How much does trim, baseboard and door painting cost in Toronto?
Toronto trim and baseboards run roughly $1-$3 CAD per linear foot plus HST, and interior doors $75-$200 each. Whole-house trim on a typical home lands $1,500-$4,000. The price is mostly prep and a hard enamel like BM Advance, not paint volume, surface prep is the majority of labour on quality trim work (PDCA, 2024). The enamel and the careful cut-in are what you're paying for.
Key Takeaways
- Trim and baseboards: $1-$3 CAD per linear foot + HST; a single room of trim $150-$400; whole house $1,500-$4,000
- Interior doors: $75-$200 CAD each brushed; more if sprayed off the hinges
- Default paint is Benjamin Moore Advance, an alkyd hybrid that cures to a hard, washable enamel
- Wall paint on trim stays soft and marks, trim needs a real enamel
- Two coats minimum, and Advance's 16-hour recoat window means trim spans two days
- The cost is prep and cut-in, not paint volume, a litre of enamel covers a lot of trim
- Glossy old oil or stained trim going to white is the priciest scenario, deglossing plus bonding primer plus extra coats
I'm Chad Caglak, 20 years painting Toronto homes, and trim is the work that separates a tidy paint job from a sloppy one. Walls are forgiving, you stand back and they read fine. Trim is at eye level and hand level. People run their fingers along it, kick the baseboards with a vacuum, grab the door edges. Every flaw shows, and every shortcut wears through fast.
Most homeowners are surprised that trim costs what it does given how little paint it uses. The answer is that trim is nearly all labour, prep, caulk, and slow brushwork along two edges, with a hard enamel that has to cure overnight between coats. Here's the real Toronto pricing and what drives it.
For how trim fits the whole-home number, see the full Toronto house painting cost breakdown.
What does trim and baseboard painting cost by scope?
Trim is priced by linear foot or by room, landing around $1-$3 CAD per linear foot plus HST. The variable inside that range is prep, not length. Smooth trim previously painted in latex, in good shape, refreshed in the same colour, sits at the low end. Detailed profiles, glossy old oil trim, or a colour change to white pushes to the top. Here's how the common scopes price out.
[CITATION CAPSULE: Toronto trim and baseboard painting runs $1-$3 CAD per linear foot plus HST, with a single room of trim at $150-$400 and whole-house trim on a 1,500-2,000 sq ft home at $1,500-$4,000. Interior doors are priced individually at $75-$200 each. The range within each scope is driven by surface preparation and profile complexity, not by trim length or paint volume (Chad Caglak, HomePaintersPro Toronto, 2026).]
What pushes trim toward the top of the range:
- Glossy old oil or stained trim going to white needs deglossing, a bonding primer, and extra coats for coverage, the priciest scenario.
- Detailed profiles, ornate Victorian or Edwardian trim with deep grooves, slows the brushwork considerably.
- Tight cut-in against a contrasting wall colour, sharp white trim against a dark wall demands slow, precise lines.
- Repairs, filling deep gouges, re-caulking long-failed joints, replacing damaged sections.
For the wider picture, see the Toronto interior painting cost overview.
What does it cost to paint interior doors?
Interior doors run $75-$200 CAD each plus HST, brushed in place. A flat slab door is the low end; a six-panel door with profiles, or a door sprayed off its hinges for a factory finish, sits higher. Doing both faces, the edges, and the door frame pushes toward the top. Doors are priced one at a time because each is its own small enamel job: prep, two coats of hard-curing paint, and that 16-hour wait between coats.
A few door scenarios that change the number:
- Closet and bi-fold doors: often lower per unit, but the panel count and edges add up.
- French and glass-panel doors: more cut-in around the glass, higher labour.
- Front entry door (interior face): usually painted to match interior trim; the exterior face is a separate exterior-grade job.
- Sprayed doors: removed, masked, sprayed in a controlled area for a flawless finish, adds labour and cost.
See our dedicated Toronto door painting service for door-only work.
Why BM Advance, and not just wall paint?
Trim and doors need a cabinet-grade enamel, and Benjamin Moore Advance is the Toronto default. It's an alkyd hybrid: it levels like traditional oil paint, smoothing out brush marks, and cures to a hard, washable enamel film, while cleaning up with water and staying low-VOC. That hardness is the entire point on trim and doors, because they get touched, kicked, scuffed and wiped constantly. Wall paint can't do this job.
