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Experienced painters know how many different situations come up when painting a house. I’ve painted houses for 15 years and I still come across obstacles that are difficult to estimate.
It’s impossible to include every potential factor when estimating a paint job, but In short, almost every painting bid will fall between these prices:
Exterior Painting
| Size of House | Stories | Total Cost |
| 1500 sq ft. | 1 | $2000-$3000 |
| 2500 sq ft. | 2 | $3000-$4500 |
| 4000 sq ft. | 3 | $4500-$7000 |
Interior Painting
| Size of House | Stories | Total Cost |
| 1500 sq ft. | 1 | $2500-$3500 |
| 2500 sq ft. | 2 | $4000-$5500 |
| 4000 sq ft. | 3 | $6000-$8000 |
Editor’s Note: Some people are surprised that interior painting is more expensive. But consider that:
- Interiors have more surface area than exteriors.
- You have to be extremely careful to protect the carpet and furniture.
- There are more doors, baseboards and closets that need painting than exterior work.
- Interiors usually have to be done by hand or roller (more labor-intensive than spraying)
What Makes Up The Cost of Painting a House?
Almost all expenses for house painting fall into these categories (Based on a $3,000 Paint Job):
| Expense Category | Average Cost | % of Paint Job |
| Labor | $1650 | 55% |
| Paint | $300 | 10% |
| Materials | $150 | 5% |
| Marketing | $150 | 5% |
| Painter’s Markup | $750 | 25% |
| Total: | $3000 | 100% |
Your Price Will Be Higher If:
- Your house is older and requires more prep-work
- You have obstacles around your house (trees, ivy, decorations)
- You need wood replaced
- You have uneven ground (difficult ladder placements)
- Your color changes are drastic (light to dark, dark to light etc.)
- You want 2 or 3 coats
- You use a high-end paint
Your Price Will Be Lower If:
- You have a newer house with little prep-work required
- There is easy access to all sides of the home
- There is no wood-rot or broken trim pieces
- You have even ground surrounding the house
- You choose spraying versus hand-rolling
- You’re keeping the same colors, or choosing similar colors
- You use a more economical paint
Can we help you find a painter?
How Much Did it Cost? Actual pricing for paint jobs I did*
*My pricing is usually the middle bid – not too high, not too low
Actual Cost: $2,600
Cost Factors:
- Easy access to house
- Customer wanted same colors
- No wood replacement
- Outward trim style (easier than other trim styles)
- Minimal Prep-Work
Actual Cost: $3,800 Cost Factors:
- Smaller house but it was porous brick which took way more paint
- Difficult access – many trees and ivy covering the exterior
- Older home – required more prep than usual
- Had to replace shutters
Actual Cost: $3,200 Cost Factors:
- 3 stories at certain peaks of the house
- Customer chose very different colors
- About 3,000 square feet total
- Even ground around house
- Medium Prep-work
Actual Cost: $3,700 Cost Factors:
- Bigger home – 3,200 square feet
- Customer wanted 4 total colors
- Railings in front required heavy prep-work
- Easy access to rest of home
Actual Cost: $1,800 Cost Factors:
- Smaller home – half of which was brick
- Easy, open access all around home
- Same colors
- Minimal Prep-Work
Actual Cost: $4,600 Cost Factors:
- Larger home – 3,500 sq ft.
- 3 stories – Needed a 40 ft. ladder for some parts
- Heavy prep on south-west sides
- Difficult access to peaks – backyard fence was close to the house
Actual Cost: $5,400 Cost Factors:
- Larger home – 4,400 sq ft.
- Same Colors
- 3 stories
- Difficult access on 2 sides (heavy sloping to back yard)
- Customer wanted an accent color
Actual Cost: $4,200 Cost Factors:
- Larger home – 3,600 sq ft.
- Light to dark color change
- Many trees blocking the siding
- Lots of roof line to mask off
Summary
There are endless factors when considering the cost of house painting, but the most important are:
- How much prep-work is needed
- How big is the house
- Whether you’re spraying or rolling
- What quality of materials are being used
I recommend always getting 3 bids before deciding on a house painter, which you can do here.
Thanks for reading!
35 Comments
Thank you for sharing these examples of pricing on exterior painting .
Do you mind sharing your costs broken down and what a net profit should look like?
Thank you very much
Hi Jack, we break costs down even further with this article we’ve written: https://paintingleads.com/how-to-bid-a-paint-job-a-free-guide-to-estimating/
Hopefully that helps, thanks!
I have seen a gazillion ways to bid jobs in FL…what about the take offs?? If a blind bid was to be made…how can you bid competitively on that and do you have any recommendations for bids on commercial jobs?
Hi Patty, we are currently working on a manual for commercial bidding which we will provide once it’s completed. Most homeowners choose the middle bid believe it or not. Many companies think they have to be the lowest bid, but after setting up over 20,000 estimates, we’ve seen that the homeowner is often scared by the low bid, and thinks the high bid is too pricey. If your bid is in the middle and you present yourself professionally, you’ll have a much better chance of landing the job.
I am Leroy Malcolm am painter forover 30 years I have work all around the city and now am on employ looking for some good work thank u somuch leroy I will not let u down one love
I am needing to make a bid on a 30 * 40 ft metal building, single story. Owner provides paint. Very little prep-work. What would you bid?
hi mi name is Manuel i own a small painting company and i am biding a job on new build home no house yet the house is going to be 5000 sq ft exterior and interior painting need it , any recommendations for best way to bid .
thanks
Hi Manuel, we have an estimating guide here. Every situation is a little different but it should cover the basics for you. Thanks!
