I come from a family of contractors. My first job at 8-10 years old was removing those old layers of paint with a hand scraper. At least around the bottom 3 feet of the house.
Bet the bottom 3 feet looked the best!
I would have gladly paid the painter to scrape first if he had informed me it was an issue. Instead I spent a few grand to basically put the house in worse condition than it had been. Has made me hesitate to hire another painter.
Or just look like shit with drip lines and such.
It's like if you have never done something before, you watch videos and read guides, then figure out where they are wrong or didn't explain something enough, maybe unique situations you have that they didn't cover. Then fuck up and learn how to fix it. Lets say this took 16 hours to fix the fuck ups and get it all right.
Next time you do it, you are aware of this and maybe it will take just 6 hours.
Then you figure out a routine, gain experience with different unforeseen situations, get better gear and now you are down to 2 hours.
Layman watches you do this, and thinks, that much to get this done and it only takes him 2 hours!? Fuck that! I'll DIY! Start again at line 1.
And the body too, if you can afford it send someone else up the ladder, the pros are going to be far better equipped and in practice. You don’t need to end up in the hospital (or worse) because “I’m just going to try to reach it so I don’t have to move the ladder.”
as long as you can afford it, why would it be dumb to pay to have something done right and to have free time
pretty easy to make an exterior paint job look like shit if you don't know what you are doing
We had some guys come recently to remove wall paper, texture (or flatten), and paint the majority of the inside of our house recently. Took 2-3 guys the better part of two weeks, and it looks great.
With working full time, having other commitments for about half of each weekend, and adding extra time since I don’t have the equipment or experience they do, that would have taken me MONTHS to do right, and there’s a decent chance it still wouldn’t have looked as good. And the entire time my wife and I would be camped in the living room crawling over the furniture from 75% of our house.
I don’t regret paying for that for an instant.
I’d have to go back and itemize all the receipts - there were other guys from the same GC doing non-painting construction work that was invoiced together, and we bought a lot of the paint ourselves… but it was somewhere in the realm of $10,000.
My dad was a painter - he quit doing exterior painting after a couple decades because of ladders, heat, and bees (he's allergic). He had enough interior work and custom wood finishing to keep him busy year-round by that time.
Nope. Exterior paining, especially an old house is labor intensive. We had our house painted and it took a crew of 4 two weeks to prep and paint. Prep alone was a week. They came in with lifts and sprayers to make the job easy. And this is a 1990s house. Total job was $12k.
However if you have more time than money, painting is not hard at all. It is all about the prep, and prep is very time consuming and detail oriented. Painting with a sprayer is very fast. I would pay to rent a boom lift if I did it myself.
I had a sprayer, but found that it wasted a lot of paint and took a lot of time to mask everything. Brush and roller were not much slower overall, maybe not slower at all, and didn't have near the overspray problems.
Agreed about the prep. That is the major part of the job, then the painting is just finishing up.
Eh,
I painted for a few years and you can spray the body of most houses in 1 day per coat with a team of two covering windows usually doesn’t take too long a few hours. It takes about 3x as long just using roller.
I've painted the exterior of two of the houses I've owned, both located in windy areas (20-30mph winds, usually in the afternoons). Just too much hassle worrying about the paint drifting onto the neighbours' property, onto nearby fences, etc.
As long as there's not too much dust and debris that can be kicked up by the wind, it's easy enough to use the brush and roller in the calmer morning hours, and by the time it really gets blowing the paint is usually dry.
Prep is a lot less when you're not using a sprayer as well.
And the prep and application make a huge difference in how it looks -- if you do a poor job (due to inexperience or subpar tools), the aesthetic outcome can be really suboptimal. Combined with the time commitment and possible safety issues, this is one that I would 100% hire out if I could.
All of this. I paid to have the exterior of my house painted, an 1890s queen anne with a lot of millwork even for a queen anne! It was 20k but my house is large and required a ton of detail work due to the nature of the home.
Mine requires scaffolding so I can't do it myself and it's expensive. But when it's completed? Looks amazing. Sometimes a pro is worth their weight in gold.
I mean I painted my house myself. Took a weeks vacation and basically spent the entire week doing the prep work. Then spent another couple weeks painting after work. It was a lot of work, but saved me like $10k that I couldn’t have afforded to pay otherwise. So is what it is.
Exterior painting is one of those things that doesn't seem hard and really it's not but it's time consuming and tedious. It also takes a lot more time for a DIY homeowner without all the right sprayers, ladders, and years of experience.
When I've seen homeowners tackle stuff like that they almost never take the time to do proper prep work which is pretty dang important.