What happens when you put wall paint on trim: I've recoated plenty of baseboards where a previous painter ran the same flat wall paint onto the trim to save a step. It looks okay for about six months. Then it starts: the vacuum leaves black marks that won't wipe off, the dog's nails scratch it, the door edges burnish shiny where hands grab them. Wall paint never hardens enough for trim. Advance cures to a film you can scrub. That difference is why trim gets its own paint and its own line on the quote.
The trade-off with Advance is the 16-hour recoat window. You can't rush a second coat onto trim enamel the way you can on walls, which is why trim work spans two calendar days even in a single room. That cure time is a feature, it's what makes the film hard, but it does shape the schedule and the price.
Advance is the same enamel that defines cabinet work, see why BM Advance is the cabinet and trim standard.
Two coats, always
Trim gets two full coats of enamel minimum, three on a dark-to-white colour change. No paint, premium or self-priming, lays down a proper, even enamel film on trim in a single coat. One-coat trim shows brush ropiness, uneven sheen, and the old colour ghosting at the edges. The smooth, hard, uniform look that makes trim read as crisp comes from two coats over proper prep, full stop.
For more on what makes trim read crisp, see a Toronto painter's craft secrets.
Spray or brush: what's worth it on trim and doors?
Brushing in place is the standard for most trim and doors, and with the right enamel and a skilled hand it leaves minimal marks, Advance levels itself as it dries. Spraying gives a glassier, factory-smooth finish but requires removing doors or extensively masking the room, plus more setup and cleanup, so it costs 20-30% more on the trim portion.
Where spraying earns its premium:
- Highly visible doors, a front entry seen from inside, French doors, a statement interior door.
- New or replacement trim and doors being finished from raw, where a factory look is achievable and worth it.
- A whole-house show finish where the homeowner wants flawless trim throughout and budget allows.
For ordinary bedroom, closet and bathroom doors and standard baseboard, a brushed Advance finish is the sensible, durable call. The spray premium is best spent on the doors people actually look at.
[CITATION CAPSULE: Brushing in place is standard for most Toronto interior trim and doors and produces a durable result with a self-leveling enamel like Benjamin Moore Advance. Spray application adds roughly 20-30% to the trim labour and delivers a factory-smooth finish, justified on highly visible doors and new trim being finished from raw, but rarely necessary on ordinary baseboard and closet doors (Chad Caglak, HomePaintersPro Toronto, 2026).]
See our Toronto spray painting service for spray-finished doors and trim.
Real Toronto trim and door projects
Project 1: Leslieville bedroom refresh
Smooth latex-painted baseboards, two door casings, one window casing and a single slab door, all refreshed in the same white. Light fill, caulk, sand, two coats of Advance Semi-Gloss, brushed. Total: $320 CAD + HST. Trim done across two days for the enamel cure.
Project 2: Roncesvalles oil trim to white
1910 home, original glossy oil-based trim throughout the main floor going to a crisp white, the classic Toronto job. Degloss, INSL-X bonding primer over the oil, two coats of Advance. Six-panel doors brushed in place. Total: $3,400 CAD + HST for the main-floor trim and four doors. Five days with the cure windows.
Project 3: North York whole-house trim and doors
1,800 sq ft, all baseboards, casings and twelve interior doors, previously latex, refreshed in Cloud White. Front entry interior face and two French doors sprayed for a show finish, the rest brushed. Total: $3,900 CAD + HST. Worked alongside a full interior repaint.
We also handle trim within a full interior painting project.
Get a Toronto trim and door painting quote
Twenty years of trim and door work across the GTA, including the classic Toronto job, original oil trim converted to crisp washable white with proper degloss and bonding primer. Every trim job: real prep, BM Advance enamel, two coats minimum, and a finish you can scrub.
Get your free trim and door painting quote or call (416) 875-8706. Quotes inside 24 hours, fixed CAD pricing, HST disclosed, deep-colour upcharges shown up front.
We paint interior doors, crown moulding and trim as standalone work or rolled into a full interior painting project.
Article by Chad Caglak, Co-Owner and Lead Painter at HomePaintersPro Toronto. 20 years finishing trim, baseboards and doors across Toronto.
