calcs.homes
calcs.homes
Enter your home's floor area, stories, paint grade, and surface condition to get a rough exterior painting cost — as a DIY material estimate or a full pro quote range.
Estimate only — real quotes vary widely with siding type, height, access, trim detail, and region.
We approximate the paintable exterior as the home's floor area times a factor for the number of stories — taller homes have proportionally more wall per square foot of floor. Gallons are that area times two coats divided by 350 sq ft per gallon. Material cost multiplies gallons by the grade you chose; a pro's labor is the area times a base rate, scaled up by how much scraping, sanding, and priming the surface needs. The result is shown as a range around the midpoint.
This is a planning number, not a bid. Stucco and rough cedar drink more paint than smooth lap siding, two-story work adds staging and ladders, and heavy trim, shutters, and railings are slow detail work. Get two or three local quotes before budgeting a real project.
Professionally, roughly $1.50 to $4.00 per square foot of floor area for a typical home — commonly $3,000–$8,000 — depending on size, height, siding, and prep. DIY drops it to mostly the cost of paint.
Labor is usually 70–85% of a pro exterior quote, so DIY can cut the cash cost by that much — against many days of work, equipment rental, and the risk of ladder work at height.
Prep is labor. A house that needs full scraping, sanding, and priming can take longer than the painting itself, which is why poor condition adds 15–35% here.