Cost of Exterior Painting in Halifax
How Much Does It Cost To Paint A House Exterior? The cost or price to paint the exterior of a house or commercial building in the Halifax area can fluctuate due to the current condition of the existing paint coating applied to the surface of the dwelling. Some of the other factors which will affect the overall cost are
- Surface Preparation
- Existing Hazardous Coating
- Site Access
- Height Access
- Paint Coatings
- General Repairs
In this guide, we will be speaking on the elements required to complete exterior house painting successfully to a standard that will provide the customer with a return on investment over a 5 – 7 year period.
It is essential to understand that when painting the exterior of a house or commercial building, the priority should be to protect the building from the elements such as sun, rain, heat, cold, moisture etc. When you understand this fundamental concept, all of the other priorities will become clearer.
Process For Painting The Exterior
The painting of a house or building exterior doesn’t usually deviate much from a general systemised process.
The process for most exterior surfaces is as follows:
- Pressure clean all exterior surfaces to be painted with an anti-mould & anti-fungus solution. This step is crucial to create a sound character for the new paints and primers to stick to, and the surfaces must be clean.
- Scrape and sand all loose and flaking paint. This step is what most people associate with the “prep” component of the painting process. When the painters undertake this part of the process, they use scrapers with special tungsten blades to seek out and remove previous paint coating, which has poor adhesion, then generally following up with a mechanical sander to smooth out the area. The sanding component is essential as it scuffs the surface to create adhesion for the following new coatings.
- Filling and caulking are generally limited to holes in the surface or gaps where the different building materials meet, so it inhibits moisture entering.
- Priming is conducted to all previously painted enamel surfaces and any area that has been exposed back to bear from the prep process. The priming component of an exterior painting job is essential as it creates the adhesion needed for the new coatings to adhere. In some instances, it’s required to apply primer on all previously painted surfaces to extend the lifespan of the new paint job.
- Application of premium topcoats. It is ideal for applying two coatings of self-priming ultra-premium grade paint from Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams. Depending on where the building is located, you will need to understand how different sheen levels of the new paint applied can extend the lifespan of the fresh paint applied to the exterior of the house or building.
- The above process may deviate slightly; however, this is the general way a Halifax painter will paint the exterior of a house or building. Several factors could increase or decrease the cost of painting the surface of a home or building professionally.
Possible Additional Cost When Painting A House Exterior:
Surface Preparation
If the house is soiled with mould and mildew, the painter needs to spend a significant amount of additional time scraping and sanding previous paint coatings, which are cracking, peeling and flaking. This will ultimately increase the overall cost of painting the exterior of a house or building.
Existing Hazardous Coating
Any house or building built before 1978 will contain the presence of lead-based paint. As you may know, lead in drinking water is hazardous, and the same goes for the lead paint manufacturers used in the early to late 19th century. When sanding and scraping a project with lead-based paint, special safety precautions and methods need to be utilised to ensure the safety of the buildings occupants, staff and surrounding neighbours.
Site Access
Sometimes when painting the exterior of a house or building, access to the building may be limited. This could be due to tenants when painting the surface of commercial property and may require the painter to only work between certain hours or that the project has no parking spots and will require the painters to pay for parking.
Height Access
When painting the exterior, height access can sometimes be easy and, depending on the project’s location, can sometimes be challenging. If your exterior painting job has easy access for painters trestles and the building height is within their limits, you shouldn’t have too many issues. Otherwise, your painter may need to hire mechanical height access equipment or purpose-built scaffolding.
Paint Coatings
When painting the exterior, it is essential to note that using cheaper paint won’t fetch you a great return on your painting investment or do an outstanding job protecting the exterior surfaces from the elements. We recommend using Sherwin William or Benjamin Moore on all exterior surfaces, typically in a low-sheen or semi-gloss finish. If you have the presence of masonry render, we would highly recommend the use of a high build elastomeric coating which delivers a paint-like appearance with the film builds twice that of standard decorative paint for enhanced crack bridging performance.
General Repairs
It’s important to consider general repairs to the exterior of the house or building before painting. Generally, when the exterior surfaces are weatherboards, you may need to allow some repairs to rotted timber. A carpenter or builder usually attends to these repairs alternatively. The exterior is predominately masonry such as brick or renders, repairs such as expansion joints, removing crummy areas, and repairing dents and scratches.
Possible Decrease When Painting A House Exterior:
Good Condition
If the exterior surfaces are in good condition and don’t require a lot of preparation, this will decrease the overall cost of painting the exterior of a house or building.
Same Colors
Generally, if the building is being repainted and keeps the same colour scheme, a one coat refresh can suffice, provided it is done more frequently. This can reduce the initial cost significantly, provided the exterior surfaces are also in good condition and only need minimal preparation to recoat.
Low Set Dwellings
Painting the exterior of a low set dwelling requires little to no scaffolding or speciality high access equipment. This reduces set-up time and dismantling costs which can lower the overall price to paint the exterior of a house or commercial building.
How Much Does It Cost To Paint A House Exterior?
1,000 square feet → $1500-$3,500
1,200 square feet → $1800 – $4,200
1,400 square feet → $2100 – $4,900
1,500 square feet → $2300 – $5,250
1,800 square feet → $2700 – $6,300
2,000 square feet → $3,000 – $7,000
2,500 square feet → $3750 – $8,750
2,800 square feet → $4200 – $9,800
3,000 square feet → $4500-$10,500
Based on Surface
Siding →$2 – $4 per square foot
Stucco → $1.5 – $3 per square foot
Brick → $3 – $6 per square foot
Garage Doors → $300 to $600 per door
Doors & Windows → $400 per door
Trim → $1 to $2 per linear foot
Fascia, Soffit & Eaves → $2.50 to $5.50 per square foot
Deck & Patio Staining → $1 to $2 per linear foot
* The above all include premium paint from Sherwin Williams Emerald or Benjamin Moore Aura and correct preparation to produce a finish that will last 5 + years
How much paint is required?
One gallon of paint can cover up to 400 square feet or 200 sq ft double coating. It also depends on the type of paint and the coverage needed. For example:
A home measuring 2000 square feet would have approximately 1600 square feet. That’s takes bout 4 gallons of paint. For surfaces like stucco, it may be necessary to get an additional gallon or two. If you double it up for the second coat, you may need at least 8 gallons.
The cost of exterior house painting can vary depending on its size and type of paint. For example, a gallon of high-quality exterior latex paint will typically cost around $40 to $65. The average cost for a gallon of high-quality exterior acrylic paint is about $85 or above. If you go higher, there are more than $100 paints available on the market.
Materials & Cost
- A sprayer and power rollers
- Buckets
- Drop cloths
- Masking tape
- Scrapers
- Extension ladders
- Possibly scaffolding
The cost of all materials would be at least $500.
Want to know the exact cost to paint your house?
Call Painters Halifax for a free quote. We will include all the details you need to know in the quotation. We provide Interior Painting and Exterior Painting in Halifax.
