Exterior painting prices
How Much Does It Cost to Paint a House Exterior?
Painting a house exterior in Amador County might run from about $6,000 for a smaller single-story home up to $22,000 or more for a very large custom build. Across everything we do, our average job lands around $9,000 to $11,000. The size of the house sets the starting point, and the condition of the surface decides the rest. Our real ranges are below, no email required.
All paint will stick to your house in the beginning. How long it lasts depends on how much the people doing the work care about the outcome.
Keep that sentence in mind while you read any exterior bid, including ours. The same gallon of paint is available to every painter in the county. What you’re really pricing is everything that happens before and while it goes on.
Before the number
What Moves the Price of an Exterior Paint Job
Prep, more than anything.
A well maintained home costs less to paint than one that needs its past caught up on. Washing, scraping, sanding, caulking, and wood repair are where an exterior job is won, and where a cheap one quietly gets thinner.
The surface you have.
Siding type changes how far a gallon goes: cement board might cover around 300 square feet per gallon while stucco drinks closer to 100, with most wood siding in between. Same house footprint, different paint bill.
Height and access.
Second stories, dormers, steep terrain, and heavy landscaping all add ladder time and protection work. We can only paint about six feet of siding per ladder set, so a tall house on a slope is a different job than the same house on a flat lot.
Color changes.
One coat of paint is thinner than a sheet of paper. Going light over dark, or into a color that covers poorly, can add coats, and there’s no such thing as a guaranteed one-coat paint. For most exteriors we plan on three total colors: body, trim, and accent.
Published, no email required
What a House Might Cost
| House | Might run |
|---|---|
| Smaller 3 bed, 2 bath home, 1,000-1,400 sq ft | $6,000-$8,500 |
| Midsize 3+ bed, 2+ bath home, 1,500-1,900 sq ft | $9,000-$13,000 |
| Large 4+ bed, 3+ bath home, 2,000-2,400 sq ft | $12,000-$16,000 |
| Very large custom built home, 2,500-3,000+ sq ft | $15,000-$22,000+ |
These assume one or two stories and normal prep work. The bigger tiers often include a detached garage or shop and multiple dormers.
The gap inside each range
What Can Add to That
The gap between the bottom and top of each range is mostly these:
- Washing the house first: $600-$1,800 depending on how much peeling paint the wash has to fight
- Scraping and sanding peeling paint: $600 and up
- Caulking, especially on lap siding where it helps hold the siding: can run $2,000-$4,000+ on a house that’s behind on it
- Wood repair where sun, water, or bugs have won: $800 and up
- A full color change: $1,000-$4,000 in extra coats
- Extra stories: $400-$1,000+; dormers $200-$800 each; steep terrain $100-$2,000+; furniture and outdoor items $100-$600
- Window trim $35-$200 each, doors $100-$250 each, shutters and accents about $50 each
A door on its own is a different job.
If you want the front door refinished without painting the rest of the house, expect somewhere between $800 and $3,200 depending on what shape it is in. A door that only needs a clean and a couple of coats sits at the bottom. One that has been baking in the sun until the finish failed needs stripping and sanding back to bare wood before anything goes on, and that is most of the work.
Three numbers on the table
Why Are the Three Bids So Far Apart?
It’s the classic exterior moment: three bids on the kitchen table and thousands of dollars between them. The gap is rarely the paint. It’s what one bid spells out and another leaves vague: how much washing and scraping happens before anyone opens a can, whether the caulking and wood repair are included or waiting to become change orders, how many coats go on, and whether the crew is part of the company team or random subcontractors found to work that week.
While you’re just comparing totals, none of that is visible. It starts to matter once the work begins, when something you assumed was included turns out to cost extra, or the prep gets trimmed to hold the number, or the finish gives out years before it should have.
So we put the job in writing. Your proposal names the surfaces, the products, the number of coats, and the prep that comes first. If something needs to change once we’ve started, you sign off on it in writing before anything on your house changes.
We’re rarely the lowest of the three bids, and we’ll say that here rather than let you find it out at the kitchen table. What we ask is that you compare what’s written, not just what’s totaled.
Straight answers
Exterior Painting Cost Questions
Answered here the same way we answer them standing in your driveway.
+How much does it cost to paint a 2,000 square foot house?
A home in the 2,000-2,400 square foot range might run $12,000 to $16,000 to paint outside. Where it lands in that range is mostly prep: a house that needs heavy scraping, caulking, or wood repair sits toward the top, and a well kept one toward the bottom.
+What does exterior painting cost per square foot?
We don’t quote by the square foot, because two identical floor plans can be very different jobs once you count stories, siding type, and how much prep the surface needs. The house-size ranges above are a more honest ballpark than any single per-foot rate, and the written proposal is what pins your actual number.
+How much should I budget to get my whole house painted?
For most Amador County homes, somewhere between $6,000 and $16,000 covers it, with very large custom homes running past $22,000. Across everything we do, our average job comes in around $9,000 to $11,000. If a bid comes in far below that neighborhood for a full exterior, it’s worth asking what prep it skips to get there.
+What happens when I book an exterior painting estimate?
We come out, measure the house, and walk it with you. You get a written proposal that fixes the scope and the price: surfaces, products, coats, and prep, all named. Booking online takes about 90 seconds, and nothing is due until you decide to hire us.
+Does the price include pressure washing?
Washing is part of prep, and prep is part of the proposal, so yes: if your house needs washing, it’s a line you’ll see in writing, not a surprise later. A well kept house can get a soft wash with detergents; peeling paint takes more pressure and more time, which is why washing shows up as $600-$1,800 on the variables list above.
The 90 second step
Get Your Number
Booking an estimate online takes about 90 seconds. We measure your house, you tell us what you’re after, and you get a fixed price in writing. If you hire us, 10% holds your project dates, never more than $1,000.
Want a number for your own place before you book? Get an instant quote.
Michael Hines Painting · Ione, CA 95640 · (209) 256-4587
The other guides
What Everything Else Costs
Same idea, same lack of a form. Every guide we publish is here.
How Much Does Interior Painting Cost?
Rooms from $700. Whole interiors $7,700 to $20,000.
Read the interior painting guideHow Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets?
About $4,000 to $11,800.
Read the cabinet painting guideHow Much Does Deck Staining Cost?
$2,400 to about $24,000.
Read the deck staining guideAll four sit under the painting cost guides hub. For how the work itself is done, see our exterior painting page.