Exterior house painting cost

Painting the outside of a house costs $2.00 to $5.00 per square foot of wall area, so a 1,500 square foot single-story house is roughly $2,700 to $6,800 and a 2,000 square foot two-story house $5,500 to $14,500. The national average lands near $3,200 for a modest house and $5,800 for a two-story one.

A two-story house costs up to 50% more per square foot than a single-story one, and the reason is not paint. It is staging: ladders, scaffolding, and the time spent moving them.

Cost by house size

Wall area, not floor area. Measure the perimeter, multiply by 9 feet per story, and subtract about 15% for windows and doors.

The two-story rows use the higher rate throughout, which is how most painters quote a two-story house.

Cost by surface

Painting brick deserves its own warning. It is effectively irreversible: stripping paint from brick is expensive, damaging and often unsuccessful. Painted brick also has to be repainted every five to ten years forever. It can look excellent, and it is not a decision to make quickly.

Prep is the job

Paint is perhaps 15% of the price. Everything else is preparation and labor, and preparation is the entire difference between a paint job that lasts four years and one that lasts twelve.

A proper exterior job includes:

• Washing, either pressure washing at appropriate pressure or hand washing
• Scraping loose and failing paint
• Sanding the edges of scraped areas so they do not telegraph through
• Spot priming every bare area, and full priming on new or heavily scraped wood
• Caulking joints, trim and around windows and doors
• Repairing rotten trim, or identifying it before starting
• Masking windows, roofing, plants and hardscape
• Two finish coats

A quote that is 30% below the others has almost certainly removed items from that list, and the ones removed are always prep. Ask each bidder to itemize their prep, then compare.

What pushes the price up

Color change, especially light over dark, which needs an extra coat. Add 15% to 30%.

Peeling paint over a large area, which turns scraping from a detail into the main task. Extensive scraping can add $1,000 to $4,000.

Lead paint in houses built before 1978. Disturbing it triggers federal renovation rules requiring certified containment and cleanup. Add $500 to $2,500.

Rotten trim, which cannot be painted over. Replacing fascia, corner boards and window trim is carpentry priced separately, commonly $500 to $3,000.

Height and access, the two-story premium above, and worse on a house on a slope or with limited setback.

Trim in a second color, which is more cutting-in and typically 10% to 20% more.

Paint choice, briefly

Buy the good paint. The difference between a builder-grade exterior paint and a premium one is roughly $25 a gallon, and a whole house takes 12 to 20 gallons, so $300 to $500. Against a $6,000 job where labor is most of the cost, paying that to get four extra years is obviously right.

Acrylic latex is the default for almost everything. Elastomeric coatings are worthwhile on stucco with hairline cracks and are usually wrong elsewhere, because they trap moisture in wood.

When to paint, and when not to

Most manufacturers require surface temperatures above 50°F and falling no lower than that overnight for the drying period. Late spring and early fall are ideal. High summer is workable but direct sun on a hot wall makes paint flash off before it levels.

Do not paint over damp wood, and do not paint within a day or two of rain. A wall that looks dry can hold moisture, and paint applied over it fails by blistering within a season.

Frequently asked questions

How often does an exterior need repainting?

Five to ten years on wood, seven to twelve on fiber cement, ten to fifteen on stucco. South and west walls fail first and can be done on their own.

Is painting cheaper than new siding?

Substantially. A $6,000 paint job against $10,500 for vinyl or $19,600 for fiber cement on the same house. Painting is the right answer when the siding is sound and the finish is tired. It is the wrong answer when the siding itself is failing, because paint will not stick to a substrate that is coming apart.

Can I paint vinyl siding?

Yes, with paint formulated for vinyl and only in a color no darker than the original. Darker paint absorbs heat, and vinyl warps. Manufacturers publish the limit as a light reflectance value; a painter who has done it before will know to check.

Should I do it myself?

A single-story house with sound paint is a genuine DIY project over a couple of weekends and saves most of the labor. A two-story house is not: the work happens on ladders, at height, with a roller in one hand.

How long does it take?

Three to seven days for a single-story house, one to two weeks for a two-story one, weather permitting. Prep is usually more than half of that.