The average cost to paint a home’s exterior is around $3,000, but it can fluctuate between $1,800 and $5,200. Painting your home’s exterior improves its curb appeal, protects it from the elements, extends its lifespan, and potentially increases its market value. However, many factors determine the painting cost, from its size to its overall condition and labor hourly rates.

Factors Affecting the Cost to Paint Exterior Of House

Your home’s exterior square footage, labor rates, the number of stories, and its overall condition are the most significant, but there are others you should consider, too.

Exterior Square Footage

The bigger your home is, the more exterior square footage it has and the more it costs to paint. A 1,000 sq. ft. home costs around $1,000 to $4,000 to paint, while a 3,000 sq. ft. home costs $3,000 to over $10,000.

The only way to accurately know your home’s exterior is by measuring its area with measuring tape. A contractor should be able to measure your home’s exterior square footage and give you a quote based on it. You can also get a rough estimate of your home’s exterior square footage by measuring its perimeter and multiplying it by your home’s height.

Finally, remember that your total square footage differs from your home’s “paintable” area (the siding you’ll paint). To get the paintable area, you’d have to subtract the area of any exterior doors and windows. The paintable area will always be smaller than the total exterior square footage.

Number of Stories

Two or three-story homes will likely have above-average exterior square footage, increasing painting costs. A one-story home costs around $1,500 to $3,500 to paint, while a three-story home costs approximately $4,500 to $10,000 or more. Also, homes with more stories require ladders or scaffolding to paint, increasing the project’s time and setup, further driving up costs.

Labor

Professional painters usually charge you a flat rate based on the estimated time, personnel, materials, and tools necessary.

They charge around $2 to $7 per square foot for exterior projects. That’s between $2,000 to $7,000 to paint 1,000 sq. ft. Labor costs are about 80% to 85% of the total cost of painting your home’s exterior.

Your Home’s Condition and Repairs

If your home is in great shape and has no glaring imperfections that complicate the job, you may not have to pay anything extra for repairs.

On the other hand, if the exterior suffers from rot, cracks, peeling paint, damaged gutters, or any other imperfection, you’ll have to repair it or pay for repairs first. Fixing it could cost around $350 to $1,423, depending on the type of siding. Common repairs include mold removal, filling cracks and holes, repairing water damage, removing rot, and fixing dents.

Preparation

Assuming your home needs no further repairs, prep work is everything you must do before you can paint. Common prep work includes:

Sanding, paint scraping, and paint stripping: $0.50 – $1.50 per square footPressure washing: $0.35 – $0.75 per square foot

Siding Type

The type of siding significantly influences painting costs. Some types of siding are cheaper to paint than others due to their porousness (more porous, more paint), primers needed, type of paint, and paint coverage (square feet per gallon).

Paint Quality, Primer, and Paint Finish

Exterior house paint costs around $20 to $80 per gallon. The type of pain influences the price, with latex and acrylic latex costing up to $50 per gallon and oil costing up to $80 per gallon.

Your home’s siding type determines the type of paint you’ll use. For example, acrylic latex works well for vinyl, while brick benefits from paint specially designed for masonry.

Primer seals and prepares the surface before painting. It provides extra protection for your siding and improves adhesion, resulting in longer-lasting coats of paint. It costs around $10 to $150 per gallon, but most primers are in the $15 to $80 range.

Finally, the paint’s finish influences prices, too, but not by much. Most finishes (eggshell, flat, high-gloss, etc.) are in the $20 to $110 range.

Trim

Painting trim generally costs $1 to $3 per linear foot but can cost up to $6. We’ve mentioned that to estimate your home’s exterior square footage. You subtract the area of doors and windows from the total square footage. However, you may also want to paint your door and window trims to give them a fresh look.

Seasonality

The season may influence the project’s cost. Summer tends to be the best time of the year due to the lower chances of rain and the clear skies. As a result, it’s peak time for contractors, and you may have trouble booking your project.

Painting in the off-season, like winter, makes it easier to book your project, and you may even pay less, as some contractors offer seasonal special offers around holidays. Of course, it’ll be harder to pinpoint the right weather for painting, so you’ll have to determine whether the trade-off is worth it.

Additional Costs to Consider

Besides the basics, these are other costs that can increase the total price of your house painting project.

Application Type

Painting with spray instead of rollers and brushes can save time and money. Using spray costs around $30 to $50 per hour, while rollers and brushes cost around $40 to $60 per hour. You or your contractor can use a spray to cover large flat areas and use rollers and brushes for smaller and more intricate details, like trims and ornaments.

Permits

Painting your exterior doesn’t require a permit, but siding repairs whose costs exceed a certain threshold do need one. In some jurisdictions, any siding repair and replacement requires a permit. Permits cost $200 to $300, and the subsequent inspection costs $100 to $200.

Equipment

If you DIY this project, expect to spend about $500 and $1,200 on equipment and materials. Here are averages for the most common painting equipment used:

Brushes: $14Buckets: $11Caulk: $6Cloths: $15Masking Tape: $10Rollers: $15Ladder: $150Pressure Washer: $200 Scrapers: $8Sandpaper: $7Primer: $42 (you’ll need about 8)Paint: $42 (you’ll need about 10)

If you hire a contractor, they may partner with suppliers to buy equipment for far less than consumer prices.

Cost of Painting a House: DIY vs. Hiring a Professional

DIY painting can be significantly cheaper. It shouldn’t cost more than $1,000 for every piece of equipment and material.

However, it’ll take longer to get done, and you may not have easy access to specific equipment, such as scaffolding for second or third stories. If you have painting experience, you already know what you can do. But if you have none, it may be wiser to leave it to professionals unless it’s a relatively small project and you’re motivated to learn.

FAQs

How much paint do I need for a 2,000-square-foot house exterior?

A gallon of paint usually covers 350 square feet. To calculate how many gallons you’d need for a 2,000-square-foot house exterior, divide the square footage by the gallon’s coverage like this:

2,000 / 350 = 5.71 gallons of paint

Based on this calculation, you’d need 6 gallons of paint for a 2,000-square-foot house exterior. To be more accurate, research the coverage of the paint you’re planning to use and divide your home’s exterior square footage by that number.

How do I estimate the cost of painting a house?

Estimate your home’s exterior square footage and multiply it by the labor costs per square foot. If your home’s paintable exterior (siding area minus the area of doors and windows) is 1,000 square feet and labor costs $2 to $7 per square foot, the project will cost you between $2,000 and $7,000.

How long does it take to paint a 1,500 sq ft house exterior?

If you hire professional painters, painting a 1,500-square ft. exterior will likely take four days.

Does the cost of painting a house vary by location?

Yes. Mainly because the cost of labor can fluctuate anywhere between $50 to $90 per hour depending on the region you live in.