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The coverage claimed on the US product sheet, in square feet per US gallon.
American sheets commonly state 250 to 400 ft²/gal for architectural coatings at a recommended dry film thickness, and mean the 231 cubic inch US gallon. Where the sheet gives a range, convert both ends — the lower figure is the one that usually survives contact with a real substrate.
Spread rate
8.59 m²/L
Converted using an exact defined factor of 0.024542386747111157 m²/L per ft²/gal. The conversion assumes a US gallon — reading the same sheet as imperial moves the metric spread rate by 20.1%.
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.02 m²/L per ft²/gal
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Paint Coverage ft²/gal to m²/L Calculator: 8.59 m²/L — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m² and 1 US gallon = 3.785411784 L, both exact, so 1 ft²/gal = 0.024542386747111157… m²/L. The imperial gallon is a different unit — 4.54609 L — and would give 0.0204358 m²/L instead.
Inputs used
- Coverage rate (ft²/gal)
- 350
Intermediate steps
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.02 m²/L per ft²/gal
Confidence note: Converted using an exact defined factor of 0.024542386747111157 m²/L per ft²/gal. The conversion assumes a US gallon — reading the same sheet as imperial moves the metric spread rate by 20.1%.
What this calculation does not cover
- Data sheets frequently print two coverage figures — a theoretical rate and a practical one already discounted for application loss, commonly 20 to 30% below it. This page converts whichever of them you typed and cannot tell them apart, so adding your own site-loss allowance on top of a practical figure charges the same waste twice and over-orders the job.
- The rate belongs to the coating as supplied in the tin. Reducing it 10 or 15% for spray application raises the area a litre covers by roughly the same proportion and thins the dry film to match, so a converted m²/L figure taken off a thinned mix describes the same paint spread further rather than more paint, and the film build the sheet's service life assumes is no longer going on the wall.
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This result is a specification — 8.59 m²/L — not a quantity. Put the thing it sizes into your project: how many, what you call it, and your supplier’s price.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-06 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m² and 1 US gallon = 3.785411784 L, both exact, so 1 ft²/gal = 0.024542386747111157… m²/L. The imperial gallon is a different unit — 4.54609 L — and would give 0.0204358 m²/L instead.
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Estimators outside the United States hit this direction whenever an architect specifies an American coating and the take-off runs in square metres and litres. The number to watch is not the area but the gallon: a US gallon is 3.785411784 L, an imperial gallon 4.54609 L, and treating one as the other shifts the answer by 20.1%. Canadian and British sheets for the same product sometimes carry both figures, and they will not agree. Once 350 ft²/gal lands at roughly 8.59 m²/L, check it against the dry film thickness the specification calls for, because a coverage figure only means anything at a stated film build — then add site loss on top of that.