Half a wall short on Friday afternoon
The painter is on the second coat of the lounge on Friday when the tin runs out. The colour was mixed at the trade counter from a code, and it closes at four. He drives there, waits, gets a new tin, and hopes it matches. Meanwhile the van has three part-used tins of the wrong colour from other jobs and two unopened five litre tubs of trade white that nobody needs.
On another job, the order was placed with the colour name but not the code, and the counter mixed a similar shade from a different range. Nobody noticed until the customer did.
Why the order goes wrong
Paint quantities depend on the surface area, the number of coats, the product's coverage and the surface itself. Porous new plaster and a strong colour change drink paint. Most decorators know this, but work out orders quickly on the morning, from memory.
- Litres are estimated, not calculated from areas and coats.
- Coverage differs between products and surfaces, but the same rule of thumb is used.
- Colour codes, ranges and sheens are copied by hand, sometimes by text.
- Tinted paint cannot usually be returned, so over-ordering is costly.
- Leftover stock is not recorded, so it is never used first.
What bad orders cost
Running short costs painter time on the road and risks a colour mismatch between batches. Over-ordering ties money up in paint that will probably never be used. Wrong colour or sheen means redoing a wall, a room, or more, plus the paint. And a van full of half tins with smudged labels is not stock anyone can use.
Colour mistakes are the most expensive, because they are not found until paint is on the wall. A tin mixed to the wrong code looks fine in the tin and only shows itself in daylight after the first coat. By then the room has to be done again, often with the customer watching, and the painter's day has been spent twice.
The paint takeoff we build
- The quote's room survey holds wall, ceiling and woodwork areas, plus the surface condition and colour change, which set the coats by your rules.
- Each surface is assigned a product, colour code, range and sheen, chosen from a list or the customer's colour schedule, never typed freehand.
- The takeoff calculates litres by product and colour using the coverage figures you set for each product and surface type, plus a margin you choose.
- Leftover stock in the unit or vans, recorded with colour codes, is checked first, and the order is reduced where it can be.
- The order goes to your trade counter by email in a clear format, with codes, sheens and tin sizes, and a copy on the job.
- When the job ends, leftovers are logged, labelled and either left with the customer for touch-ups or returned to stock.
| Input | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Areas | Room survey |
| Coats | Condition and colour change, your rules |
| Coverage | Your figures per product and surface |
| Colour and sheen | Customer's colour schedule |
| Stock | Leftover tins recorded with codes |
The difference on the next job
Painters start the job with enough paint in the right colours, and rarely drive to the trade counter mid-job. Colour codes reach the counter exactly as chosen. Spare tins are used on the next job that needs them. And over a few months, the recorded use per job tells you how accurate your coverage figures really are.
Signs your paint ordering needs work
- Painters regularly run short mid-job.
- You have unused tinted paint that will never be used.
- A wrong colour or sheen has been mixed from a copied code.
- Leftover tins are unlabelled or untracked.
- Orders are worked out on the morning of the job.