How Long Does It Take To Paint a Mural?

One of the questions I get asked most often is, How long does it take to paint a mural? And my answer is, it completely depends! 

I’ve painted SO many murals over the past 10 years, and I’ve learned a thing or two about how to estimate project timelines. But every project truly is different! 

If you’re looking to learn about mural painting, this post is all about the different factors that go into a mural timeline and a few real-life examples.  

How Long Does It Take To Paint a Mural? Here are some factors…

Mural timelines can vary so much from one to the next because of several different factors. Of course the size of the wall is the biggest determining factor, but here are some others: 

The Weather 

Sometimes we are lucky to get to paint murals for inside spaces (like this one for At Fault Pickleball), but pretty often we’re painting outside! The weather is a HUGE factor in this case. 

When it’s nice out, we often catch ourselves painting more casually. 

And when it’s hot, we tend to paint a bit faster to get out of the heat. The heat also requires more water breaks. 

Then cold weather actually causes paint to dry slower, so winter murals usually take longer for this reason. 

The Wall Itself 

The amount of space we’re covering on the wall is a factor in determining how long the mural will take. 

The texture of the wall is a big factor too– walls with more texture require more paint coats. 

The Colors 

If the mural has lots of different colors, it will take longer than one with fewer colors. Also, certain paint colors (like greens) require multiple coats, so this is a factor too! 

The Equipment 

What equipment we are using makes a big difference in the time a project takes. When it’s just ladders required, we can move up and down fairly quickly. But sometimes moving large scissor lifts can take some time! 

Even after 10 years, I still find it hard to estimate exactly how long a mural project will take. Sometimes there are unexpected things that come up, and sometimes there are factors like the weather that are totally out of our control! 

We rarely, if ever, finish a project early, but the only times we’ve gone past the estimated timeline was because of weather. 

How Long Do We Paint Each Day? 

Everyone runs their projects a little differently, but when we paint a mural, we stay on that job every day until it’s finished. Most days are around 8 hours of painting, but sometimes we’ll go up to 12 hours if we’re trying to hit our deadline. 

Some Examples of Mural Project Timelines 

Through the years, I’ve found that my sweet spot is murals that take about 2-3 days of 7-8 hours of painting per day. However, we’ve also done our fair share of large-scale projects too, and those are always especially rewarding! 

Here are some examples: 

This mural in Orlando, Florida, took 28 days. This thing was MASSIVE and the largest mural I’ve ever done! 

[You can read more about this Orlando project – one of my favorites to date – in this post!]

I also recently completed this mural at the Dallas Arboretum, which took three weeks. It was a lot of space to cover (the entire pedestrian walking tunnel), and it was very cold the whole time, so our paint dried much slower than normal. 

[You can read more about this project for the Arboretum in this post.]

A smaller mural that I did was this green floral mural, which took 3 days. It’s in direct sunlight, and greens take 2-3 coats, so that factored into the timeline. 

We’ve also rented a swing stage before for really large projects like this one. This adds a bit of extra time because the crew needs to move the swing stage each day. This mural took 6 days total to complete. 

To see more examples, follow me on Instagram!

Dallas Mural Artist & Mentor 

I love helping fellow artists out, so if you’re looking to build a mural business and you have questions, I’m an open book! I offer mentorship for artists and creatives who want to grow a successful business. 

And if you’re looking for a mural in Dallas (or beyond!), I’d love to hear from you! Reach out to me, and we’ll talk about the details and vision for your project!