The kitchen
Start from a common job, then replace every rate with numbers from your own crew and invoices. Picking a finish method or color change fills the labor factor and extra coats only if you have not already changed them.
Your costs
Payroll burden covers employer taxes, workers’ compensation, liability insurance, and paid time off. A $38/h finisher loaded at 30% is $49.40. Quoting the raw wage is how a per-door special that looked fine turns into a loss after the first extra coat.
Your bid
- Doors / drawers / openings
- Hardware handled
- Primer + finish
- Crew hours
- Loaded labor
- Materials
- Travel + booth
- Overhead
- Total cost
- Profit at this price
- Price per door
- Price per painted piece
- Effective hourly rate
- Walk-away price
Where the cost goes
Transparent arithmetic from your own inputs. Starting hours and coverage are common ballpark figures, not an industry standard, a benchmark, or a paint specification — replace them with your own takeoff.
Hand the customer a proposal
The price above is for you. This is the page you print or save as a PDF and give to the customer — your details, their details, the scope, the deposit split, and a line for them to sign. Your business details are saved on this device so you only type them once; the customer’s details are never saved.
Everything on the printed page is text you typed or a number this calculator worked out. It contains no warranty, lien, or cancellation wording — those depend on your jurisdiction and your contract, and this tool is not the place to invent them.
Common questions
What does this refinishing estimate include?
The price adds up door, drawer-front, and face-frame labor scaled by your finish method, hardware remove-and-rehang (or replacement) labor, degrease and prep hours, an extra finish coat when the color change calls for one, primer and finish material by the gallon, sandpaper and containment supplies, and new hardware when checked — plus travel and equipment, overhead, and your target margin, all from the piece counts and rates you enter, not a flat price-per-door list.
Why does a face-frame opening cost less than a door of the same size?
A face-frame opening is painted in place, not pulled, sanded on a bench, and sprayed in a booth, so it counts as 0.6 of a piece — not a full door — when the calculator sizes primer and finish gallons. Doors and drawer fronts, which are removed and finished off the cabinet, each count as a full piece.
Why does on-site brush work cost so much more than shop spray for the same door count?
Each finish method has its own labor factor: shop spray (doors off, in a booth) is the baseline, on-site spray in containment runs 28% more hours on the same doors, and on-site brush or roll runs 55% more — masking, multiple thin coats, and working around a kitchen the crew cannot fully close off all cost time that a booth does not. Switching finish method rescales door, drawer, and opening hours; it does not touch hardware or degrease hours, which take the same time regardless of how the piece gets its coats.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No account and no network requests — the calculator runs entirely in your browser. A share link encodes only the inputs you choose into the address bar and is never sent to us, and the optional usage counter records only which features were used and the day, never your piece counts, wages, costs, or prices. Only your business details for the printed proposal are kept in this browser’s local storage so you do not retype them, and the customer’s details are never saved.
What’s the difference between the refinish price and the walk-away price?
The refinish price already includes your target margin on top of labor, materials, and overhead. The walk-away price is the total cost underneath it — doors, drawers, openings, hardware, primer, and finish — the point below which the job stops being profitable at all.
Does this check paint adhesion or substrate condition?
No. Hours, coverage, and material rates are ballpark shop figures you can edit, not a paint specification or a guarantee of adhesion. Whether a particular cabinet substrate needs extra degrease, deglossing, or a bonding primer beyond what you have entered is still a judgment call from the site walk — this tool prices the finish system you choose, it does not test it.