Exterior house painting cost

MaterialsEstimator, Exterior house painting price survey · checked 2026-09-23

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (40 CFR 745) — pre-1978 housing · checked 2026-09-23

Sherwin-Williams / Benjamin Moore / PPG, Exterior acrylic latex technical data sheets — spread rate and film build · checked 2026-09-23

1. 01Pricing by the square foot of house

   The wall is 1.09 times the floor on a two-storey and 0.86 on a single storey of the same size. A per-house figure is a guess at that ratio.

   Instead — Perimeter × height × storeys, plus gables, minus openings. Two minutes with a tape and the listing.

2. 02Painting over a loose edge

   Paint bonds to what is under it. Over a lifting edge it lifts with it, and the new coat peels along the same line within a year or two.

   Instead — Scrape everything loose, feather the edges, prime the bare wood. It is the job, and it is most of the bill.

3. 03Buying the cheap paint to save money

   The paint is 11 per cent of the bill. Saving a fifth of it is a hundred dollars on thousands, and it brings the next repaint forward by years.

   Instead — A good 100 per cent acrylic, or premium on a well-prepared house: $701 a year against $912.

4. 04Skipping the wash on aluminium

   Old aluminium siding chalks. Paint on chalk sticks to the chalk, and the chalk is not stuck to anything.

   Instead — Washed until a hand comes away clean, then a bonding primer on any bare metal.

5. 05A dark colour on vinyl

   The panels absorb the heat, expand beyond what their nailing allows, and buckle — permanently.

   Instead — A vinyl-safe colour no darker than the original. The ranges exist for this.

6. 06Ignoring the year the house was built

   Before 1978 there is lead in the old paint, and scraping it is regulated work. A quote without it is a job that will not comply — and the dust stays in your garden.

   Instead — Ask for the lead-safe line. About $1,563 on the failed house, and it is the law.

7. 07Comparing two quotes with different scope

   One includes trim, one does not; one priced the scraping, one did not. The cheap one is not cheaper — it is smaller.

   Instead — Ask both for wall area, prep as a line, and trim in and out. Then compare.

8. 08Painting brick because it looks tired

   Painted brick is painted for ever, and the wrong coating traps moisture and spalls the face off in frost.

   Instead — A wash and repointing first. If it is painted, a masonry primer and a breathable coating, and know it is permanent.

1. 01Work out the wall, not the housePerimeter × wall height × storeys, plus half the width times the rise for each gable, minus 15 sq ft a window and 21 a door. A 2,000 sq ft two-storey is about 2,200 sq ft of wall.
2. 02Be honest about the conditionSound means a wash and a few spots. Peeling means every loose edge scraped and feathered. Failing means bare wood over large areas and boards to replace. The price follows this, not the paint.
3. 03Count the trimCorners, casings, fascia, frieze — about 1.6 ft of trim for every foot of perimeter on each storey. It is brushed and it is the hours.
4. 04Check the yearBefore 1978, scraping is lead-safe work under the EPA rule. Expect the line on the bill; be suspicious of a quote without it.
5. 05Price the paint lastTwo coats at 300 sq ft a gallon on wood, half that on stucco. It is a tenth of the bill, so buy the good one.
6. 06Compare by the yearDivide the total by the years to the next repaint. Better prep and better paint both push that denominator up.

Wall area

Perimeter times height times storeys, plus the gable triangles, minus the windows and doors. The number a painter prices from, and not the floor area on the listing.

Gable

The triangle of wall under a pitched roof at each end of the house. Two of them on a typical house, and they are tall, awkward work.

Spread rate

Square feet one gallon covers. Manufacturers say 250 to 400; lap siding and porous stucco take far more than the smooth-wall figure.

Preparation

Washing, scraping, sanding, caulking and spot-priming before any paint goes on. Most of the job on any house that is peeling, and the part that decides how long the new paint lasts.

Feathering

Sanding the edge of a scraped area so the step between old paint and bare wood disappears under the new coat. Skipped, every scraped patch shows through.

Spot priming

Primer only on the bare patches left by scraping, not over the whole house. Bare wood, bare masonry and bare metal all need it; sound old paint does not.

Back-rolling

Rolling sprayed paint into the surface while it is wet, so it bonds and fills the texture instead of sitting on top. The difference between a sprayed job and a good sprayed job.

Elastomeric

A thick, stretchy masonry coating that bridges hairline cracks in stucco. Dearer than paint, covers less, and it is the right thing on stucco.

Chalking

The powder that old paint, and aluminium siding especially, sheds as it weathers. Must be washed off completely, or the new paint sticks to the powder and not the wall.

Lead-safe work

The EPA RRP rule: on a pre-1978 home, paid work disturbing more than 20 sq ft of exterior paint needs a certified firm, containment, wet methods and a verified cleanup. Scraping is that work.

Vinyl-safe colour

A colour with a light reflectance high enough that the panels do not overheat. Vinyl painted a dark colour buckles; the vinyl-safe ranges exist for this.

Cost per year

The total divided by the years between repaints — 8 for a good acrylic, 11 for a premium one on properly prepared wood. The honest way to compare paints.