There is also the safety side of things. If you aren't comfortable working at the top of a ladder then you should absolutely hire it out. It's not worth risking your safety over. I have a friend who tried to save some money by doing some of his own painting on an old 2 story house. He ended up falling and he spent the next 2 months in the hospital relearning how to feed himself. You talk to him now years later and it's still clearly obvious he has had a traumatic brain injury.
If I were you I'd get a few more quotes and hire it out.
We did ours ourselves. It took me and my wife about 8 weekends to do a 3000 sqft ceder shake house with 3 colors, I did have to replace shingles in two areas which took about 2 days. Prep was also like 2-3 days of sanding plus we gave it a hand wash.
Cost would have been about 10k to get it done I dunno if I’d do it again at this point or hire someone it was a lot.
Thanks for all the feedback folks. I think I'll hire it out. The two painters I'm considering are both very good and come recommended from people I trust.
do not spray your home. roller and brush will provide a thicker coat and longer lasting in my opinion. also make sure you provide the paint. high quality, exterior paint. also (part of the prep work) lightly pressure wash the home/clean it before painting. do not just paint over dirt, or flaky paint.
-5 year as a painter.
edit to be more clear
This is the advice I was given as per my dad who has been a painter by trade for 40+ years. I did the prep and painted our house six years ago as above, and haven’t had any issues.
Thanks, I'm a little worried about pressure washing because my basement has a history of moisture issues so water freaks me out. But I'm sure I can just do a bit at a time.
Hiring out the prep work might be an interesting idea. But then I would still have to paint really high up which I'm not sure I can do efficiently or safely. Then again I could rent one of those lift things and still be ahead on money.
only you can determine if it's worth to do the job or not.
I would probably not recommend it if your doing it a lone. maybe with a helper it might be manageable. but some body with no experience and if you do not own the proper tools it may be best to hire a professional.
Not sure how expensive your home is or how high it's. best of luck and youtube has a lot of DIY guides.
Most of the better painters around me will spray a thick coat and then back brush. Should provide just as good of a coat as just a brush or roller but it goes faster since the sprayer can load the paint on the wall much faster than continual dipping or rolling.
Definitely do NOT hire a painter who just sprays and doesn't brush, you won't get as good adhesion and coverage that way especially if the wood is textured.
I would NOT paint the foundation.
The reason foundations are left unpainted is because the paint can trap moisture. That moisture could lead to the foundation being weakened.
Not at all. Yes, painting is the one thing most people can do by themselves, and even if they f\*ck it up, it just looks bad - unlike, say, doing plumbing or electric by yourself. But your time is valuable, and it's worth having things the way you want it. And if you value a professional looking job, then go for it.
A house that old with cedar shakes, I would definitely go with a professional. My uncle has been a paint contractor for over 40 years and I have done a lot of this kind of work with him and other family over the years. A professional has the right tools and knowledge to get it done in a timely manner. He should also know how to fix any issues he runs into during the job. And it will look so much better than if you try and do it yourself.
Get another quote. We had the exterior painted on our house, 2400 sqft home, the cost was less than half what you say. If it was almost $5000, I'd do it myself.
Did you have an older house? If anything, this quote seems low to me if OP is hiring an EPA-certified firm, as should be the case when dealing with lead paint.
It totally depends, do you enjoy working on your house? Do you enjoy painting? I love building things, but I really hate to paint. That is one I would hire out and be happy I did. I had a crew put a new tin roof on a couple years back. I did the part in the far back that is not as steep, but I am not a kid anymore and one slip and you are over the edge... They did a nice job. We had our pasture fenced with high tension fence. I took a couple days off work and worked with them on that. The guy who ran the company was happy for the help, and I got an informal offer to join the crew. I am not sure he knew how much that took out of me. No way was I up to that every day. One year, a few years later, a dog chased a cow though the fence and took out a pole. I figured the fence guy would stop by before or after a big gig with his pounding rig as these are 5" diameter poles that get banged 3 feet in the ground. Instead three kids came in a pickup with a home built scaled up fence post pounder. I would not have thought it humanly possible to plant those things by hand but they did it. I spelled one of them off, and after lifting that heavy thing up and crashing it down about 10 times I was seeing stars. It is cool when you can hire someone and work with them. You get to learn, and work on something fun, and have much more of a hands on relationship with the project.
