Calculate paint litres, kilograms and material cost for steel coating from surface area, coverage rate, paint density, dry film thickness and application efficiency.
How do I calculate paint quantity for steel? Enter the total steel surface area and either the usable coverage rate or dry film thickness and volume solids. Then enter application efficiency.
How do I convert paint litres to kilograms? Multiply paint volume in litres by the wet paint density in kg/L.
How do I calculate steel paint cost? Calculate the practical paint quantity first, then multiply by the paint price per litre or use the equivalent price per kilogram.
Why is application efficiency important? A portion of coating can be lost during application. Lower efficiency means more paint must be purchased to achieve the intended coating result.
What density should I enter? Use the wet coating density from the manufacturer's technical data sheet. A typical value varies substantially by coating formulation.
What is volume solids? Volume solids describe the portion of wet coating volume that remains as the coating film after volatile components evaporate.
Can this calculate primer and topcoat costs separately? Yes. Run the calculation separately for each coating layer using its own area, coverage or DFT, density, efficiency and price.
Does the result include surface preparation? No. Abrasive blasting, stripe coating, weld treatment, edge preparation and other surface-preparation material should be estimated separately.