Cost to paint a two-story house exterior

Painting the outside of a two-story house costs [unknown price: exterior-painting-second-story] per square foot of wall for the work above the first story, against $2 to $5 for the walls a painter can reach from the ground or a short ladder. The paint is the same on both. What changes is how the crew gets to it.

That split is the key to reading a two-story quote. Some painters price the whole house at the upper rate, others price each band of wall at its own rate, and knowing how much of your wall is actually high work tells you which quote is fair.

What it costs

Both rates assume siding that takes paint readily. Stucco and brick absorb more and need more prep, and they sit at the top of each range or above it.

Why height costs more than paint

On a single-story house a painter works from the ground, a stepladder or a short extension ladder, and moves along the wall quickly. On a second story every square foot has to be reached first, and reaching it is slow.

Ladders. A typical two-story eave sits somewhere around 18 to 22 feet above the ground, and a gable peak higher still. A ladder for that height is long and heavy, has to be footed at roughly one foot out for every four feet up, and has to be moved every few feet of wall. A standoff bracket holds it off the gutters, and someone has to steady it on uneven ground. A painter on a long ladder cuts in a window frame far slower than one standing on the ground.

Staging. For long walls, painters use pump jacks or rented scaffolding, which lets two people work a whole run without climbing down. Setting it up and breaking it down takes hours that never show as paint on the wall.

Lifts. A boom or articulating lift is the fastest way to reach high gables, but the rental is charged by the day, the machine needs firm, level ground and a clear path to the wall, and it cannot go over a septic field or a soft lawn after rain.

Roof sections. Where a porch or a single-story wing sits in front of upper walls, the crew works from that roof. That means roof brackets or ladder hooks, care with the shingles and slower progress.

Slope. A house on a hill can be two stories at the front and three at the back. The walkout side of a house is often the most expensive wall on it, because ladders get longer and the ground under them gets worse.

Measuring the paintable area by story

The exterior house painting guide explains the basic method: perimeter times wall height, less an allowance for windows and doors. For a two-story house, do it twice, once for each band of wall, so each can be priced at its own rate.

Ground band. The perimeter times about 9 feet, the height of the first story of wall. Subtract roughly 15% for windows and doors.

Upper band. The same perimeter times the second story of wall, plus the gable triangles, which are all high work. A gable is half the width of the end wall times its rise. Subtract the upper windows.

Then adjust for the house in front of you. A garage with a bedroom above it, a two-story foyer, a bump-out with a shed roof: walk around with a sketch and mark which walls a painter can reach from the ground and which need a long ladder or staging.

Soffits, fascia and porch ceilings are usually priced by the linear foot or as a lump sum rather than in the wall area. Ask how a quote handles them, since on a two-story house the soffit is nearly all high work.

Prep at height

Prep is where the money goes on any exterior job, and height makes every prep step slower. Washing upper walls means a soft wash from the ground or work from a ladder with a running hose. Scraping and sanding a peeling gable is slow, and it is the place a rushed crew cuts corners, because nobody looks closely at a gable from the ground.

The upper walls also take the hardest weather. The sun and rain under a shallow eave hit the top of the wall more than the bottom, so failed paint, open joints and rot in the fascia and frieze board cluster up high. A painter who finds soft wood should stop and price it rather than paint over it; the exterior trim replacement guide explains what that carpentry involves.

On a house built before 1978, scraping disturbs paint that may contain lead, and federal renovation rules require a certified firm to contain it. On a tall house that containment covers a lot of ground, and it should be on the quote, not discovered later.

How many gallons it takes

Exterior paint typically covers about 300 to 400 square feet a gallon per coat on smooth siding, and less on rough wood, shingles or stucco. Two coats are standard.

So a house with 2,200 square feet of wall needs roughly 11 to 15 gallons for the body in two coats, plus a few more for trim in a second color and primer for bare wood. Painters usually buy in five-gallon buckets and box the paint, mixing several cans together so the color is consistent across the whole house.

The paint itself is a small share of the job, which is why it is not worth saving on. The labor to put a cheap paint on a second story is the same as the labor to put a good one there, and the cheap one brings the crew and the ladders back sooner.

A worked example: a 2,000 square foot two-story

A two-story house on a 40 by 25 foot footprint, with 2,000 square feet of living area and vinyl siding in sound condition. After subtracting the windows and doors, the ground band works out to about 1,000 square feet of wall. The upper band, with its two gables, is about 1,200 square feet.

• Ground band: 1,000 sq ft × $2.00 to $5.00 per sq ft = $2,000 to $5,000
• Upper band and gables: 1,200 sq ft × [unknown price: exterior-painting-second-story] to [unknown price: exterior-painting-second-story] per sq ft = $3,600 to $7,800
• Total: $5,600 to $12,800

Priced band by band, the house comes to $5,600 to $12,800. A painter who quotes the whole 2,200 square feet at the upper rate lands higher, and that is not necessarily unfair: if the lot slopes, the ground walls sit behind thick shrubs or the crew stages the whole house anyway, all of the wall really is high work. What the split gives you is a way to ask the question. A quote well above the banded figure should come with a reason, such as a walkout side, heavy scraping or lead containment.

Questions for the painter

• How will you reach the upper walls and the gables: ladders, staging or a lift?
• Is any equipment rental included in the price, or billed separately?
• How do you protect the roof and the landscaping while working above them?
• What prep is included on the upper walls, item by item?
• What happens if you find rotten trim or fascia up high?

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to paint a two-story house exterior?

Typically [unknown price: exterior-painting-second-story] per square foot of upper wall and $3.25 for the ground band. Measure each band of wall separately and price it at its own rate; the worked example above shows the arithmetic for a 2,000 square foot house.

Why do painters charge more for a second story?

Because the time goes into reaching the wall, not painting it. Long ladders, staging, lifts and roof brackets all have to be set up and moved, and a painter works slower at height.

How many gallons of paint does a two-story house need?

Roughly 11 to 15 gallons for the body of a house with about 2,200 square feet of wall, in two coats. Add more for trim, primer and rough surfaces that soak up paint.

Is it safe to paint a second story yourself?

The ground band is a reasonable DIY job. The upper walls are not for most homeowners: the work is on long ladders, often over shrubs or uneven ground, with tools in both hands. Many owners paint the lower band themselves and pay a crew for the top.

Related guides

• Exterior house painting cost — costs by house size and surface
• Pressure washing cost — the wash that has to come first
• Exterior trim replacement cost — when prep turns up rot
• Siding repair cost — fixing damaged panels before they are painted