Painting
Interior and exterior painting priced honestly — square-foot ranges, what prep actually includes, how to read a paint bid, and the questions that separate a crew that lasts ten years from one that peels in two. Then get matched free with up to three local painters near you.
Painting is the trade where the difference between a great job and a bad one is almost entirely invisible on the day it's finished. Both look fine. One of them still looks fine in year eight; the other is chalking, peeling at the south elevation and bleeding tannin through the trim by the second summer.
That difference is prep and product — the two things every low bid quietly cuts. Henry built this page because he got three painting quotes that were $4,200, $7,900 and $11,500 for the same house, and not one of them explained why.
Below: what a real painting scope includes, what interior and exterior work costs nationally, how paint tiers actually differ, the warning signs your house needs paint now rather than next year, and a hiring checklist you can hand to every estimator who walks in. When you want local pricing, jump to your city.
The work
01
Walls, ceilings, trim, doors, and closets — plus the unglamorous work that makes them look right: moving and covering furniture, floor protection, filling nail holes, sanding, caulking gaps at trim, spot-priming patches and stains, and cutting clean lines at every edge. Two coats is the standard for a color change; a single coat is a refresh, and it should be priced as one.
02
Washing, scraping loose paint, sanding transitions smooth, replacing failed caulk at joints and windows, priming bare wood and any stain-prone species, then two finish coats. On exteriors, the coating is the house's weather barrier — the quality of the scrape and the caulk decides how many years you get out of it.
03
Skim-coating damaged drywall, patching plaster, replacing rotted trim and siding boards, treating mildew, and removing wallpaper. Prep is usually 60 to 80 percent of the labor on a repaint. When two bids are thousands apart, this is almost always where the gap lives.
04
Kitchen cabinet refinishing is a specialty job: degreasing, deglossing or sanding, a bonding primer, and a sprayed lacquer or waterborne enamel that cures hard. Done properly it takes days and costs thousands; done as a quick brush-and-roll it chips within a year at every fingertip.
05
Elastomeric coatings on stucco, masonry sealers, epoxy on garage floors, deck and fence staining, and metal railings each require different products and prep. Ask which specific product line the painter plans to use, not just the brand.
06
Homes built before 1978 can have lead paint. Disturbing it requires an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm using contained work practices. Ask for the firm's certification number — it's a federal requirement, not an upsell.
Plan the budget
National planning ranges. Painting prices track local labor closely, so a Bay Area or Boston quote runs well above a Midwest one for identical work. Use these to spot an outlier bid, then check your city page for local numbers.
| Scope | Planning range | What changes it |
|---|---|---|
| Interior, per square foot of floor area | $2 – $6 | Walls, ceilings and trim, two coats |
| Single bedroom (12x12, walls only) | $350 – $900 | Higher with ceiling and trim |
| Whole interior, 2,000 sq ft home | $4,000 – $12,000 | Depends on ceilings, trim and repairs |
| Exterior, per square foot of siding | $1.75 – $5 | Two coats over prepped surface |
| Exterior, 2,000 sq ft home | $4,500 – $14,000 | Two-story and stucco run higher |
| Trim and doors only | $1,200 – $4,000 | Labor-heavy, product-light |
| Kitchen cabinet refinishing | $3,000 – $9,000 | Sprayed enamel, doors removed |
| Deck or fence staining | $800 – $3,500 | Wash, sand and one to two coats |
| Wallpaper removal | $500 – $2,500 | Per room; adds skim-coating |
| Rotted trim or siding replacement | $8 – $25 per linear ft | Carpentry billed separately |
| Paint, per gallon (mid to premium) | $45 – $95 | Covers roughly 350 sq ft per coat |
| Lead-safe containment surcharge | $500 – $2,500 | Pre-1978 homes, certified firms |
Prep condition: peeling, chalking, failed caulk and rotted trim can double the labor before a drop of finish goes on.
Height and access: two- and three-story elevations, steep roofs and tight lot lines mean staging, lifts and slower work.
Number of colors and cut lines: accent walls, two-tone trim and ceilings all add cutting time.
Substrate: stucco and masonry soak up product, cedar and redwood bleed tannin and need stain-blocking primer, fiber cement needs the right primer to bond.
Paint tier: builder-grade versus premium is often only a few hundred dollars in material on a whole house and several years of life.
Coats: one coat over a similar color is a different job than two coats over a dramatic color change.
Season and region: exterior work has a temperature window, and painters price shoulder-season and peak-season work differently.
Know the signs
Exterior paint typically lasts 5 to 10 years depending on climate and exposure; interiors go 5 to 10 years in living spaces and less in kitchens, baths and hallways. These are the signals not to wait on.
Chalking — a powdery residue on your hand when you rub the siding.
