Tag Archive for: cost of painting

Article Summary:This article will help when trying to find creative exterior painting ideas and offer advice on planning and preparation for your next exterior painting project.

Creative exterior painting ideas can make or break a project. If you want to liven up the exterior of your home, a new paint job can add both vitality and character, but the colors and treatments you choose need to be well thought out ahead of time. Scheduling painters can be a real challenge, so don’t be faced with making paint selections and applications too quickly just because the painting contractors are due to arrive tomorrow. There are many factors that you should take into account when you’re preparing to paint the exterior of your home, including the colors of your roof and shutters, your house’s architectural style, and the colors of other homes in the neighborhood.

Unless you are planning to renovate the exterior of your home completely, you should consider the parts of your home that will not be painted. If you have brick or stone that will be untouched, the exterior color scheme that you choose should incorporate these natural colors. Also, the shingles of your roof may have specks of color in them, so you may want to consider a color that will highlight these subtleties. Consider buying some home improvement or architectural digest types of magazines so you can review photos which often can unleash your inner muse.

Many homeowners choose to reapply the same color exterior paint when the original coating begins to fade. Don’t completely disregard the opportunity to update your home’s style, however. You may want to pick two or three colors for your home–one will serve as the main color and the other two will be used for accents on trim, shutters, doors, a trellis, and other features that add character to your home.

Exterior Painting Ideas Quick Tips

  • Fit in with the neighborhood but stand out through color combinations
  • Don’t just settle on the previously used colors
  • Pick a few color combinations that go well together
  • Play off specks of paint in the roof or in surrounding brick etc.
  • Use high quality paint that has more interesting color choices
  • Buy a few quarts of paint and test patch areas of your house that won’t be seen easily to be sure you like the colors

Painting your house is a great way to give it a bit more character.  If you have been thinking about changing the color and style of your house, you might be wondering how expensive it is.  So, how much does it cost to paint your house?paintbrush-pallet_94495

While the amount can vary, you can expect the cost to paint you home to fall somewhere between these values:

Table of Estiamted Painting Costs, in USD

Basic Painting

Normal painting

Fancy, complex painting

Small
Home

$2,000 – $4,000$3,000 – $6,000$5,000 – $12,000+*

Medium
Home

$3,000 – $7,000$5,000 – $10,000$9,000 – $18,000+*

Large
Home

$6,000 – $12,000$5,000 – $18,000$16,000 -$30,000+*

Huge home

$10,000 – $30,000$15,000 – $45,000$25,000 – $70-000+*

What’s in cost of house painting?

For a seemingly simple task, there is a lot that goes into the cost of painting.  A few things that go into the price of a painting job:

  • Type of product being used (latex paint, semi-transparent, solid stain etc.)
  • How tall the house is
  • Whether the house is mostly flat or has complex, curving or narrow spaces
  • The material you are painting on (wood, metal, masonry)
  • How easy it is to access all the surfaces of your home
  • How much prep work is involved
  • whether there are taxes, regulations, small business expenses, etc that boost the cost of owning a painting business

Is painting cheaper than siding?

Siding is usually more expensive than painting your home.  While painting can be done for only a few thousand, you shouldn’t expect to get any siding for less than $9,000.00.  Large homes can easily cost tens of thousands to side with paneling.

As an example, let’s take a medium-sized home with a little prep work.  Siding would cost $16,000-$24,000.  Painting a comparable house would cost $5,000-$10,000.  Of course, the price does depend on the complexity of the job.  If there is lots of damage to the structure of the home that needs to be prepared for painting, that drives the cost up. In that case it might be a little cheaper to just side the house.  But rotten wood is one of the few times that siding might be considered cheaper than painting a home.

In many cases homeowners approach us for help in deciding whether or not to continue painting their house or to replace the x--pictures-booked jobs 2009-santos, westford c ws-before-picture 113siding.  Inevitably one of the first questions is: “How Much Does a Paint job Cost for a home?”  As with any home improvement project the cost of painting a home is subject to many factors, but this article should help you get a general idea of how much it might cost to paint your home.

By far the most accurate way to know what painting your house costs is to request a painting estimate.  However, if you’re not quite ready for that, or you live outside our service region keep reading!

Cost of Painting By House Type and Project Complexity

The table below shows average and approximate painting costs for various size houses and various amounts of prep work, accessibility and levels of project complexity.

Prep Work: The term prep work or preparation work refers to the amount of work needed to prepare the surface of what you are painting to be painted again.  This could include scraping, sanding, caulking, priming, repair/replacing boards, chemically stripping, use of heat gun and of course following the EPA standards for lead paint removal (If applicable).  These approximations can vary based on the items listed above in the section “Factors Influencing the Cost of a Paint job in Massachusetts.”

Amount of Prep Work*/ Complexity of Project

Low-Prep / Basic Job

Mid-Prep / Average Job

High-Prep / Complex Job

Small
House

$2,000 – $4,000$3,000 – $6,000$5,000 – $12,000+*

Medium
House

$3,000 – $7,000$5,000 – $10,000$9,000 – $18,000+*

Large
House

$6,000 – $12,000$5,000 – $18,000$16,000 -$30,000+*

Extra Large
House

$10,000 – $30,000$15,000 – $45,000$25,000 – $70-000+*

*If the prep work is particularly difficult the cost could even exceed these numbers in which case it may be less expensive to just replace the siding.  See the cost of siding replacement.

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Influences on the Cost of a Paint Job

The following are all questions a reputable painting contractor must use to determine the cost of painting your home.

These are head and shoulders the top 2 factors influencing the cost of house painting:

  1. Surface area and square footage being painted
  2. Amount of surface preparation needed (scraping, sanding, priming, caulking, washing)

The following are other factors that will be considered:

  • Type of product being used (latex paint, semi-transparent, solid stain etc.)
  • Height of house
  • Amount of surfaces (complexity)
  • Substrate being painted (wood, masonry, aluminum siding, etc.)
  • Need for replacement of rotted wood
  • Ease of access (It can be very difficult to paint houses in densely populated areas)
  • Removal and reinstallation of fixtures (storm windows, awnings, lights, etc.)
  • Type of staging required
  • Need for extra equipment such as a hydraulic lift
  • Applicable taxes
  • Regional Overhead (in some states the cost to run a business is much higher and will affect the cost of new siding)

Clearly, given the amount of influential factors listed above it is tough to come up with a “ballpark” or “guesstimate.”  It’s impossible to get too specific; however, the painting pricing information listed below should help.

If you live within our service region of Eastern New England: