How Much Does Exterior Painting Cost in 2021?
Is the quote you’re getting really the number you deserve?
How much does it cost to paint the exterior of a house?
That 1 Painter is a small business that was hand-built from the ground up with blood, sweat, tears and a lot of prayer – we know the value of a hard day’s work! As a wise consumer, we know you work hard too and you deserve to know that when you spend your hard-earned money, you’re getting a great supply in return. In support of the educated decision, we’re here to unveil the truth about what it really costs to paint the exterior of a house.
The truth behind contractor bids
The reality is, exteriors are impossible to bid off of square feet alone. As lovely as it would be to have a standard formula of “x amount of surface area = $”, the fact is the condition of the surfaces being painted causes the price to vary greatly. Different conditions call for a range of solutions, which affects the number of hours/days, manpower, and materials required for the job.
Because of this, there is no way to accurately bid an exterior without a lot of practice and a lot of know-how. This is where you’ll see the difference between an enthusiastic beginner’s work and hiring professionals with the ability to give you a clear and accurate assessment, with the longevity and power to follow through on the project. An experienced painter understands the time and energy that goes into giving you the best results. They’ll be able to break it down for you at a reasonable price and deliver what you paid for.
So what goes into the cost of exterior painting?
| WHAT YOU GET | HOW YOU GET IT |
|---|---|
| Increased value to your home. | Pressure washing your home, stone, walkways, & patios. |
| Professional prepping & protection of surfaces. | Caulking cracks & joints (including around windows). |
| Expert knowledge & application of products. | Scraping, sanding, & spot priming as needed. |
| Quality paint with long-lasting results (8-15 years). | Covering & masking areas that are not being painted. |
| Increased curb appeal. | Painting the exterior with thorough coverage. |
| The support of a three-year warranty. | Cleaning up the job site & remove all trash & debris. |
This is the beauty of exterior painting & the elbow grease it takes to achieve it.
Exterior painting: a cost breakdown
These are just the basic things that painters look for when deciding what to charge a client. They monitor the exteriors they’ve done in the past and learn from the projects and painters they’ve been working with. Here is a layout of the process and professional labor that is needed – labor listed here is for one man and shows the variance regularly seen between jobs.
- Pressure washing 4-8 hours of labor
- Scraping, sanding, & spot priming 4 hours – 5 days
- Caulking 4 hours – 3 days
- Carpentry 0 – 5 days of labor
- Painting body siding, soffit 1 day to 5 days
- Painting trim, fascia 4 hours – 3 days
- Additional colors 4 hours – 3 days
- Additional doors or other elements 4 hours – 2 days
- Railings, spindles, decks, etc. 0 hours – 5 days
- Clean up 4 hours – 2 days
Once you find a great contractor, stick with them!
We’ve put in the time and care to learn how to accurately calculate the amount of professional labor needed for a job, but this took a lot of practice! Beginners will need to get to know the painters they work with, their skill levels, process, and pacing. We’ve learned to expect excellence in knowledge, time management, and application from our awesome painters.
None of this.
and certainly none of this.
So how much does it cost to paint the exterior of a house?
For a DIY paint team of one or two, the investment of time alone in trying something new, learning along the way, and inevitable fixing mistakes, can make for a lot of fun and some great dinner party stories for some people but will likely run you a pretty penny when all is said and done or half-done (c’mon, we all know that couple!).
All joking aside; if you choose to spend some time bonding with your family or friends and making some memories in a big DIY, we applaud you, and have helpful tips coming your way soon! We want to save you some of the headaches and let you know what can expect when taking on this kind of task. If you’re reconsidering such a large undertaking and would like a helping hand, we are your guys.