Calcatrice cockatrice logoCalcatrice.
Est. 2026
The ledger for
expensive decisions
Menu
Calculate the cost before you commit

Home Projects

Exterior house painting cost calculator

Work out what painting a house exterior will cost from the wall area and a rate you set, plus the prep and the height premium that actually drive the price. Scraping, sanding, priming, and reaching a two or three-story wall are most of a real exterior job; the paint itself is a small share. The calculator adds it up.

§ 01 Your numbers

Change anything. The answer updates as you type.

The paintable wall area, not the floor area. A rough guide is the home's footprint perimeter times the wall height; a painter measures it properly. Exclude windows and doors, or do not, since they roughly offset the trim.
The all-in painting rate for your surface and prep level. Smooth siding in good shape is at the low end; heavy scraping, or stucco and rough surfaces, run higher.
Scraping peeling paint, sanding, filling, replacing rotten trim, and priming bare spots, beyond what the base rate assumes. On an older or weathered house this is a big line. Zero if the surface is sound.
The added labor and equipment for a two or three-story house, steep sites, or hard-to-reach walls needing scaffolding or a lift. Zero for a single story.
Painting trim, fascia, soffits, doors, and shutters, which is detailed brushwork and separate from the wall rate. Zero if the wall rate already includes it.
Estimated cost
$5,900

Typical range $4,720 – $8,260

  • Walls (area × rate)$5,000
  • Extra prep: scraping, repairs, priming$400
  • Height / access premium$0
  • Trim, doors & shutters$500
  • Total$5,900
See next steps →

Recommended next steps

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them, Calcatrice may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only suggest tools that fit your result, and a company can't pay to show up here.

$4,000 to $10,000 is a two-story house or one needing serious scraping and repair. Get detailed quotes and compare the prep, not just the price.

What this assumes, and where it could be wrong

Every one of these is a place the number could be off. They are here because you should be able to check our working, not because we are hedging.

PREP IS MOST OF THE JOB, AND MOST OF THE PRICE.
A lasting exterior paint job is mostly what happens before the finish coat: scraping off failed paint, sanding, filling, replacing rotten trim, and priming bare wood. On a sound house that is modest; on a weathered or peeling one it can exceed the painting itself. Paint is a small share of the cost, so a quote that is much cheaper than the others is usually skimping on the prep, and that job will peel in a couple of years

The number of stories moves the price a lot. Painting a single-story house is ladder work; a two or three-story house, or a home on a steep site, needs taller ladders, scaffolding, or a lift, and every wall takes longer and is more dangerous to reach. That height premium is real labor and equipment, not padding, and it is why the same square footage costs more on a taller house.

The surface sets the rate as much as the size. Smooth, sound siding takes paint quickly; rough stucco, textured surfaces, and previously-failed paint take more paint and far more prep time. Price the rate to your actual surface, and expect the range to be wide, because what a scrape reveals under old paint is not fully known until the crew is up there.

Cheaper paint is a false economy on an exterior. A quality exterior paint costs a little more per gallon and lasts years longer against sun and weather, and since the paint is a small share of the job and the labor is most of it, saving on paint to repaint sooner is backwards. The expensive part is the labor, so make it last.

The defaults are ours and are a starting point. The area, the rate, and the prep are yours, and the estimate turns most on the prep the house needs and how many stories it is.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to paint a house exterior?
It is priced by the wall area at a rate that depends on the surface and prep, plus a premium for height and separate trim work. A sound single-story house is at the low end; a weathered two or three-story house with heavy scraping costs much more. The calculator above estimates from your area, a rate you set, and the prep and height. Prep and stories drive it more than the paint.
Why is exterior painting so expensive?
Because it is mostly prep and labor, not paint. Scraping failed paint, sanding, filling, replacing rotten trim, and priming is most of the work on any house that needs repainting, and reaching a two or three-story wall adds ladders, scaffolding, or a lift. The paint itself is a small share, which is why a lasting job costs what it does and a cheap quote usually means skipped prep.
How long should an exterior paint job last?
A properly prepped job with quality paint commonly lasts around seven to ten years, sometimes longer, depending on the climate, the exposure, and the surface. A job that skimped on prep or used cheap paint can start peeling in two or three years, meaning you pay the expensive labor again far sooner. Prep and paint quality, not the headline price, decide how long it lasts.
Can I paint my house exterior myself?
On a single-story house in good shape, it is a realistic if large DIY project, and you save the labor, which is most of the cost. The case against is the prep, which is slow and physical, and the height: a two or three-story house is genuinely dangerous to paint from ladders without experience. The saving is real, but so is the time and the risk on a tall house.

Related calculators

Interior painting costWage dataUS Census

The paint is the cheap part, and it is not close.

Open the calculator→
Siding costUS Census

The "average siding cost" you have read is not a whole-house re-side, and that is why it always feels low.

Open the calculator→