Are you thinking about sprucing up your home and are you wondering how much does it cost to paint a house?
Well, that depends on a range of factors. Painting a house can cost anywhere from $1500 to $15,000. Although we can not give you a definite answer, we can break it down for you so that you can get a ballpark idea of how much it could cost.
How much does it cost to paint the interior of a house?
Estimating an interior paint job for a house can be done either by square footage or by man-hours.
If you are hiring a painting company to paint your house you can estimate a price anywhere between $200 and $400 per room.
That depends on if you are painting walls, ceiling, and trim.
For a 10 x, 20-foot room walls on average will cost between $25 and $75.
Ceilings will cost between $25 and $75 on average.
A painter will adjust his price based on how long it will take and how many windows and doors are in a room.
Some companies will charge by the square foot of a room.
Usually, it will be a franchise or a larger company that also does commercial jobs.
In most cases, you will get a lower-priced bid if it is by the square foot.
But in my experience, you will get better quality work if it is priced depending on the amount of work that needs to be done.
120 square foot room with 1 window will be less work than a 120 square foot room with 3 windows and 2 doors.
So a contractor that bids by square foot will often feel as if he underbid the job and therefore start rushing and thus sacrificing the quality of the work.
The average cost of an interior paint job is between $1.50-$3.50 per square foot.
That is really just for residential interior repaints though.
How much does it cost to paint the exterior of a house?
The cost to paint a house exterior of the house will vary by the amount of prep and the size of the home.
On average you will pay between $0.60 to $1.80 per square foot.
For an average two-story building you can expect to pay upwards of $2,200-$4,500 plus material.
Any repairs are usually added on by time plus material and can be somewhere between $50-100 per hour.
Another factor will be the age of the home.
If a house was built before 1978 there is a likelihood that the previous paint contains lead.
Lead paint is highly toxic and can become airborne during prep which can lead to serious health damage.
You will have to hire a lead certified company to paint your home and prices usually triple or even quadruple.
In conclusion
There are many factors to consider when figuring out how much does it cost to paint a house.
Your location and your expectation can have a big influence on the final price.
Prep is usually estimated by time plus material in addition to the price.
Be sure to have a clear understanding of how your paint contractor charges for prep.
If you are considering a Home Improvement loan then you should read this article first!
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