Frequently Asked Questions
Toronto trim and baseboard painting runs roughly $1 to $3 CAD per linear foot plus HST, depending on prep, profile complexity and whether it is brushed or sprayed. A typical room with baseboards, door and window casings lands around $150 to $400. Whole-house trim on a 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft home runs $1,500 to $4,000. The wide range is prep-driven: glossy old oil trim that needs deglossing and a bonding primer costs more than smooth, previously latex-painted trim in good shape.
Interior doors run $75 to $200 CAD each plus HST, brushed in place. A flat slab door is at the low end; a panel door with detailed profiles, or a door sprayed off its hinges for a factory finish, sits higher. Both sides plus the edges and the frame push toward the top of the range. Doors are priced individually because each one is its own small enamel job, with prep, two coats of a hard-curing paint, and 16-hour dry time between coats that spans two days.
A cabinet and trim-grade enamel, Benjamin Moore Advance is the Toronto default. It is an alkyd hybrid that levels like oil and cures to a hard, washable enamel, which is exactly what trim and doors need because they get touched, kicked and cleaned constantly. Standard wall paint on trim stays soft, marks easily and never develops the smooth, durable film trim should have. The trade-off with Advance is a 16-hour recoat window, which is why trim spans two days. The hardness is worth the wait.
Same-colour or refreshing the existing trim colour is cheaper because it covers in fewer coats and needs less careful cut-in against the wall. A colour change, especially dark trim to white, can need a primer plus two coats and adds labour. The biggest cost driver is not colour though, it is prep and whether the trim is brushed or sprayed. Going from glossy stained or oil trim to painted white is the priciest scenario because it needs deglossing, a bonding primer, and extra coats for coverage.
Brushing in place is standard and perfectly good for most interior doors, with the right enamel a skilled painter leaves minimal marks. Spraying gives a factory-smooth finish but means removing the door, masking or moving it to a spray area, and more labour, so it costs more. Spray is worth it on highly visible doors, a front entry from inside, French doors, or when you want a flawless show finish. For ordinary bedroom and closet doors, a brushed Advance finish is the sensible call.
Because trim is almost all prep and cut-in, not paint volume. Every length of baseboard and casing needs filling of nail holes and gaps, caulking where it meets the wall, sanding or deglossing, and then slow, careful brushwork along two edges. A litre of enamel covers a lot of trim, the paint is cheap. The labour is the cost. Detailed profiles, glossy old oil trim, and tight cut-in against a contrasting wall colour all add time, which is what you are actually paying for.
Cheaper as part of a full repaint. When a crew is already on site painting walls and ceilings, adding trim shares the setup, masking and mobilization, so the trim portion costs less than booking it as a standalone visit. A standalone trim-only job carries its own minimum because the crew still has to show up, set up, and span two days for the enamel cure. If you''re repainting walls anyway, that''s the most cost-effective time to do the trim.
Baseboards alone on a 1,500-2,000 sq ft Toronto home run roughly $800-$2,200 CAD plus HST, depending on linear footage, profile and prep. Baseboards are the slowest trim to cut in because they meet both the wall above and the floor below, so there''s careful masking and brushwork on every length. If they''re in good shape and staying the same colour, you''re at the low end. Heavy scuffing, gaps to re-caulk, or a colour change pushes higher.
Yes, but only with the right preparation. Glossy oil-based trim must be deglossed, scuff-sanded, and primed with a bonding primer like INSL-X STIX before a waterborne enamel will adhere. Skip that and the new paint peels off the slick oil surface in sheets. This is the standard Toronto heritage-home job, original oil trim converted to modern washable white. Done with proper degloss and bonding primer, it lasts. Done by painting straight over the gloss, it fails within months.
Because trim enamel can''t be recoated until it''s hard, about 16 hours for BM Advance. The first coat goes on day one, then it has to cure overnight before the second coat on day two. There''s no speeding it up, rushing the recoat ruins the finish. The actual brushing is only a couple of hours per coat. It''s the mandatory cure window between coats that spans the calendar, not the amount of work. Hard trim is worth the overnight wait.
Somewhat. A saturated door colour, deep navy, black, forest green, comes out of a deep base that costs about $5-7 CAD more per gallon, and dark tones often need a third coat for even coverage, adding labour. A door uses very little paint, so the deep-base upcharge itself is small, but the extra coat is the real cost. We disclose any deep-colour upcharge on the quote up front, never as a surprise at the invoice. Most interior doors are white, where this doesn''t apply.