; that person’s hours go into the labor pool even if they do not hold the gun.
Safety matters on the schedule. Fit testing and paperwork do not usually land on the paint day, but fall protection setup, daily toolbox talks, and spotters do. Budget 15 to 20 minutes per crew per shift for safety routines. In winter, budget more time for warm-up breaks, especially if dock doors remain cracked for ventilation.
A simple formula you can trust
Once you have area and production rates, the math is clear. Here is the framework we use on quotes in Edmonton:
- Area by surface multiplied by number of coats equals total coverage.
- Total coverage divided by production rate equals painter hours.
- Add prep, masking, access, and cleanup as a percentage or separate line.
- Multiply by labor rate per hour.
- Add supervision, travel, and overhead.
- Add profit.
Let’s run a real-world style example for warehouse walls:
Say you have 10,000 square feet of CMU wall at 8 m high. You want two finish coats and a primer on raw block.
- Coverage: 10,000 square feet times three coats equals 30,000 square feet.
- Production: block filler at 80 square feet per hour, each finish coat at 180 square feet per hour.
- Hours: 10,000 divided by 80 equals 125 hours for block filler. 10,000 divided by 180 equals about 56 hours per finish coat. Two finish coats equal 112 hours. Total paint time equals 237 hours.
- Prep and masking: light cleaning and masking baseboards along the CMU. Add 15 percent, which equals 36 hours. Total equals 273 hours.
- Lift and daily setup: add 20 hours for lift moves, inspections, and end-of-day cleanup. New total equals 293 hours.
Now apply labor rate. Edmonton commercial paint labor often ranges from 60 to 85 dollars per hour loaded, depending on WCB, payroll burden, and union or non-union. If we assume 70 dollars per hour loaded:
- Labor cost equals 293 hours times 70 equals 20,510 dollars.
You would still add materials, equipment rentals, overhead, and profit, but the labor portion is clear. You can adjust each variable to fit your case.
Materials influence labor
A gallon that covers 350 to 400 square feet per coat on smooth drywall may cover only 200 to 250 on raw block or rough corrugated. High-build primers reduce finish coats but take longer to roll or spray. Low-VOC and zero-VOC coatings behave well in occupied offices but sometimes need an extra pass on darker colors. Epoxies and urethanes for steel or floors require mixing time, induction time, and pot-life management, which shows up as lost minutes between batches.
Color changes add coats. If you go from charcoal to light gray, expect a primer-tinted coat plus two finish coats for a clean finish. That adds time and materials. On ceilings, white over stained or dirty deck may need a stain blocker or shellac spot primer to avoid bleed-through. Again, plan the time to switch products, change tips, and shield equipment.
Warehouse painting in Edmonton: local pacing
Edmonton buildings see freeze-thaw cycles that create hairline cracking on CMU and precast, especially near overhead door openings. Caulking takes time, and curing slows if temperatures are below 10°C. Schedule caulking earlier in the day or add heaters. Dust is the next issue. Winter sand accumulates on rafters and beams. If you skip a proper blow-down or vacuum, your finish will look gritty and your crew will lose time cleaning spatter from forklifts and pallets.
Access can be tighter than drawings suggest. Many industrial tenants in northwest Edmonton use mezzanines, conveyors, and high shelving. Plan narrow electric scissor lifts for these sections and expect slower movement. Where tenants cannot move racking, we budget small pick-arounds — short sections sprayed or rolled after draping toppers and walking boards. Those sequences are slower than open bays and deserve their own time block.
Permits and building rules may restrict painting hours. Larger parks near the Yellowhead often require hot work permits for certain prep methods, even for needle scaling rust. Arrange this upfront so your crew does not wait in the parking lot. Waiting eats labor.
Build an estimate step-by-step
Here is a tight checklist you can use before you assign a number:
- Walk the site with a laser measure and note substrate by section. Confirm heights, obstacles, and tenant operations.
- Decide on coatings per surface: primer, number of finish coats, and any specialty products like rust-inhibitive or block filler.
- Choose access gear and logistics: lift types, staging areas, and protection for equipment and inventory.
- Set production rates by surface and condition. Apply slowdowns for height, live operations, winter, and masking.
- Calculate hours: paint, prep, masking, setup/cleanup, and supervision. Multiply by your loaded labor rate.
If this sounds like a lot, it is the right amount of rigor for accurate pricing. A half-hour walk and a solid worksheet will save you thousands in change orders.
