Interior trim painting costs $1 to $5 per linear foot — flat baseboards and casings run $1–$4, while detailed multi-piece crown molding reaches $5. Interior doors run $50 to $300 per side, from flat flush hollow-core at $50 to French doors with glass panes at $300. A typical 2,000 sq ft home with 700–900 linear feet of trim and 12–15 doors totals $2,000 to $4,000 for a standalone project.
Those numbers look modest next to a $6,000–$10,000 whole-house wall painting job . But per square foot of actual painted surface, trim work is the most expensive painting in your home.
A 3.5-inch baseboard has roughly 0.3 sq ft of paintable surface per linear foot. At $2/LF, that works out to about $7/sq ft of painted area. Walls, by contrast, cost $2–$3.75/sq ft. The difference is pure labor intensity.
Cost Per Linear Foot by Trim Type
| Trim Type | Cost Per Linear Foot | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Baseboards (flat profile) | $1.00–$2.50 | Simplest trim to paint; single pass with a brush |
| Baseboards (detailed/built-up) | $2.00–$4.00 | Routed profiles trap old paint, need more prep |
| Door casings | $1.00–$3.00 | Typically 17 LF per standard door opening |
| Window casings | $1.50–$3.50 | Multiple edges to cut in; sills add time |
| Crown molding (simple) | $1.00–$4.00 | Overhead work slows the painter |
| Crown molding (multi-piece) | $2.50–$5.00 | Detailed profiles with coves and dentils |
| Chair rail | $1.00–$2.50 | Straightforward single-profile trim |
What drives the range: condition matters more than trim profile. Clean, previously painted trim in good shape takes one light sand and two coats. Trim with peeling paint or caulk gaps needs scraping, spot-filling, caulking, and priming before finish coats. That prep adds $0.50–$1.50/LF on top of the base painting cost.
Cost Per Door by Type
Doors are priced per side because each face requires its own prep and finish cycle.
| Door Type | Per Side | Both Sides | Why the Price Varies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat flush (hollow-core) | $50–$125 | $100–$250 | Smooth surface, one roller pass plus edges |
| Six-panel | $100–$175 | $200–$350 | Each panel is a separate brush operation |
| Closet bi-fold | $50–$100 | $100–$200 | Narrow panels, less total surface |
| Louvered | $80–$200 | $160–$400 | Every slat gets individual attention |
| French (glass panes) | $150–$300 | $300–$600 | 30–50% more labor for masking each lite |
| Barn/sliding | $125–$200 | $250–$400 | Large surface, often textured or distressed |
The door frame (jamb and stop) is a small per-opening add-on and is almost always painted with the door. If your bid doesn’t mention frames, ask. Skipping them leaves a visible color mismatch.
Why Trim Costs 2–3x More Per Square Foot Than Walls
A two-person crew can roll 400 sq ft of wall in under an hour. That same crew needs an hour to brush 15 linear feet of detailed trim. The per-area math is brutal:
- Walls: 400 sq ft/hour at $2–$3.75/sq ft = fast, efficient work
- Trim: 15 LF/hour, each foot containing ~0.3 sq ft of surface = roughly 4.5 sq ft/hour
Wall painting is high-volume roller work. Trim painting is slow, precision brush work with these labor multipliers stacked on top:
- Masking carpet and wall edges along every baseboard run
- Cutting in at the wall-trim junction with a 2-inch angled brush
- Two to three coats versus two for walls (trim takes more abuse and shows holidays more)
- Working overhead for crown molding, on knees for baseboards
- Sanding between coats on semi-gloss and high-gloss finishes
This labor intensity explains why the interior painting cost calculator shows a jump from $2–$3.75/sq ft (walls only) to $4.50–$6.75/sq ft when trim and ceilings are included. That $2.50–$3/sq ft premium is almost entirely trim labor.
Whole-House Trim Estimate: Worked Example
Here’s what a 2,000 sq ft, 3-bedroom home with standard trim typically contains and costs:
| Component | Quantity | Unit Cost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseboards | 450 LF | $1.50–$3.00/LF | $675–$1,350 |
| Door casings (12 openings) | 204 LF | $1.50–$2.50/LF | $306–$510 |
| Window casings (10 windows) | 140 LF | $1.50–$3.00/LF | $210–$420 |
| Interior doors, panel-style (12 doors, both sides) | 24 sides | $100–$175/side | $2,400–$4,200 |
| Crown molding (living/dining only) | 100 LF | $1.50–$3.00/LF | $150–$300 |
| Total trim + doors | $3,741–$6,780 |
Wait. That total looks higher than the $2,000–$4,000 standalone estimate above. Two reasons:
First, the table above prices doors at full standalone rates. When bundled with trim work, contractors give volume discounts of 15–25% because setup and mobilization costs are spread across more surfaces. Second, most 2,000 sq ft homes have 8–10 doors that actually need painting, not 12. Closet bi-folds and pantry doors often get skipped.
