No homeowner wants to spend anymore the unnecessary on a deck project. Even when we are talking about buying a couple of gallons of paint!
Thankfully, though, estimating just how much deck paint you need is lot easier today than ever before. As a general rule of thumb a single gallon of paint is going to give you about 400 ft.² of coverage – no matter what kind of deck paint you’re rolling with.
From there all you really have to do is figure out the square footage of your deck (and a couple of other things we highlight below) and you are off to the races.
How Much Does a Gallon of Deck Paint Cover?
Though this isn’t a universal standard across the board – some paint manufacturers offer a little better coverage than others – the general rule of thumb for a gallon of deck paint coverage sits at about 400 ft.².
Sometimes you can stretch that a little bit. Maybe squeeze 450 ft.² out of a single gallon of paint.
Most of the time, though, you’re going to come in at 400 ft.² or and up being a little “light” – maybe around 350 ft.² or so.
Again, couple of different factors play a role here. Not least of which is the type of paint that you are using.
Thicker, heavier paint is going to require a little less paint to give you the kind of coverage you are looking for. Thinner paint is going to roll a lot easier but you may have to go back over it a couple of times – and that means you are adding more paper square foot to the equation as well.
Dial in Your Deck Paint Estimate
Armed with the inside information below, though, you’ll be ready to dial in your deck paint estimate with some real accuracy.
Measure Everything (Twice)
This whole project needs to kick off with you first measuring the square footage of your deck accurately.
Grab your tape measure, go out and run some lines, and after you have come up with your square footage numbers (length times width) you want to go back out and measure again.
Confirm that you have the right square footage number and you can move on to the next step.
Get Your Gallon Per Square Foot Count
While deck finishers recommend going with the “rule of thumb” of 400 ft.² of coverage for each single gallon of deck paint, the truth is that the manufacturer of the paint that you are purchasing for the project will be able to give you a much better idea of what you’re working with.
You don’t have to reach out to the manufacturer directly, though.
This information is almost always printed pretty prominently directly on the paint can itself.
If you’re having a tough time finding the square footage or coverage number, though, don’t be shy about talking to the paint specialists at your local hardware store or wherever you are purchasing the paint in the first place.
The paint experts there will be able to clue you in on how to find the paint coverage number or will be able to give you a ballpark figure based off of their own experience and expertise.
Once you get your gallon per square footage coverage down you can divide your total deck square footage by that gallon per square footage number and now you know how many gallons to get.
Right?
Wrong!
Double Up!
Even if you go with a combination primer and paint (which a lot of the best deck paint options are these days) it’s still a good idea to get your hands on double the amount of paint you needed for a single coat.
For one thing, you’re probably going to end up using the little more paint than you expect per square foot and you don’t want to skimp or cut corners.
Doubling up gives you a lot of extra for over, guaranteeing that the initial coat is picture-perfect even if the second coat has to be a little thinner in spots.
Worst comes to worst, you’ll always have a little bit of extra deck paint in reserve that you can use for touchups. You can also use that paint to color match in the future if the manufacturer discontinues the paint color that you used originally.
Always Round Up
Finally, it’s always (and we mean ALWAYS) a better idea to round up your square footage number than it is to round down when estimating.
A lot of people like to try to cut this estimate as close to the “real number” as possible.
Maybe they are working with a deck that has 780 ft.² and they are dead set on buying just enough paint to get that job done (doubling it up with our advice, though).
That means that their final figure would be 1560 ft.², a number that they would want to round up to 1600 ft.² just to make things easy – and to guarantee plenty of extra paint left over just in case.
Using our 400 ft.² of coverage for each gallon of paint “rule of thumb” highlighted earlier this 1600 square-foot job would require exactly four gallons of paint.
It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Closing Thoughts
Sure, each and every manufacturer (and often different types of paint and different paint formulas) will have different “real” square-foot coverage for each gallon of paint they sell.
You can find that information prominently printed on the can or online. You can also get this information from the paint expert at the hardware store that you are buying the paint from, too.
Of course, in a pinch you can also go with the “400 ft.² of coverage for a gallon of paint” Golden Rule that professionals in the deck painting world live by every single day.
Just remember to measure twice to get your accurate square footage number, double it for a second coat of paint, and always round up if you want to do easy math and guarantee that you have a little bit of extra paint left over for projects in the future.
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