The product catalogue and spread rates
Every material category has a selected product — a specific paint from a specific brand. The product drives the spread rate in m²/L, which is how Surfacely calculates how much paint a job needs.
Why this is different
Most quoting systems ask you to guess a spread rate. Surfacely ships with a curated catalogue of the top 5 paint brands in your market, with spread rates taken directly from each product's technical data sheet. You pick the product you actually use, and the spread rate is already correct.
Choosing a product
Open a material category and pick from the dropdown. You'll see your local brands (for example, in AUD, the catalogue shows the top manufacturers serving your region). If you use something not in the list, you can still enter a custom spread rate manually.
Spread rate vs actual coverage
TDS spread rates assume perfect conditions. On real jobs you apply a small adjustment — rougher surfaces use more, pre-primed surfaces use less. Surfacely applies sensible adjustments automatically based on the surface and prep level you've chosen.
Spray vs brush/roll
When you select spray as the application method on a surface, Surfacely drops the coverage rate one step — so the job uses more litres to account for overspray. There's no hidden multiplier; you see the lower rate it uses, and you don't have to adjust by hand.
Why it matters: paint overruns eat margin silently. A 10% variance between quoted and actual paint usage can destroy the profit on a medium repaint. Surfacely's TDS-grounded catalogue gives you a realistic number every time.