How much would it cost to paint the exterior of an average home?

To have someone else paint it, the price depends on how big the house is, what type of house it is, and where you live. An unadorned modern 1,000 sq ft ranch house in Iowa might be under $1,000, while a 4,000 sq ft Victorian home with shutters, gables, high ceilings, and trim everywhere you look on the east or west coast might be as much as $20,000. The cost of the paint itself is a factor for the ranch house example and all but irrelevant because of the high labor cost for the Victorian.

If you will be doing the painting yourself, the building style and where you live will determine what paint you buy and how much. As a 1st guess before measuring you can use the homes sq ft for the exterior wall paint, double that for the interior walls, and one more time for ceiling paint, then add 25% for brushes, rollers, drop cloths, wall wash detergent, spackle, sandpaper, and so on. The key to understanding painting is that sucess and failure happen before you open the paint can. Surfaces have to be prepared for paint, by washing, replacing rotted siding, priming, filling plaster cracks, sanding, etc. This frequently takes longer than applying the paint, often much longer.

For a more accurate estimate. The best thing to do is measure the interior and exterior of your home, and note details like painted doors, shutters, and trim, which rooms are which colors, and will be what colors, and which are kitchens and bathrooms (different paint usually needed), then go to a hardware store and have them figure out how many gallons you will need of each type of paint. If you are painting it just to sell the place and are moving out ASAP you can use cheaper paint; e.g. an unwashable calcium carbonate white instead of a washable titanium white in the interior. Exterior paints and stains also vary in their durability and mildew resistance. In New England, using the best products I can get, exterior paint lasts a little over 12 years before it starts to chalk and stops looking fresh, and over 20 years for interior paint washed as required. Using whatever is on sale, people here get roughly 2-3 years on the exterior and no more than 3-5 interior, less if it has to be washed.

RULES OF THUMB: Measure each room; Measure the Exterior of the house; Wash dirt, grease etc, from all walls and ceilings. Water stains from roof and Plumbing leaks will require a stain blocking layer of Killz or (Killz II) to avoid having the stain mysteriously reappear a few weeks after you paint over it. Check to see which existing paints are oil and which are latex. When painting over oil, sanding to roughen up the surface and apply a primer coat before your put your color on your walls or ceilings; If you are painting a light color over dark paint you will probably need a base coat first; If you are using burgandy colored paint or red paint these are also difficult to apply so a base coat is recommended. Light colors such as soft yellows, pinks, greens etc., will turn at least one shade darker when it is dry, so if you want a fairly light yellow, buy the paint so it looks one shade lighter (more pale/white) in the can ; For ceilings ceiling where the very flat (non-glossy) paint can make it difficult to tell what's fully coated and what isn't, a very bright point source like a halogen work light makes it evident, or you can now get a paint that's blue(ish) when its wet so you know if you missed a spot or where you began and ended off at, and the paint turns white as it dries. It isn't a necessity, but it can be helpful.

TIPS: Stir, stir, stir. Pigment settles to the bottom of the paint, and you paint job can become unexpectedly uneven if you don't keep stirring the paint. To keep the paint supply clean, use a "paint pot", either a painters bucket and liner, or at least empty coffee cans for the paint you are brushing on; When one from the store can starts to run low, start mixing some in from the next can to blend them to avoid color change surprises. Use plastic tray liners or line paint trays with aluminum foil to make cleanup quick and easy; If you are painting and are interrupted, or stop for the night, put foil over the tray, wrap the roller in aluminum foil, wrap the brushes in foil (be sure the hairs of the brush are flat). You can keep them for 2 - 3 days and they are still soft. If rubber doesn't bother you can use rubber or vinyl gloves to keep your hands and nails clean, but if you choose rubber, be aware that you can develop latex allergy (to rubber) even if you haven't had trouble before, red itchy hands are often the 1st warning.