Baseboards may run only a few inches tall, yet they stretch across every room and frame every doorway. Because they sit at eye-level when you walk through a finished space, a flawless coat of paint on the trim is a hallmark of professional residential construction. At CountBricks, homeowners and contractors alike ask a seemingly simple question: what is the cost to paint baseboard in today’s market? The answer requires looking beyond a generic square-foot price and factoring in materials, labor efficiency, surface prep, and jobsite logistics.
• High visibility: Even minor brush marks are noticeable against crisp wall paint.
• Frequent abuse: Vacuums, kids’ toys, and foot traffic chip low-quality coatings quickly.
• Elevation changes: Kneeling work around floors slows productivity compared to wall rolling.
• Detailed profiles: Modern mouldings contain curves and grooves that demand precision tools.
Because of these factors, CountBricks isolates baseboard painting as a distinct task line in every residential estimate. This transparency prevents “sticker shock” when a client compares trim-only refreshes with full room repaints.
Paint selection
High-grade enamel formulated for trim runs between $45 and $65 per gallon in most regions. A gallon covers roughly 350 linear feet of three-inch baseboard when applied in two coats. CountBricks updates real-time supplier pricing directly into the estimate so you always bill at today’s rate, not last quarter’s average.
Consumables
• Painter’s tape
• Caulk for hairline gaps
• Tack cloths and cleaning solutions
• 2”–2.5” angled sash brushes
• Low-nap mini-rollers for longer straight runs
On a typical 2,000 sq ft single-family home, consumables average $0.30–$0.45 per linear foot. CountBricks autogenerates these allowances in the materials column so nothing goes unbilled.
1. Premium enamel paint: $0.18–$0.24 per linear foot
2. Caulk & patch compounds: $0.05–$0.07 per linear foot
3. Tape, brushes, rollers, wipes: $0.07–$0.14 per linear foot
Total material cost: $0.30–$0.45 per linear foot
Painting baseboards is labor-intensive because ninety percent of time is spent on setup, masking, and detail work rather than spreading paint. CountBricks benchmarks three productivity tiers inside our AI engine:
• Standard Productivity: 70–90 linear feet per labor hour for furnished homes where furniture must be moved.
• Optimized Productivity: 110–130 linear feet per labor hour in vacant new builds with unobstructed access.
• Precision Productivity: 50–65 linear feet per labor hour when matching historical profiles or multi-color schemes.
Using your local labor burden rate (wage + taxes + insurances), CountBricks multiplies by the AI-selected productivity tier to output a labor cost per foot. For many suburban markets, the resulting number falls between $0.85 and $1.60 per linear foot.
Field crews equipped with the CountBricks mobile app simply walk each room and speak: “Baseboard, three-inch, latex enamel, approximately forty linear feet.” The AI instantly tags the room ID on the digital plan, applies the current material price, and references historical crew productivity. A full-house trim takeoff that once required an hour of clipboard math is finished before the walk-through is complete.
• Small bedroom (45 lf): $115–$175
• Master suite with ensuite bath (100 lf): $230–$370
• Average two-story home (760 lf): $1,550–$2,750
Figures include light surface prep, two finish coats, and standard semi-gloss enamel applied over existing painted trim. New raw wood, oil-to-latex conversions, or significant dent repair will raise the price. CountBricks flags these conditions in the Scope Notes section so your client sees every cost driver.
• Select a self-leveling enamel to reduce brush strokes and avoid a third coat.
• Schedule baseboard painting before flooring installers arrive to save masking time.
• Request pre-primed finger-joint trim on additions; it eliminates one on-site coat.
• Combine baseboard work with door-casing paint for better crew efficiency.
• Use CountBricks.com/services to lock in supplier discounts automatically applied to your estimate.
AI Precision — Our algorithm references millions of past residential line items, so your baseboard estimate aligns with current market labor and material indexes.
Voice-to-Estimate — Talk through the scope, and watch an itemized proposal appear in seconds, complete with branded PDF ready for customer signature.
Blueprint Takeoffs — Upload a floor plan, click once around each room, and our AI measures linear footage to the inch—perfect for new builds.
Instant Change Orders — When a homeowner upgrades from three-inch colonial to five-inch modern trim, CountBricks recalculates footage, materials, and labor in real time so you keep margin intact.
1. Voice record on site or import blueprints.
2. AI assigns material SKUs and regional pricing.
3. Select productivity tier or use default historical averages.
4. Review auto-generated quote and adjust mark-up.
5. Send branded proposal from CountBricks.com to secure the job.
When homeowners ask “What’s the cost to paint baseboard?” your answer should be data-driven, transparent, and confidently delivered. CountBricks empowers residential contractors to provide just that—an accurate line-item price supported by real-time materials, localized labor rates, and AI-backed productivity benchmarks. Explore more at CountBricks.com/portfolio and let precision become your competitive edge.
When the Williams family decided to refresh their 1980s Colonial on Magnolia Lane, they assumed repainting the 620 linear feet of existing baseboard would be a simple add-on. Their previous contractor offered a flat $2,200 “ballpark” but could not explain the math. The homeowners turned to CountBricks for clarity.
During the initial walk-through, our project lead used the CountBricks voice feature:
“Room one, 65 linear feet, existing semi-gloss, minor dents.”
In under five minutes, the entire house was captured and synced to the office dashboard. The AI flagged 14 linear feet of damaged trim requiring patching and auto-added a repair line at $3.25 per foot.
The final proposal showed:
• Labor: $1.05 per linear foot (standard productivity tier)
• Materials: $0.37 per linear foot (premium enamel + consumables)
• Repairs & caulking: $45 line total
• Project total: $959, a 56 % savings over the vague “ballpark” quote
The crew finished in two days, aided by pre-scheduled material drop-offs secured through CountBricks.com/services. Post-project surveys scored 9.8/10 on finish quality, and the client immediately booked door-casing repainting—generated as a one-click change order.
• Data transparency not only secures the job but often leads to upsells.
• Capturing minor repair items in the initial estimate protects profit.
• Homeowners value a detailed cost-to-paint-baseboard breakdown more than the lowest headline price.
Want to replicate this success? Create your free account at CountBricks.com and turn every linear foot into predictable revenue.