Just wanted to say thank you for this post, the photos and descriptions were EXTREMELY useful, definitely one of the best resources I’ve found so far.
Hi Caitlin, I’m really glad it was helpful, thanks for reading!
Thank you for this blog. Excellent advice. I am assuming I should triple the costs for the SF Bay Area, what do you all think?
thanks
Pauline
Awesome information, thank you. My only question is if I am the only one doing labor do I still include markup?
Hi Rachel, everyones markup is different based on their own expenses and time spent. The formula in this article is meant more for a painting company with overhead; insurance, licensing, workers comp, advertising (and of course profit). Your markup should not change even if you’re doing it yourself because you are now trading your time for the labor expense, and time is still an expense.
we are a family small business, we just start but we have a lot of experience and a few houses done and we want to grow big and some advices will not hurt
Good information. I assume the quoted SF is living area but wouldn’t exterior SF be a more useful metric for estimating? Also I have never seen a color change that did not require 2 coats if the true paint color is required. Regardless of paint quality.
Hi Bob, this formula is meant for living square footage, but you can certainly develop a formula for exterior sf.
It depends how drastic the color change is. If you are going from pure white to black for example, you will need 2 coats of a high quality paint (sometimes 3 coats). But in my experience, using a good paint will cover most color changes with 1 coat.
I have a paint job I need done for a 5000 sq ft house, new construction with fresh drywall.
I got quoted 22K for the job which I find ridiculous, based on what I’m reading here, what do you think the price should be I’m located in NY.
Hi Jane, Fresh drywall needs to be properly primed before painting. That’s going to increase the labor significantly. It’s adding another complete coat to the surface area. I usually bid by the square foot, not by days/hours for labor cost. Primed surfaces .65c, painted: 1.25 – 2.75 depending on height, surface, color, etc. At this pricing I’m usually the middle bid.
prime (@.65sf) $3,250 + paint (@ $1.75sf) $8,750 = $12,000 + $1,050 = $13,050.
add: 12gal primer ($150) & 15 gal paint ($900)
$15K with this pricing, $22K seems a bit high.
when you say you charge $1.25 sq ft is that including labor and materials or just labor?
I assume this doesn’t include trim
Hi, I live in a 100 year old home (1760 sq ft). All original siding and trim. The house is in desperate need of a paint job, massive chipping and some wood repair needed. There is extensive prep work that will need to be done on this house. I have been quoted 11.5k to 28k. The top end quote is a very experienced painter with extensive experience working with old homes. Am I being price gouged or is it worth the extra money for a good job?
I would like to get a quote on painting my house
Hi my house is rochester new york is 1,345 square feet looking estimate for exterior paint the all house
I got a price of $6000 labor & 3500 materials to paint my house of 4,500 square ft.. & there going to 2coat the whole body that’s made from hardy plank after they power wash & do all the trim white & it’s a 2story house … is that a good price ? I wanted top shelf paint & work
Thank you for providing this information. It was very helpful to me again thank you…..
Do you include a warranty with every job, and what type of warranty? I think this is extremely important to include . I am just not positive what type of warranty.
Hi Eric we use different warranties, longer warranties cost more. We have a 3-year, 5-year and 10-year. The longer warranties include high-end paint and multiple coats.
I have a 14×70w metal mobile home no trim and a double garage painting same color wood with wood trim. Very easy to get to on all sides. How much should I expect to pay.
Thank you
Two additional factors that can affect a painter’s labor costs are the number of stories and the condition of the home. Generally, the more stories a house has, the higher the labor costs will be. And, if a home is older, prep work such as scrubbing siding or sanding aging wood could be more time consuming for the painter.
How do you deal with customers who live in strict HOA communities? Is it the painters responsibility to contact the HOA in order to get the necessary paperwork; Application, color guidelines, etc or is the customer responsible for that? I recently got a job which was part of an HOA and I found it almost impossible to find the information I needed in order to pass it along to the customer. I finally found a website that had the rules and regulations but wanted me to pay $46 for a copy. It was a nightmare. I wanted to be prepared and bring a list of colors pre approved by the HOA to my meeting with the customer but it ended up being a nightmare.
Hi Tom, HOA’s can be tricky. I would usually do the color approvals for my client. I would try to batch like 10 or 15 together so I wasn’t going there every week. You want to make the booking process as easy as possible for the customer. The more obstacles you put in the way, the harder it is to sell and produce the job.
4000sq home top to bottom, and painting all the brown cabinets in the 3 bathrooms and kitchen, and two walls on the outside.
I’m hoping to get an estimate to re paint my bathroom. The tiny toilet room has wall paper that would need to be removed first. Then the rest of the bathroom consists mostly of walk-in tile shower, mirrors & cabinets so just the ceiling & little wall space surrounding needs to be re painted to match my new shower.
Location is Chandler,Az 85224
Hope you can help!
1,000 sq foot home aluminum siding w 2or3 coats of colors. Garage is 11/2 car wood. We have paint.no repairs needed on home garage needs wood replaced behind gutters and new gutters installed. We are very low income and need help