How many cans of paint to buy for repainting a wall?

One thing that we do not want to buy is too much paint. Some do not want to waste others are environmentally conscious. Many of us are not professional painters but would like to re-paint a room or two by ourselves. One important question is how much paint to buy.

Before buying any paint, measure the width and height of the wall surface you want to paint. This will give you the square footage of each surface. If you have more than one wall or ceiling to paint, measure all and add square footages together. Then you need to decide how many paint coatings your wall need. It is somewhat difficult to calculate. The decision depends on many factors, but it is safety to assume two coats of painting. Then multiply the total square footage by the number of coatings. Next step is to check the label of the can of paint you want to buy to see the recommended wall area coverage of the paint with your wall area calculations.

Rule of thumb for repainting walls, most probably one coat will be adequate. But keep in mind that new homes may have a very thin coating of paint requiring more than one coat when repainting.