A realistic bundled estimate for the same home: $2,500–$4,500 for all trim and doors. Add that to a walls-and-ceilings job at $6,000–$10,000, and you land squarely in the $9,000–$13,500 range the calculator article quotes for a full walls + trim + ceilings package.
Paint Choice for Trim
Trim paint costs more per gallon than wall paint. Budget $60–$100/gallon for a quality trim enamel versus $35–$60 for wall paint. But because trim surface area is small, paint cost is almost irrelevant to the total.
A standard 2,000 sq ft home with 700–900 LF of trim and 12 doors needs roughly 4–5 gallons of trim paint. At $80/gallon, that’s $320–$400 in material for the entire house.
The two products contractors actually use:
Benjamin Moore ADVANCE
($84/gallon) and Sherwin-Williams ProClassic Acrylic-Alkyd
($80/gallon). Both are waterborne alkyds. They level like oil-based paint, resist yellowing, clean up with water, and cure to a hard film in about five days.
If your painter plans to use standard wall paint on trim, push back. Wall paint is too soft for surfaces that get bumped and scuffed daily.
Semi-gloss is the standard sheen for trim. It shows dust and fingerprints less than high-gloss while still creating a visual contrast against flat or eggshell walls. Satin is gaining popularity on trim in modern homes that favor a muted look, but it scuffs more easily on baseboards. Sheen choice doesn’t affect price per gallon.
One caution from the oil-based vs. water-based paint guide : avoid traditional oil-based enamel on interior trim even though old-school painters swear by it. Alkyd-based paints yellow in low-light areas like hallways and closets, sometimes visibly within two years. The waterborne alkyds above solve this.
DIY Trim Painting: When It Makes Sense
Trim painting is one of the few jobs where DIY economics genuinely favor the homeowner, provided you have patience. If you’re weighing DIY against hiring out, the painting comparison guide breaks down the trade-offs across project types.
Materials for a full-house trim project run $375–$485: 4–5 gallons of trim paint ($320–$400), a quality 2-inch angled brush ($12–$18), foam mini-rollers for flat doors ($10), sandpaper and caulk ($20–$30), painter’s tape ($15–$25). Compare that to $2,500–$4,500 professionally.
The catch is time. Professional painters finish a whole-house trim job in 3–5 days with a two-person crew. A homeowner working evenings and weekends should budget 40–60 hours spread over several weeks.
Trim is tedious, not difficult. The technique is simple (load the brush, cut a clean line, tip off), but doing it for 450 linear feet of baseboard tests anyone’s attention span. The biggest DIY mistake is rushing between coats. Waterborne alkyd trim paint needs a full 16–24 hours between coats to level properly. Recoat too soon and brush marks lock in permanently.
DIY makes sense for: painting trim in one or two rooms, refreshing baseboards that are in good shape, painting new unfinished trim before installation (much faster when it’s on sawhorses).
Hire a pro for: whole-house trim, any trim that needs significant scraping or stripping, crown molding (overhead work is exhausting), and louvered doors (life is too short).
How to Evaluate Trim Painting Bids
Skip the per-square-foot comparisons for trim. Legitimate bids are priced per linear foot or per door. A bid that quotes trim “per square foot” is either confused or padding the number. For guidance on screening contractors and reading proposals, see the guide to hiring a painter .
Four things to verify:
- Coat count. Two finish coats minimum on trim. One coat will show holidays within six months as the paint wears at contact points. If the trim is bare wood or changing from dark to light, demand primer plus two finish coats.
- Paint specification. The bid should name the product. “Premium paint included” without a brand means builder-grade. You want a waterborne alkyd (BM ADVANCE, SW ProClassic) or at minimum a 100% acrylic enamel.
- Prep line items. Caulking, hole-filling, and surface sanding should be listed as separate line items. If they’re not, assume the painter plans to paint over whatever is there. Prep takes 30–50% of total labor time on trim.
- Scope in writing. “All trim” should explicitly cover baseboards, all casings (door and window), and actual door faces. Some bids quietly exclude doors or crown molding.
For more on what painting quotes should cover, see the painting cost guide .