Picking out paint and redecorating a room or home can be a fun project, but it can be challenging to figure out how much to purchase and how much that paint will weigh.
Knowing how much paint you need and how heavy it will be can help you make accommodations for painting, storing the paint, and even getting it where it needs to go.
How much does a gallon of paint weigh?
A single gallon of paint weighs a different amount depending on what type of paint is being used.
This is because different ingredients in the paint have different weights, all of which add up to varying final weights in the mixed paint.
Different types of paint also have different densities.
Paints that are thicker and denser weigh more, whereas paints that are thinner are more lightweight.
On average, however, 1 gallon of paint tends to weigh somewhere between 6 and 12 pounds or 2.7 and 5.4 kilograms.
How much does 5 gallons of paint weigh?
We know that 1 gallon of paint can weigh anywhere from 6 to 12 pounds.
This means that, in order to find out how much 5 gallons of paint weighs, we need to multiply by five.
For example, if we know that the paint is a type that’s lightweight and not too dense, we can multiply 6 by 5 to get 30, which is the lowest amount that 5 gallons of paint will generally weigh.
If the paint is quite dense and uses heavier materials, we should multiply 12 by 5 to get 60, telling us that 5 gallons of heavy paint will weigh right around 60 pounds.
A median weight for a single gallon of paint is 9 pounds. Multiplying 9 by 5 gives us 45, which tells us that, on average, 5 gallons of paint will weigh about 45 pounds.
If you’re not sure what type of paint you want to use or how much the paint you’re using weighs per gallon, you can use this weight to estimate.
Remember to include the weight of the bucket when figuring out how much 5 gallons of paint weighs.
Paint is usually sold in large plastic or metal buckets. These buckets don’t usually weigh more than a pound or two, but different bucket styles can sometimes weigh a bit more.
Knowing what type of paint you’re using and what an individual gallon of that paint generally weighs can help you get a better idea of exactly how much your 5 gallons of paint weigh.
Which types of paint are the heaviest?
Acrylic and latex paints tend to weigh a bit more than enamel or tempura types of paint, but this isn’t a hard and fast rule.
What the paint is designed to do often factors more heavily into its weight.
For example, paints that are a mixture of paint and primer tend to be heavier, as they are thicker because they’re designed to cover over other colors in only one or two coats.
Similarly, paints that are designed to cover over or prevent mold and mildew, such as paints specifically made for use in basements or bathrooms, are also much denser and therefore heavier.
How much does 5 gallons of paint cover?
As with weight, how much 1 gallon or 5 gallons of paint will cover depends on the type of paint and what it’s designed to do.
In general, however, 1 gallon of paint will cover between 375 to 425 square feet, with a median coverage of about 400 square feet.
This is about the size of a small room, such as a bathroom or a walk-in closet.
To find out how much space 5 gallons of paint covers, we only need to multiply the average number of square feet that a gallon of paint covers by five.
Five times 400 is 2,000 square feet. If the paint is thinner, it might cover a bit more, so you can multiply five by 425 to get 2,125 square feet.
If the paint is thicker, it might cover a bit less.
Five times 375 is 1,875, letting us know that this is how many square feet a thicker paint will cover.
These numbers can help you estimate how much 5 gallons of paint will cover.
Remember that, depending on what type of paint you’re using, you may need to use a primer and paint, or you may need to paint two coats to get the look you’re hoping for.
On average, 5 Gallons of paint weighs 45 pounds.
How much paint will you need?
How much paint you’ll need will depend on the size and number of rooms you want to paint.
To figure out how much paint you need, start by figuring out how many square feet you need to cover.
Measure the height and width of each wall.
Then, multiply the numbers together to find the area you need to cover.
For example, if you have a bedroom that’s 12 feet by 12 feet with 10 foot high walls, you’ll multiply 12 by 10 to get the surface area of each wall, and then multiply by four to find the surface area for the entire room.
This comes out to 480 square feet, so you’ll need just over 1 gallon of paint to cover a room of this size with one coat of paint.
When you’re figuring out how much paint you need, remember to take doors and windows into account.
These will subtract from the amount of paint you need.
For example, if you have a window that’s 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall, it has a surface area of 6 square feet.
You can subtract 6 from your total surface area to get a better idea of how much paint you really need. Interior doors are usually about 6.5 feet tall and just under 3 feet wide, so you can use this total surface area of about 19.5 square feet to subtract the area of a door from your overall surface area.
If you feel that you’ll need two coats, or you want to use a paint and primer, remember to double the total surface area to figure out exactly how much paint you’ll need.
It’s a good idea to buy a little more paint than what you think you’ll need to completely cover an area.
This lets you touch up any areas that need a bit of extra attention.
Keeping a bit of extra paint handy can also help if you need to touch up any areas a few weeks or months down the road.
Buying all of the paint at once also helps to ensure that the color is exactly the same in each gallon and there are no fluctuations in tone.