How To Open A Five Gallon Bucket Of Paint

Five (5) gallon buckets of paint contain all the paint you’ll need to redecorate several of the rooms in your home (maybe even all of them!). However, due to their large nature, they are not opened by the same methods you’d use to open, say, a one (1) gallon paint can. 

To learn how to open a five (5) gallon bucket of paint, simply follow our step-by-step instructions below. For all other information, or if you have further questions, please see our FAQ section at the bottom of this article.

How to open a five gallon bucket of paint (pour cap only)

Five (5) gallon buckets of paint come with a handy pour nozzle set into the lid. This can be opened to expose only a small amount of paint to the air, and thus can be used to precisely pour out paint into paint trays and the like.

1. Ensure your five gallon paint bucket is sitting flat on the floor or on top of a steady surface so that it sits below shoulder height at least
2. Take a rubber mallet or hammer, and hit the cap part of the lid hard a few times around its circumference
3. Put the mallet or hammer down, and using your hands, unscrew the loosened lid by turning it anticlockwise
4. You have successfully opened a five gallon bucket of paint at the pour cap

How to open a five gallon bucket of paint (whole lid)

To take the whole lids of the five (5) gallon bucket of paint off, instead of just the pour cap, follow these simple instructions:

1. Ensure your five gallon paint bucket is sitting flat on the floor or on top of a steady surface so that it sits below shoulder height at least
2. Locate the plastic tab on the exterior circumference of the lid (it will look and work similar to the plastic tabs you find at the top of some juice bottles with screw top lids)
3. Using a screwdriver or other similar tool, push your instrument into the gaps around the tab and lever it back to pop the tab open
4. Take the tab between your fingers and pull it back on itself to start pulling the band of plastic sealing the five gallon bucket off
5. Continue peeling the plastic tab until you’ve removed it entirely, and discard it.
6. Finally, using just your hands, take hold of each exposed flap, or catch, of the paint bucket lid, and prize them up and away from the paint bucket
7. Once you’ve prized open each of the flaps around the whole circumference of the paint bucket, you can simply lift the lid off and set it to one side
8. You have successfully opened a five gallon bucket of paint by removing the whole lid

And that’s all there is to opening a five (5) gallon bucket of paint. For more information and further answers to your questions, see our FAQs below.

FAQs

What’s the best way to open a 5 gallon bucket of paint?

As you’ll have discovered by reading our tutorials above, there are only two practical ways to open a five gallon bucket of paint, and yet both vary quite significantly in their applications. Thus, when it comes to answering the question: What’s the best way to open a 5 gallon bucket of paint, the answer depends more on you than us.

If you need to pour paint carefully and precisely from the bucket (for example into a small receptacle or paint tray) then we recommend that you use method #1 above, which allows you to open the bucket only partially via the pourer cap. If, on the other hand, you are mixing large quantities of paint, or decanting your five gallon bucket into a large container, then it will be a lot faster and more practical for you if you employ method #2 instead.

How many rooms will a 5 gallon bucket of paint cover?

There is no easy answer to this question, given the size of a room can differ hugely, from the smallest bathroom to the biggest concert hall in the world. Thus, five gallons could go a long way, or not very far at all. Thankfully, there is an easier way to calculate just about exactly how many rooms in your house or place of work that five gallons of paint will cover.

One (1) gallon of paint covers approximately four hundred square feet (400ft²), or about the equivalent size of an average bathroom. Thus, five (5) gallons of paint would cover approximately two thousand square feet (2,000ft²). With a five (5) gallon bucket of paint, we estimate you could cover between two and four (2-4) good size rooms in your home, or five (5) small rooms.

How long does a 5 gallon bucket of paint last?

Paint kept in an airtight, unopened tub can last up to ten (10) years, however after all that time it may not have kept its quality, and you may wish to consider replacing the paint. Generally speaking, however, you can use paint stored in an unopened bucket for up to five years after purchase. 

If you’ve opened the bucket of paint, then make sure that you seal it as completely as possible before storing it. An opened five (5) gallon bucket of paint will last you perhaps 2-3 years whilst remaining usable, after which time we’d recommend replacing it. To save you money, and minimize wastage, we recommend calculating how much paint you’ll need for your project before buying the materials.

What are the differences between a 1 gallon and a 5 gallon container of paint?

Standard one (1) gallon buckets of paint tend to come in aluminum cans (or some other metal), with a tight-fitted metal lid sunk into the lip of the paint can. These one (1) gallon tubs of paint, besides containing less paint than their five (5) gallon cousins, have one main difference: the way they’re opened.

To open a one (1) gallon can of paint, you’ll need a thin and sharp tool (even a spoon or fork) to slide in under the lid and lever the lid open. The lid is also solid, and has no other outlet for the paint (such as a pouring cap) like the five (5) gallon tub does.

In contrast, five (5) gallon buckets of paint are typically made from plastic and can be opened by hand simply by pulling the tab and flipping open the catches (as described in greater detail above). Furthermore, five (5) gallon tubs of paint have a separate pouring cap set into the lid which you can unscrew to leave only a small convenient opening from which to pour out paint.

How do you put the lid back on (close) a 5 gallon bucket of paint?

To put the lid back on a five (5) gallon bucket of paint, you need to apply quite a bit of pressure. To close a five (5) gallon bucket of paint, place the lid back on top of the bucket and press down firmly all around the circumference of the tub until you hear each of the catches click back into place. Alternatively, to close the pour cap, replace the cap and screw it clockwise to lock it back into place.