Most Home Improvement Projects Are Going to Require Paint
More and more people are going the home improvement route in order to save money and gain a sense of satisfaction at having done the job themselves. There are a range of levels of difficulty for the practically infinite number of DIY jobs, but many of the home improvement projects are really quite simple. Interior painting, for example, is something that anyone with a little patience, a careful eye and a steady hand can do. However, to maximize your cost savings, you'll need to take pay special attention to the quantity of paint you purchase.
In most cases, you can return standard colors if you have not opened the can or container. But with special custom colors you are essentially stuck with the leftover paint. So, careful selection of paint quantity is a must to avoid starting your endless collection of excess paint. Controlling expenses is one of the keys to successful home improvement.
Virtually all of the paint cans of major paint brands will have descriptions of paint coverage on their labels. Generally the coverage measurements are given in terms of how many square feet are covered per each gallon. Before you start to make your calculations, remember to account for a little extra for future spot painting touch up jobs.
If the master bedroom is your painting project, for example, start by measuring the height and width of each wall. Multiply those two results and the result will be the wall's surface area in terms of square feet. Repeat this step for each of the four walls and arrive at separate totals for each wall. The sum of these four totals will give you the total surface area of the walls. Determining the surface area of the ceiling is far easier - multiply the length of the room by its width and that total (again in square feet) is the total surface area of the ceiling. Add this total to the wall surface area total and you will have your final surface area.
Take measurements in the same fashion of the doors and windows. Add these totals together and then subtract that total from the total that you arrived at for the walls and ceiling. Once you have arrived at the total surface area that you will be painting, you can head to your local home improvement center or paint store to select your colors and buy your paint.
The coverage areas that are published on paint labels are not always what individual results will bear out. A safe rule of thumb is to reduce the stated coverage totals by about 10 percent when arriving at your totals. Take your final measured square footage totals and divide them by the adjusted (remember your 10 percent adjustment) coverage totals listed on the paint label. The final total you arrive it will be the number of gallons necessary to complete your project. Again, add a bit more so you have enough for minor repainting needs.
Now buy your paint and let your home improvement skills and painting prowess take over. In the end, you'll have saved a substantial amount of money and will have beautified your room in the process.