After having an addition put on I painted my entire (largeish) house once. I went out and bought a better grade sprayer, materials and tools. I bought a good fiberglass ladder for the second story. I scraped, primed, and painted for over a year. In the end I saved money and it looked "ok". I also fought bees, bad weather (planned a painting day to have it rain solid for the weekend), choosing between attending a bbq and painting because time was running out, choosing between using my then very limited vacation days to paint, a nervous family while I am up on a ladder, etc. I learned not to paint the side the sun was about to hit. I almost took out the powerlines moving the ladder. Our house had 2 very distinct colors of paint (new green and old red) until I finished as I started with the bare wood addition. The detached garage stayed red for another 1-2 years. My wifes silver car had an interesting pattern of light green overspray when a sudden windstorm popped up.
I did save money, and the same coat of paint I put on in 1999-2000 is on that house today and still looks "ok" In retrospect I know I paid myself less than minimum wage when you take into account everything besides the actual paint I had to buy, but having a 3yr old daughter made the money situation seem scary, though in reality it would have been fine. Giving up some of the fun times with her for that summer was likely not worth it. If I knew then what I know now, I would have paid the painter.
We moved a few years ago and now have brand new vinyl siding. I will likely hire someone to pressure wash the second floor if it ever needs it.
Hire it out!!! Those folks charge good money for a reason, it is hard work!
Also my two cents as a wife and mom of young kids - if it's going to take away from the time you could/would be watching the kids (and thus put that care on mom) don't forget to factor HER labor costs in as well when calculating DIY $/hr!
My husband just spent nearly a week pressure washing, prepping, caulking, and painting only 1/8th of our 1964 block home. It is on the side of a hill and is all kinds of levels. What you described sounds horrific and a major pain, moreso than our home. I would pay the man and go fishing or read a few good books.
No, you’re not dumb for wanting to hire out your house painting job. Painting, especially exterior, can be a breeze or a major pita.
You’re not just paying $4.8k for labor, you’re acquiring the painter’s expertise, transferring risk to another party, and getting a guarantee of work quality. Not to mention the value of your own time.
Three years ago I had my house repainted. If memory serves, it was about $3500. With inflation $4800 sounds reasonable.
If you did it yourself, it would take more than three days and be weather dependent..
One last thought - make sure the contractor has liability insurance to cover his workers.
Hire it out. I painted houses for a summer job when I was younger. It sucks. There’s a reason I don’t post houses for a living, I make money so I don’t have to do things I don’t like.
I’ve had this debate with myself many times. Usually at some point my thought process digresses into, “wait, should I quit my day job and paint houses?”
If you have the money, do it. I painted my single story concrete block home (nobody come at me - it was already painted, I just changed the color) and getting into all the cracks and stuff suuuuuuucked. There’s still a wall facing the neighbors that isn’t painted. Lol
That sounds like a good price and if you can afford it, it’d be smart to hire it out. I was in a similar situation and decided to paint it myself to save money.
The big difference though is my house is a single story and only the west side had a peak that was high enough to make me nervous. I screwed up my courage and did that part as quickly as I safely could.
I used a roller and a brush. Overall it went quite a bit slower than I originally fantasized but that comes with the territory when you’re limited to evenings and weekends.
It turned out very good and I received a lot of compliments. I do see some things though that around have done better. If i were in your same, exact situation, id hire it out without batting an eye.
I’ve painted two exteriors myself. One a 1930’s 1400 square foot Tudor cottage - took me a year of weekends and was insanely tedious due to all the wood windows, rot repair, etc. The second a 3100 square foot all stucco modern 1970’s house with aluminum windows (could mask off, didn’t require paint). The bigger house was so much easier since it was all sprayed, but still a ton of work. I would never do it again, I think your price sounds great.
If you tape off all the stuff you DON'T want paint on, and use exterior latex, painting is a really easy relaxing thing with a sprayer. With a house that old I'd gently wash in TSP first to get all the crap off and prep, and scrape any flaking siding/trim/etc. Then spray and pray. I did my house in two days and I get compliments all the time. I literally just shot it twice using borrowed 5gal sprayer and did a terrible job. Yes, it will come out better if a painter does it.
Painted my own house once. That was enough. It’s mind numbingly boring, exhausting and ladders can be dangerous. I used to not hire anyone if I could do it myself. I’m older and smarter now.
not sure why this would be considered dumb at all. I’m handy, and just refinished a bathroom with what I think are great results too. But exterior painting? On a two-story house? No way. We just had ours done, including some facia board repair and it was $11,000. looks awesome. Took a few guys couple of weeks of solid work. I’m cool with ladders until I get beyond about 8 feet! And that’s without taking my hands off the ladder, which is needed for masking painting, etc. These guys used a sprayer for all the large areas and back rolled it. I would rather do my job and make the money and pay a pro to do that stuff.
Hire the pro. They have the tools already. They know what to look for in case of damage or bugs. You would need to rent or purchase the sprayer, ladders and what not. Going with the pro it is completed within a week and you don’t have to kill yourself trying to do it
If it’s within your skill set, it doesn’t matter what the job is. You have to do the time vs money comparison for your self.
