Paint takeoff for paint stores. Gallons by system, from the finish schedule.
Paint takeoff for paint stores turns a painting contractor's plans into the material a store quotes: walls, ceilings, doors and trim measured by substrate and finish system, primer and finish coats in gallons, and the tape, plastic and roller covers each system uses. Below you will find the painting recipes as a calculator, a table of a coatings order, our view on substrates, and a CSV of the recipes.
Try the order-list calculatorClients include
Can a paint store get a coatings list from the plans?
Yes. Ruh measures surfaces by substrate and finish system with the opening deductions the set states, and turns each into material: primer and finish coats in gallons, block filler on masonry, metal primer and enamel on doors, and the tape, plastic and roller covers each system uses. Fourteen painting recipes ship with it, open to edits, and there is no charge for the first takeoff.
- painting and wallcovering recipes to start from
- 14
- material lines in the painting recipes
- 56
- a full takeoff on a painting set
- 1st takeoff free
How much paint does new drywall take?
About 0.0029 gallons of primer and 0.0057 gallons of finish per square foot in the app's starting recipe for two coats of eggshell, roughly 350 and 175 square feet per gallon, plus 5 percent waste. Type an area or a door count to see gallons and sundries.
1. Pick a starting recipe
Interior wall paint, new gypsum board, primer and 2 coats latex eg-shel, roll
Order list for 20,000 square feet of Interior wall paint, new gypsum board. A sample input: change it to the quantity on your set.
| Material | Per SF | Quantity | Waste | With waste |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Latex drywall primer, interior (PVA type)How it is builtOne coat at 350 SF/gal (ProMar 200 Zero VOC primer PDS: 350-400 SF/gal at 4 mils wet). 1 / 350 = 0.0029 GAL per SF | 0.0029 GAL | 58 GAL | 5% | 60.9 GAL, incl. 5% waste |
Interior latex, eg-shel, contractor gradeHow it is builtTwo coats at 350 SF/gal (ProMar 200 Zero VOC eg-shel PDS: 350-400 SF/gal at 4 mils wet). 2 / 350 = 0.0057 GAL per SF | 0.0057 GAL | 114 GAL | 5% | 119.7 GAL, incl. 5% waste |
Painter's masking tape, 1-1/2 in x 60 yd rollHow it is builtOne 180 LF roll per 1,000 SF of wall (cut lines at base, frames and ceiling): 1 / 1,000 = 0.001 | 0.001 EA, whole units | 20 EA | None | 20 EA |
Polyethylene drop sheeting, 4 milHow it is builtFloor and fixture protection at 10 % of the wall area | 0.1 SF | 2,000 SF | None | 2,000 SF |
Roller covers, 9 in x 1/2 in napHow it is builtOne cover per 500 SF over three coats | 0.002 EA, whole units | 40 EA | None | 40 EA |
Each line is the measured quantity times the recipe’s factor. Lines the recipe marks as whole units, such as sheets, boxes and hangers, are rounded up before waste, the way the app rounds them. Round the with-waste figure up to whole pieces when you build the order.
What this cannot tell you: colors and product lines by room. Coatings come in gallons by finish system, so colors, sheens and brand choices still come from the finish schedule, and spread rates are starting values to check against the product data sheet.
What does a coatings order carry?
Surface area by system, and the substrate picks the system. Each row places a surface on the set and shows the gallons and sundries it needs.
| Part of the order | Where it is on the set | How it is taken off | What it becomes on the order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interior walls | Finish schedule and elevations | Square feet by substrate and system, openings deducted as stated | Primer and finish coats in gallons, tape, plastic and roller covers |
| Ceilings | Reflected ceiling plan and finish schedule | Square feet by system | Primer, ceiling paint and masking film |
| Masonry walls | Finish schedule and wall types | Square feet of block | Block filler and finish coats |
| Doors and frames | The door schedule | Counted by type | Metal primer and enamel per door, tape and sandpaper |
| Trim | Finish schedule and elevations | Linear feet | Primer and enamel |
| Floors and specialty coatings | Finish schedule and specifications | Square feet | Epoxy or sealer systems and prep |
Typical practice, not a standard. Finish systems and products follow each job's specification.
What do stores get wrong about paint quotes?
Our opinion: Paint gets quoted from one square footage and one spread rate, and the substrate gets ignored. Block soaks up filler: in the app's starting recipes a CMU wall takes about 0.013 gallons of block filler per square foot before any finish coat, more than four times the primer on new gypsum board. A store that reads the finish schedule by substrate quotes the right products in the right amounts. A store that quotes one rate for every wall ships too much of one product and not enough of another.
What it does and does not do
What it does today
- ✓Measures surfaces by substrate and finish system from drawing PDFs
- ✓Keeps walls, ceilings, doors, trim and prep on separate lines
- ✓Turns each measured surface into primer, finish coats and sundries
- ✓Prices from your own price list first, with the source on every line
- ✓Exports as PDF, CSV or JSON
What it does not do
- Color schedules by room
- Matching a line to a brand's product
- Purchase orders
- Reading a reply or a quote back into the list
- Links to your ERP or point-of-sale system
Your first paint takeoff is free.
Send a painting set your store needs to price, and the takeoff is free. The painting recipes also come as a CSV.
In a customer’s own words
“Ruh helped us win a job during the demo, so we saw value before we even became a client.”
Ben MorlinJ&S Excavation- takeoffs delivered to 29 contractors across 15 trades
- 45
- US, Canada and the UK, Jun to Oct 2026
- starting recipes in this supply line, yours to edit
- 14
- 56 material lines between them
- for every output, the material list included
- PDF, CSV
- and JSON for your own systems
Questions paint stores ask
Answers on substrates and gallons for paint stores.
What is paint takeoff for paint stores?
Paint takeoff for paint stores is measuring the painted surfaces on a set of plans by substrate and finish system so a store can quote the primer, finish coats and sundries. Ruh measures the surfaces and applies the store's prices, and the store approves the list.
Does it account for the substrate?
Does it schedule colors?
Which drawings should a paint store send?
Send a set. Check the gallons.
Send a painting set and check the free gallons and sundries against your own count.
