As a homeowner, you’ve probably asked yourself, “should I paint my house myself or hire a professional?” And it’s a good question.
There are some real benefits and disadvantages either way you go.
In this post, we’ll look at some of the factors to consider to help you decide if you should paint your exterior house yourself or hire a professional exterior house painting contractor.
Let’s roll (pun intended).
How Much Does an Exterior House Cost To Paint?
The biggest reason many homeowners consider painting their exterior home is to save money. The average professional exterior house painter charges roughly around $4,000 to paint the exterior of a 2,500 square-foot home, according to some sources around the web.
At Robinson Painting Co, our “quick and dirty method” is based on the total square footage of the exterior of a home.
Our contractors will pace the sides of your home and then multiply by 10 for a single story house and 20 for a single story home. So, for example, if one side of your home is 30 feet wide and is two stories, we will multiply it by 20 to get 600 square feet.
If we do that for all four sides and use our painting rates, we can find the cost to paint a home. A two-story home that is 30×30 is approximately 1,800 square feet livable space.
In this example, the cost to paint the home — just the siding and excluding the eaves, trim, etc. — is about $2,000.
Keep in mind that a large part of this cost is in the paint. In the example we provided, we estimate that it would take about 10 to 15 gallons of paint to paint the home, depending on what color we’re painting over.
At an average $50 per gallon on paint, that’s $500 to $750 in paint. So, if you’re considering painting your exterior, you’re going to save on the labor. In this case, about $1,500 to $1,250.
However, this number can vary greatly depending on the exterior house painting company that you hire and the averages you’re using to try to calculate how much money you might save by going the DIY exterior house painting route.
Hidden Costs
To do a proper exterior house painting job, there is a lot more involved than just painting. One factor that many homeowners considering a DIY route don’t think about is the prep work.
If you want your exterior house painting job to last for multiple years, then you need to take the necessary steps to prepare the surface for painting. That means a uniform, clean, rough surface that the paint or primer can adhere to.
Part of the prep work that goes into any exterior house paint job is pressure washing. Pressure washing a home will remove all of the dirt and build up from over the years, as well as any moss that is on your home’s exterior.
You have to consider the cost of equipment to properly prepare the home for painting. On the lowest end, you can rent a pressure washer and get your siding cleaned for one-hundred ($100) to two-hundred dollars ($200).
The hidden costs in getting a home ready for paint will eat away at your savings. Most professional exterior house painting companies include prep work, like pressure washing, in their estimate.
Do You Have Exterior Painting Equipment?
Next, ask yourself if you have all of the equipment to complete your exterior house painting project. For a single-story ranch home with wood siding, you can gather everything you need to paint a home’s exterior yourself.
On the other hand, imagine the equipment needed to paint a two-story brick exterior. You’re going to need:
- Ladders
- Paint brushes
- Paint Sprayer
- Possible Scaffolding
The biggest one is a paint sprayer. For some house siding styles, you can get away with using a paint brush and a roller — although it’s much slower. On other siding styles, like brick, it’s far better to use a paint sprayer rather than trying to paint brick exterior with a roller.
It’s never fun to start a home project, get all set up, only to realize you don’t have all of the tools or equipment you need to successfully complete the project.
Avoid this mistake when it comes to painting your home’s exterior. Anything above a single story, I definitely recommend that you hire a reliable exterior house painting company.
What Does Your Schedule Look Like?
Over the recent years, there has been a labor shortage in many industries, including the house painting industry. As a result, many painting companies are either super, crazy booked and trying to get a spot is nearly impossible or some painting companies have elected to cancel some of their services.
Where a painting company used to do both interior and exterior house painting, they may now only offer exterior painting.
Going the DIY route is attractive due to the scheduling flexibility. You do the job on a schedule that works for you. It beats having to chase down unreliable painting contractors or schedule a job that is 8 weeks out.
These are all real possibilities. With the right painting company though, they can schedule the job at a time that works better for you.
They might not be able to get it exactly to your schedule, but at least better than you expect.
Do You Have The Skill?
Painting requires some skill, but what truly separates good painters from bad painters is the prep work. Rolling a paint brush is relatively easy. However, properly addressing paint issues is another skill. One that many homeowners or novice painters lack.
For example, how do you fix a peeling paint issue and how do you prevent paint from peeling or chipping in the future?
You can try to DIY your way around this. I’ve seen many homeowners just paint right over it. That’s fine… I guess… if you want your paint job to last only a year or two.
Great prep work and the skill to prepare a home is what makes a paint job last.
How Good Do You Want It To Look?
A reputable exterior house painting company is always going to make a home look better than an inexperienced DIY homeowner. We’re not knocking on homeowners. At least, not trying to.
Rather, we’re making the argument that experience leads to better quality and a better outcome.
If you want your home to look the best it possibly can, then go the route of hiring a professional exterior house painter. Skip the DIY method. The savings just aren’t worth it.
Should I Paint My Exterior House Myself Or Hire A Professional?
We’re biased and we believe you should hire an exterior painting contractor, but there are definitely times it makes sense to paint the home yourself.
If budget is a huge concern, especially over quality, then I would encourage any homeowner to go the DIY route and paint their home themselves.
On the other hand, if you have the budget and can wait, then hiring a reliable painting contractor is definitely worth it. The right painting contractor matters. Hiring the wrong contractor can have just as much affect as doing it yourself — the headaches and frustration that comes along with it.