What does labor look like on a typical Edmonton warehouse?
Let’s compare two quick scenarios.
Open, empty warehouse during mild weather: Walls are 9 m high, CMU lower half and insulated metal panels above. Tenant moved out. You can spray freely, run two lifts, and stage in the middle.
- Production: wall spray at 700 to 800 square feet per hour for panels, 180 to 220 for CMU coats after primer.
- Crew: three painters with one ground helper.
- Hours: with two lifts rolling and no masking beyond windows and doors, you might finish in half the time compared to a live, full rack setting.
Live warehouse, high-bay, winter schedule: Inventory stays. You work nights with ventilators on dock doors.
- Production drops: 15 to 30 percent reduction from ideal.
- Extra time: significant masking, slower lift movements, frequent stops for forklift traffic, longer cure windows.
- Crew: same headcount but fewer square feet per shift.
These differences are where estimates win or lose. The math may be clean, but your assumptions about the site must be honest.
Labor rate and burden in context
Your hourly labor rate should include wage, employer payroll taxes, vacation/stat pay, WCB premiums, small tools, and benefits. In Edmonton, that loaded rate often lands between 60 and 85 dollars per hour for commercial painting crews. Supervisory time may be a separate line or built into the rate; either way, track it. If you plan a foreperson on a laptop handling toolbox talks, material orders, and paperwork, those hours are real. For short, small jobs, a minimum call-out of four hours per painter is standard and should be in the math.
Do not forget mobilization. A two-hour drive to Nisku or St. Albert plus a lift pickup and drop can consume an entire morning across two people. For small jobs, consider a mobilization fee rather than burying those hours in the rate; clients accept clarity when they see the moving parts.
Estimating ceilings and structural steel
Overhead work is where many estimates come undone. The combination of overspray risk, lift time, and visibility means crews must move methodically. If the ceiling is dirty, schedule a full blow-down day with vacuums and compressed air. That day counts as labor even if no paint flies. For paint application, map your passes bay by bay. A painter on the boom focuses on the edges and joist chords while a helper manages hose, keeps distance from inventory, and watches for obstructions.
For a 25,000 square foot warehouse with open web steel and metal deck, a fair baseline for a single uniform coat might be 150 to 200 square feet per hour including lift moves and hose control, assuming decent access and draping. Add a second coat if you want higher reflectance or need to bury staining. If you need an intumescent fireproof coating or a high-solids epoxy, slow down further and plan for cleanup of guns and lines. Each changeover steals time; better to run one product per shift.
Office areas within warehouses
Offices need a different touch. Expect more cutting-in, more doors and frames, and higher expectations on finish. Production rates dip because there is less open roll area and more prep on trim. If your warehouse project includes a 3,000 square foot office, budget 120 to 180 square feet per hour per coat for walls, plus time for doors, frames, and baseboards. Many Edmonton offices use semi-gloss on trim and eggshell on walls. Switching sheens means washing rollers and tray liners, which adds a small but real time cost. Protect carpet and vinyl plank floors carefully; pull base only if damaged.
How to treat change and unknowns
Even with a strong walkthrough, surprises arrive. Hidden leaks behind racking leave efflorescence on CMU. Unseen grease in a corner blows into the spray pattern. Old coatings alligator under new paint. Build a contingency line in your hours. Five to ten percent is reasonable on warehouses. Note any known risks in your proposal — “ceiling dust removal prior to paint included for open areas; heavy oil contamination near dock 3 priced as allowance” is the kind of sentence that saves arguments later.
Weather is another unknown. If ventilation demands leaving dock doors open, curing slows in January. If you paint steel too cold, adhesion suffers. The safest approach is to plan weather windows for larger sections and slot office painting or lower walls for cold nights.
Pricing for map-pack and local search reality
If you are comparing quotes around warehouse painting Edmonton, check that the estimator used realistic production rates, included lift time, and visited the site. A low number that ignores masking or winter slowdowns often grows once work starts. A clear, Edmonton-aware quote should mention:
- Access plan with lift types and draping strategy.
- Surface prep steps for CMU, steel, and deck.
- Coating system by surface and coat count.
- Working hours that fit your operation and any night premiums.
Depend Exteriors writes this into every proposal, so you know where each hour lands.
A full example: Labor breakout on a mixed-scope job
Picture a 15,000 square foot warehouse in south Edmonton with 8 m walls, open web steel ceiling, and a 2,000 square foot office. The tenant stays open but clears one bay per night. We need one prime and two finish coats on CMU and panels, one coat on deck, line repaint in the shipping area, and a full repaint of the office.