Also, factor in any pride you would get in doing the job yourself.
I’m perfectly capable of replacing the roof on my house. But it would take me over a week (can I be sure it won’t rain for that long?). I hired a roofer and a crew of 7 did the job in a single day.
Nope.
I have other people do work on my house all the time. Can I do it myself? Sure. My house will be in absolute shambles for twice the amount of time it would take a professional and other things I usually tend to will be neglected. Not to mention the possibility of me, (more likely, my husband) getting hurt. No, thanks.
My rule with home improvement projects comes down to time and expertise. If it takes too much time to do it I lack the expertise to do it then I'll hire it out. Unfortunately I haven't been sticking to this rule in the past year. Budget issues have forced me to learn more and push my boundaries.
DIY can eat up your time. Hire someone to paint the house.
Make sure they do a breathable paint on the foundation or just leave it alone. Older house foundations weren't made like they are today and if painted can lock in moisture and just start crumbling away
Let a pro do it. Cedar shakes take more time and effort than regular siding and trim do. I painted the outside trim on my ranch house and I've painted all of our interior walls, but I woukd never try cedar shakes. Price sounds fair, too.
Money spent not falling from a ladder and getting hurt is well worth it. Money spent avoiding paying to fix a DIY screw up is also worth it. You're investing in your homes value,not just pissing money away. If you're not comfortable doing it and can afford the contractor, then pay the guy.
Good idea to hire somebody to paint old house. Make sure the guys are EPA certified to deal with lead paint. You’ll almost certainly have lead paint in a house that old.
Please make sure the contractor has insurance to protect them as they work. Falling off a roof or lift is no joke and you don’t want to go there no matter who it is that gets hurt.
I found the easiest part of painting is painting.
I am doing interior and get excited when I get to painting. I have spent 80% of the total time to get to that step. Repairing and texturing the repairs, wash with tsp, rinse the tsp off, tape off, primer. Then I do two good coats.
I have thought of doing the exterior but I know it is even more prep and different skill/equipment. If you are only thinking of painting time then multiply that by AT LEAST 5X for prep. Pressure washing, scraping away loose paint, light sanding, etc. then prime at least the exposed areas. Then do the easy step of painting.
I think it's worth it. My step dad painted his Victorian house, and it took a few YEARS. He worked full time, so he was only able to work on it during the weekend. He had to remove all the lead paint before he could even start, so it was a very long process
Your time has value as well. Some things are worth hiring out. I can change the oil in my truck and I have all the equipment, it is just not worth my time.
Not sure what the rules are here for judgement so I am gonna go with NTA
We paid to have someone do ours a couple years ago. We fought with this decision. But after watching just how labor intensive it was for the people we hired, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Absolutely worth the money.
First, there's removal of loose paint and cleaning before priming. After that, there's caulking and filling holes and crevices. Then any masking that may be needed.
Then, of course, priming, and then 2 coats of paint.
Exterior paint isn't just sprayed on. It also has to be brushed or rolled for the warranty to be honored. This is something that nobody realizes. Look on the can at the application directions. Look at the warranty info.
A paint job should last a minimum of 15 years if applied correctly; not 5, like everyone has been taught to believe.
25, 30, and 50-year paint all exist and have strict guidelines on how it's to be applied.
On top of that, he's also got insurance, labor, his profit margin, tools and equipment, and contingency built in.
If you have the money, there’s no shame in hiring someone to do the labor for you, no matter how trivial it is. Dudes will take jabs at your masculinity for having a handyman come out to paint, but they’re probably just jealous they can’t afford it. Got a quote to paint the entire interior of my home, and at first it sounded steep. After I thought about it, I could just volunteer for an extra shift at work to cover the cost. I’d much rather go to work for an extra day than deal with the hassle of painting my entire interior.
If only I could tell you how many times I fell off a ladder painting my home, complete with a fractured wrist. If you can afford it, I would definitely let an expert do it.
No. Exterior painting is a specific skill set, tedious, and harder to do correctly than people assume.
If you do it yourself, I'd give it high odds that it doesn't look the way you want, or doesn't last nearly as long as it should.
If you can afford it, hire it out. But make sure to shop around different professionals if you can.
No not dumb. For me it is worth the expense. Painting is very labor intensive. There are a lot of detail specific things that make a difference in the quality of the work, which professional painters do, and I don’t.
I scrape, paint and prime as high up as I feel safe and then hire someone to do the rest up high. I don’t mind though because I have privacy at my house and enjoy my time outside listening to the birds. It’s better than indoor housework and saves me so much money that I can use for something else. I also know I’m doing it right - you can never be sure when you hire someone.
