Exterior House Painting Price Guide
An extensive project with maximum benefits, painting your house exterior will surely give it a new look. So, you completely change the way the house looks, without major expenses and in a relatively short time. In addition, the paint protects the house from sunlight, wind, and rain. The new paint lasts 15 years, provided it is applied properly, the weather conditions are respected and, very importantly, the surface to be covered is carefully prepared.
How much does it cost to paint your house exterior?
If you are thinking about giving your house a fresh new appearance and painting its exterior, you should plan on spending anywhere between $3.5 and $5.5 per square foot, if hiring a contractor. In case your house has one, two, or three stories, then there will be a standard charge of anywhere between $2,500 and $4,500 for only one story, anywhere between $4,500 and $7,500 for two stories, and $6,500 to more than $8,500 for three stories.
These price estimates may include the preparation work, depending on what would be necessary. There may not be extra costs if only a simple cleaning and light sanding will be required, with no repairs or basic primer to take into account.
The cost of materials
The quality of the exterior house paint has evolved and over time more colors and materials that are more resistant and durable have appeared. Below you will find the average costs of the materials needed for painting your house’s exterior.
You might also like our articles on the cost to paint the interior of the house and the price of a gallon of paint and a can of spray paint.
- Quality house painting: $50 to $70 per gallon or $180 to $255 for 5-gallon containers
- Extra 5-gallon empty buckets: $5.5 to $12 each
- Extra gallon empty buckets: $5.5 each
Note: In case you hire a professional, you need to take into consideration the average costs presented above plus the labor costs and permitting fees.
Other costs to consider
- Painter’s tape: anywhere between $6 and $12 for 60 yds. rolls
- Extension ladder: anywhere between $310 and $360, or even more
- Cleaning clothes/rags: anywhere between $20 and $60
- Paint scraper: anywhere between $5 and $18
- Paintbrush: anywhere between $5 and $12
- Extra roller brushes: around $5
- Sander (electric): anywhere between $55 and $180, or even more
- Paint tray: anywhere between $4 and $7
- Sandpaper: anywhere between $5 and $18 for a package of 4 sheets
- Paint roller: $12, or $18 with extension
How can I paint the house exterior myself?
If you have chosen to paint your house yourself, this requires some previous preparations so that everything goes properly and the result is quality and aesthetically successful.
Also, before you start painting the outside of the house, you have to take into account the fact that the action is quite painstaking, long-lasting, and requires a lot of patience, attention, and involvement on your part. For this reason, the preparatory phase should be set up quite well, from the choice of materials and colors for example, to the most suitable time of the year when it is recommended to paint the exterior of the house.
If you’ve never done it yourself before, here are four important things you should prioritize before you get down to business.
- Cleaning the exterior walls
This is probably the most important thing you should consider before painting the exterior of your house. They face all the elements of the weather over time, and this causes dust to soak into the paint, which is why it is recommended to clean them with a dry brush and then rinse them with a jet of water, before refreshing or changing the paint. It is proven that painting exterior walls without cleaning them beforehand can lead to an undesirable end result – the paint will not adhere properly and the color may look dull.
- Repair of possible cracks
It is definitely not a good idea to start painting the exterior of the house before checking and repairing any cracks in the walls. If you choose to delay this and paint over the cracked portions of the walls, there is a risk that they will start to crack and even fall off quite quickly after the job is done. Specialists in the field strongly recommend checking and repairing the walls beforehand, especially if it is the exterior ones so that the paint will last over time on their surface.
- Choosing quality materials
It is one of the most important aspects and it is not recommended to compromise on quality when it comes to the materials used to paint the exterior of the house – they should be durable and of high quality.
- Choosing the period of the year for painting the exterior of the house
The weather outside can greatly influence the success of the work, which is why periods with high humidity or hot weather are not recommended. The humidity prevents the paint from adhering well to the wall surface, while the heat can dry it much too quickly, thus spoiling the final aesthetic. Specialists in the field believe that the perfect temperature for exterior painting is 74 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low degree of humidity in the air – in other words, in spring or early autumn.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, you’d better keep the things in mind you’ve learned in this article if you want your exterior house painting to be a real success in every way. Such a work done “by the book” from the preparation of the walls to the choice of the right colors and quality materials, will certainly be durable, resistant, and successful from an aesthetic point of view.
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