We are typically asked this by 1st time home owners who have just bough a house and are on their 1st experience to have the out side of their house painted. Even if you have had your house painted in the past, this article is for you too as we go over some of the problems you may face when looking to paint the outside of your home. Knowing the cost to paint the exterior of a home is an important fact to know.
Living in the midwest my whole life, I have lived in homes with wood siding and Aluminum siding.Each have their pros an cons, which we wont discuss here. I do however, understand that having to hire someone to help with painting cedar siding on a 2.5 story walk out basement comes with some anxienty. Finding a paint contractor that knows about oxidation prep for older aluminum siding can be stressfull as well. Here are some tips from our 19 years of paintng experience to help in looking at the cost to paint the exterior of a home
We cannot give examples in this article for the cost to paint every house, but i can give some examples as well sharing our FAQ’s about exterior painting
So lets dive into getting a paint estimate for repainting the exterior of your home.
The cost of painting a house with lead.
Lead on a older home is an issue that needs to be faced seriously and by somone who knows what they are doing.
You can get a lead test kit yourself to see if your house has lead or not. But before you do that- if your house was built after 1972, you are safe. (lead stopped use in 1972).
Lead on house paint is treated several ways:
- scraping it away- removing peeling paint
- removing affected boards- off with the old!
- encapsulation- (priming over it)
If your house has lead- expect to pay an extra 12-15% for lead certified paint contractors. There are many steps to be taken for power wash, scrape, removal, disposal, signage etc.
Cost to paint aluminun siding
Homes with Aluminum are getting less and less seen, at least here in the Chicago area. Hail damage has had its toll and the storm chasers have made sure that siding with hail damage can get replaced with vinyl siding.
Aluminum siding is a soild surface that when prep’d righ is a easy surface to paint on. Once the siding is treated with a cleaner for siding, it becomes easy to paint. SOMETIMES- you have to prime the house before painting which will add to the the cost of painting your home.
This house we painted several years ago, the areas of blue were the areas we painted. (the same areas were also replaced a year after dues to severge storm damge from a micro burst) The house was relatively easy, trim went white, and the siding went beige. We used two coats of paint to cover the older color.
The painting of this house was just over $3800.00.
Cost to paint Exterior Cedar Siding on a house
This is a worst case example of exterior painting. It is also a warning- PAINT BEFORE THERE ARE ISSUES! We can share some other videos of images of what to look for on your siding to determine if you need to paint.
This home we bought in 1999, had not been painted in years. THe cedar siding was so dry it was actually rubbing away! If you rubbed your fingers on it, the siding would flake off. Painting older, dried out cedar siding it not a easy task.
After power washing the siding, we had to screw the loose and warped board back in place. Once the boards were replaced we had to caulk all the seams and cracks. The caulking had to be done along each door and window frame. We could have replaced boards- but once we screwed t hem in place they were fine. The cost of replacing a board was 3x of that to fix it.
I was back and forth on stain or paint. But the surface made it an easy choice. Pourous damaged siding – needed primer. We actually used a oil based primer. The cedar siding had areas where there was bleeding of stains from the wood. I also did not know the previous coating used so We had to use a primer that would stick or adhere to any paint or stain.
This was a hidden cost of the painting project- the primer soaked into that siding like a sponge! What should have been 10 gallons of primer turned into 32!! I could have gotten away with less if we sprayed- but I did not want to skimp like the previous owner and spray a coat of paint on a surface that was in need of a proper paint job. We brush and rolled the product on and im glad we did!
Once the primer was on, the paint was easy, surface smooth and solid. (thiis home has since been repainted with new color and looks great)
The cost to repaint this walkout basement ranch home was 9765.00. (materials and prep were huge)
What to look for in a exterior painting contractor
When searching for a house painter to paint your home (inside or out) we have a simple check list we suggest to use.
- who are you hiring? do they have web site, google listing?
- are they an establised business
- does the company have insurance for exterior painting and work compensation
- are there any google reviews for the business
- if you called your local paint store would they know who they are- (kicked if they use sherwin williams paint a benjamin moore store may not know them)
- do you know who is doing the work
- written estimates
- quality product use
I would love to say ask for references, but in this day and age, no one wants to give out phone numbers or personal information. So in this case we say use google reviews. It is hard to fake them, hard to get them and they never go away!
Finding the perfect contractor for you home is not simple and fast (usually). I know for example that Dfranco Painting and wallpaper is not the perfect fit for every person/home owner. Sometimes a small or single operator contractor is a better fit for timing and budget. But if we can help you make a decision for your home that help you improve the look and feel of your home, then we have done our job!