Peeling, flaking, or bubbling paint, especially on south- and west-facing walls.
Cracked or missing caulk at window and door trim, or at siding joints.
Bare wood showing anywhere — that's water getting into the substrate.
Fading that's noticeably uneven from one elevation to another.
Mildew or dark streaking that returns quickly after washing.
Interior scuffs and marks that no longer clean, or sheen worn through in hallways.
Stains bleeding through: water rings, smoke, or tannin at knots in trim.
Soft or spongy trim, especially at the bottom of door casings and window sills.
You're listing the house — exterior paint is one of the highest-return pre-sale improvements.
No pressure
You don't need to diagnose the job before you ask for help. Tell Henry what you see and compare up to three local painters.
Get matched with a proHire with confidence
Painting has the lowest barrier to entry of any trade in this directory, which means the range in quality is enormous. These questions surface it fast.
Get three written quotes with the same scope, and make each one list surfaces, number of coats, and prep steps separately from the price.
Ask for the exact product line and sheen, in writing — 'premium paint' is not a specification.
Confirm number of coats and what happens if coverage isn't complete after two.
Ask how they handle rotted wood found mid-job, and get a per-foot carpentry rate agreed up front.
Verify the state license or registration where required, and get general liability plus workers' comp certificates.
For pre-1978 homes, require the firm's EPA Lead-Safe certification number.
Ask whether the crew is employees or subcontractors, and who supervises on site each day.
Get the warranty in writing — two years on labor is common, and reputable painters will name what's excluded.
Cap the deposit at 10 to 30 percent, with final payment after a walkthrough punch list is completed.
Do the punch list in daylight, from a few feet away and then up close, with the painter present.
A bid with a single lump sum, no scope, no coat count, and no product name.
Door-to-door pitches with leftover paint from a nearby job.
A painter who wants full payment up front, or cash only.
No proof of workers' comp — if someone falls off a ladder at your house, that's your problem.
Skipping washing on an exterior, or painting over visibly peeling paint.
Pre-1978 home and no mention of lead-safe practices.
Questions homeowners ask
Nationally, interior painting runs about $2 to $6 per square foot of floor area for walls, ceilings and trim with two coats, so a 2,000 square foot home typically lands between $4,000 and $12,000. Walls-only work with minimal repairs sits at the low end; high ceilings, extensive trim and drywall repair push toward the top.
Expect roughly $1.75 to $5 per square foot of siding, or about $4,500 to $14,000 for a typical 2,000 square foot home. Two stories, stucco, heavy scraping and rotted trim replacement all move the number up quickly.
Typically 5 to 10 years, depending on climate, exposure, substrate and — most of all — prep quality. Harsh sun, coastal salt air and freeze-thaw cycles shorten it; a properly washed, scraped, primed and two-coated house on the shady side of a street can go longer.
Most will move and cover furniture within a room as part of interior work, but heavy items, electronics and art are usually the homeowner's responsibility. Ask before the crew arrives so nothing gets negotiated on day one.
Only when you're refreshing the same color on a well-sealed surface. Color changes, new drywall, bare wood, and any deep or saturated color need two coats plus the right primer, and any bid promising a color change in one coat is telling you where the corner will be cut.
Premium paints carry more solids and better resins, so they cover in fewer coats, resist fading and scrubbing, and hold their sheen. On a whole house the material difference is often only a few hundred dollars, while the labor to repaint early is thousands.
Latex paint dries to the touch in hours but takes about two to four weeks to fully cure. Wait at least 30 days before scrubbing walls, and be gentle with the first cleaning.
Late spring through early fall in most of the country, with surface temperatures generally between 50 and 90 degrees and no rain in the forecast for 24 hours. Painters often discount shoulder-season work, which is worth asking about.
Usually not. Contractors get trade pricing and know which line performs on your substrate, and if they supply the material the warranty conversation stays simple. Do ask to see the receipt or product spec so you know what actually went on the wall.
Line them up on four things: surfaces included, number of coats, prep steps, and named product. Once those match, the price difference is real. Until they match, you're comparing different jobs.
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Local market guides
Each city page covers local labor pricing, weather, permits, licensing, neighborhoods and the contractors Henry can match in that market.
Tell Henry what you need. We’ll send your project to no more than three local pros — and you decide whether any of them earns your business.
Sources: EPA — Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program · Angi — painting cost data · HomeAdvisor — true cost guides · This Old House — painting how-tos
The Henry Standard
Call back. Keep appointments. And if something changes, communicate it.
Clear scope, materials, and pricing in writing—so you know what you're agreeing to.
See the job through and take care of the agreed-upon work before calling it finished.
Nothing revolutionary. Just the way we believe doing business should still be done.
