Deck and fence staining quotes that count the railings, prep, and second coat. Free, no signup.
Deck and fence staining quotes die on the per-square-foot instinct quote. One flat number for the floor ignores the railings, the spindles, the wash and sand prep, the second coat, and the drive. Start with bar (60), margin percent (20), minimum job fee ($250), daily goal ($500). Pick a preset: Deck floor, Deck plus rails, Fence run, each filling dimensions, coats, and prep minutes as editable starting points. The prep card counts wash, sanding, stripping, repairs, and masking minutes, the part most quotes forget. The stain card takes dollars per gallon, coverage per gallon per coat, application speed for floor, railing, and fence surfaces, and a waste percent. Results show stainable area, gallons and stain cost, prep versus application hours with a railing-time-alone callout, committed time, true cost, the recommended quote (cost plus margin, rounded up to $25, never below the minimum), and your effective dollars per square foot and per hour. Verdicts are PRICED RIGHT, CLOSE, BUT LEAKING, WORKING TOO CHEAP, or LOSING MONEY. The gut check shows what your instinct quote pays per hour and what it leaves on the table, and the day planner turns your goal into jobs. No signup; runs on your phone.
Example only, not typical pricing. Deck floor preset, 300 sq ft, 2 coats, 45 wash plus 45 sand plus 15 mask minutes, $55 per gallon at 275 sq ft per gallon per coat with 10 percent waste, 40-minute round-trip drive, 30 miles, 45 setup minutes, at a $60 bar with 20 percent margin. Stainable area is 300 sq ft; gallons are 300 x 2 / 275 x 1.10 = 2.4 gal for $132.00. Floor application is 300 / 200 x 2 = 3.0 hrs; prep is 1.75 hrs; drive plus setup is 1.42 hrs; total committed time is 6.17 hrs. Vehicle cost is 30 x $0.67 = $20.10. True cost is 6.17 x 60 + $132.00 + $20.10 = $522.10. Recommended quote is max(250, ceil(522.10 x 1.20 / 25) x 25) = $650, or $2.17 per sq ft. Effective rate is ($650 - $132.00 - $20.10) / 6.17 = $80.74 per hour, which clears the bar, so the verdict is PRICED RIGHT. A $550 gut quote would pay $64.52 per hour and leave $100 on the table. The day planner turns $127.90 of profit per job into 4 jobs and 24.7 hours for a $500 goal.
Why does one per-sqft number fail on staining?
Square footage drives the stain cost, but railings, stairs, and prep drive the hours. A floor-only price on a railing-heavy deck can halve your hourly rate while the invoice looks identical per square foot.
How are railings and spindles priced?
Railing linear feet convert to stainable area at 3.5 sq ft per foot, and railing application speed runs far slower per hour than floor. The breakdown calls out railing time alone so you see the real driver.
What does the waste percent cover?
Overlapping passes, spilled stain, and the last partial can. It multiplies gallons bought, not just gallons sprayed, so the material line covers the full purchase.
How does the gut check help?
It shows your instinct quote as dollars per hour and as dollars left on the table versus the recommended quote, which turns "that feels fine" into a number you can argue with.
What does the day planner flag?
It turns your profit per job into jobs for your daily goal and totals the time. Push past a 10-hour day and it tells you the answer is a higher quote, not more jobs.