How Much Does Exterior House Painting Cost?

When your house needs a new coat or two of paint, it can be a big project. Homeowners can head over to Angi, formerly Angie’s List, to find out more about the price it will cost. However, there is no one set price for this type of job. A lot depends on your house itself as well as the region that you live in. Urban areas virtually always cost more, and rural areas may have an extra charge because they are far away. 

Exterior House Painting Prep

A big part of the cost to paint the exterior of a house depends on the prep work required before the house is actually painted. That prep work often includes getting rid of the paint that was there before if it’s chipping and to fill in any holes and dents. If the house needs a lot of prep work, this alone can be more than half of the labor cost of the entire project. If there is little prep work that needs to be done, this part may only cost a couple to a few hundred dollars. However, on a house that is 2,100 square feet that needs a lot of prep work, the cost can be $1,000 or more.

If your home needs window glazing or caulking, this will add even more to the price. You can expect an average-sized house to cost anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 depending on the prep work needed, the size of the house, and the kind of exterior house paint you want to use. 

The Square Footage

The square footage of your house is one of the major determiners of how much the paint job will cost. If your home needs to have window caulking and pressure washing, and paint that is in average condition, you may pay about $0.50 per square foot for the prep work. If you need a little scraping and/or power brushing to get rid of paint in bad condition, you may pay anywhere from $0.50 to $1 for each square foot for the prep work. If the paint is in very bad condition, you may pay as much as $2 per square foot for the prep work.

Then when you get two coats of paint on your house, you can expect to pay about $1 to $2 per square foot. All total, $3,000 is a good average amount for exterior house painting. The price can be up to $10,000 if your house is larger than average and you have paint in poor condition. 

Want to know how much your exterior painting project will cost? Angi makes it easy for you to find local exterior paint professionals and get multiple competitive quotes. Estimates are generally free, and you are under no obligation to use their services.