Walls:
- CMU lower 3 m: 6,000 square feet. Primer at 80 square feet per hour equals 75 hours. Two finish coats at 180 square feet per hour equals 67 hours. Total equals 142 hours.
- Metal panels above: 9,000 square feet. Two coats spray at 700 square feet per hour equals 26 hours. Add cutting edges and touch-ups equals 6 hours. Total equals 32 hours.
- Masking and prep for walls: heavy draping for racking and equipment equals 35 hours.
Ceiling and steel:
- Roof area roughly equals floor area. Use 15,000 square feet. One uniform coat at 160 square feet per hour equals 94 hours. Blow-down prep equals 24 hours. Hose management helper equals 40 percent of painter hours equals 38 hours. Total equals 156 hours.
Office:
- Walls: 2,000 square feet of wall surface per coat three coats at 150 square feet per hour equals 40 hours.
- Doors/frames/base: 8 doors and 120 linear feet base equals 12 hours.
- Patching and caulking equals 6 hours.
Lines and safety zones:
- Dock lines and stencils: two dock positions, 200 linear metres total. With layout and two coats, equals 10 hours including cleanup.
Daily setup, lift inspections, and end-of-shift cleanup across two weeks: 20 hours. Supervision and coordination: 18 hours.
Add a winter slowdown factor of 15 percent to ceiling and wall spray because of night ventilation and cold: add 28 hours.
Total hours:
- Walls equals 142 plus 32 plus 35 equals 209 hours.
- Ceiling equals 156 hours.
- Office equals 58 hours.
- Lines equals 10 hours.
- Setup/supervision equals 38 hours.
- Winter factor equals 28 hours. Grand total equals 499 hours.
At 72 dollars per loaded labor hour, labor cost equals 35,928 dollars. That number matches the lived constraints: live operation, cold nights, high-bay spray, strong masking, and mixed substrates. If the tenant vacated and we painted daytime in June, hours would drop by 15 to 20 percent, and labor falls into the high 20s.
How to reduce labor without hurting results
You can manage labor by managing conditions. Open bays in larger blocks; each uninterrupted run saves lift moves. Clear the floor and top racks where possible; even a 1 m pull-back from the wall strips hours of careful rolling. Approve colors early and give us time to tint and stage materials. If the deck is very dirty, schedule the blow-down day ahead of paint and keep forklifts off that bay until paint is done; fresh dust ruins fresh paint.
Also match coating to substrate. Block filler where needed, then use a high-hiding acrylic that covers in two coats rather than a cheap paint that needs three. On steel, a single-coat DTM product with good hide can replace a primer plus topcoat system for cosmetic jobs; for corrosion zones, stay with the rust-inhibitive primer and plan the hours.
Clear, local pricing from Depend Exteriors
If you want a straight answer on warehouse painting Edmonton, call Depend Exteriors. We walk your site, measure with you, and show you how the hours stack up. You will see the labor for prep, masking, lifts, spray vs. roll, office vs. warehouse, and winter allowances. You will also see options. Some clients phase the work by bay; others close for a weekend and let us flood the site with two crews. Either way, your labor math will line up with your calendar.
Our team works across Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Nisku, and Acheson. We handle CMU walls, steel and deck ceilings, tenant turnovers, floor lines, and attached offices. We carry WCB, use certified lift operators, and coordinate with building managers. If you need a fast quote for a lease signing or a detailed scope for a capital plan, we can turn both around quickly.
Ready for a dependable number?
Send a few photos and rough wall heights, or ask for a site visit. We will provide:
- A written labor estimate with production rates and hours by surface.
- An access and masking plan that suits your operations.
- A schedule that fits your busiest periods and Edmonton weather.
Estimating labor for painting is not guesswork once you break it into surfaces, rates, and site conditions. With the right walkthrough and a local lens, your budget will hold. If you want that done for you, Depend Exteriors is here to help.
Depend Exteriors provides commercial and residential stucco services in Edmonton, AB. Our team handles stucco repair, stucco replacement, and masonry repair for homes and businesses across the city and surrounding areas. We work on exterior surfaces to restore appearance, improve durability, and protect buildings from the elements. Our services cover projects of all sizes with reliable workmanship and clear communication from start to finish. If you need Edmonton stucco repair or masonry work, Depend Exteriors is ready to help.