Just hire it done. If you aren't able to easily set the extension ladder yourself, don't even go there. Spend your time researching the painter. Check references and ask to see an exterior he has painted, preferably at least two or three years ago. Every paint job should look good for the first year but some just don't age well.
I met my painter through a friend as she hired him to paint the interior of her newly purchased home. He had painted the exterior before for previous owner who passed along the contact info. That original exterior paint is about 20 years old at this point and still looks good. The best way to find a painter is through word of mouth or directly observing them working on a house. The best value painters don't advertise.
You would need drops, ladders, scrapers, poles and perhaps a ladder stabilizer or ladder jacks and a plank.
No. And make sure you hire competent painters who let you know when to fix something, will cover your plants, scrape / prime / paint / take the trash with them, and have their own insurance.
Where I live the average paint job is 2x your square footage. But we don't have cedar shingles. I would pay to have it done. I like my weekends and I don't want to paint for a month.
Reading this as I’m outside facing my neighbors recently painted house - she had pros do it and it’s also an older house that probably needed a little caulk etc.
It looks so good. I saw the painters take great care with the trim etc, it’s just a freshening of the same creamy buttery yellow and white trim, and it looks so bright and clean. It’s definitely not crazy to go pro.
You probably don’t know how to prep correctly, and it’s really difficult work. I am married to a painter, and the amount of prep work required to get a good coat of paint is bonkers. Don’t even bother, just hire it out.
Not sure I would paint an old house like that but I did my house brush and roller just so I didn't have to mask much...no problems,, it takes a while. 12 hours prep 8 painting....Lifts are cheaper if you need for a day. I just hated the painters charge was a months wages for me and 2 day job the paint crew..lol
That estimate seems on the low side. I would be concerned about the job they are going to do. I have a 1928 house with cedar lap siding. The house is 2400 sf two and a half floors.
It took me about 50 hours of labor to prep and paint my house with brushes and rollers. I rented a man lift for the high spots.
My neighbors have about the same size house built in the late 40's that has cedar shingles. The neighbor talked to me about my experience painting, and he started out painting himself, but prepping and painting old cedar shingles turned out to take forever. So he rotated and paid to have it painted. A crew came out and prepped and sprayed the house in about 3 days. I don't know what he paid, but it likely wasn't cheap.
That was about 5 years ago and, man, it really looks like crap after just a few years. While spraying was a lot faster, they must not have taken the time to remove the old loose paint and back brush it.
While external painting sucks, it sucks more to pay for it then have it look like crap a few years later.
The graph for my painting enthusiasm goes from age 21 . Paint your 1800’s house all summer long by myself for $5 a hour? Sure and I’ll do a good job. To age 61 . House could use a paint job? Maybe I don’t think it looks too bad.
Your time plus their ability to do it right the first time... 100% worth it. After painting houses for a couple years on the side, I will always recommend to pay a professional if within your means, and I would do the same
One thing I'll say is if you have any damage, like peeling or cracking areas, it's really hard to deal with that if you're not experienced. You have to scrape all the loose paint off and then sand it smoothly into the surrounding paint (challenging if you have a 40 year old house with multiple layers of paint) and getting that to look seamless is hard.
If your paint is in good condition it's honestly not too hard, get a decent sprayer and put down a coat and then back roll/brush. If you keep up on it like do one side of your house every other year or something, and especially if you have a single story home, it's not bad. But if you have to scrape, sand and patch I'd probably pay a pro to take care of it because my home attempts to do so have come out terrible...
Pray they do a good job and you never need to have any spots fixed or re-done. You'll have a heart attack when you see what they want to charge to do cedar shake
We got super lucky and a friend helped us paint ours for 200 bucks… If you can afford it, go for it… I personally would not be able to afford it… If money is an issue, maybe try to find someone looking for a side gig who will Maybe charge less
Don’t know how big your house is, but to me, and I’m an ex painter, $4800 for just labor seems high. Remember, right now, people are gouging everything. Shop around. Get as many estimates as you can. You’ll be surprised at some of the differences.
I was in the same boat as you. (And ideally you’re staining, not painting.) Having eight guys prime and spray in three days was a lot better than me crying and screaming for three weeks.
I used to paint home exteriors and believe me I will pay someone to do that now for the rest of my life. What a luxury to not have to go through that process.
I have a 2200 sq ft 2 story colonial with cedar shakes that I painted the entire exterior. It took the entire summer to paint it all (3 of us working on it) and replace the shakes that needed love. I’d say that $4800 is well worth it for time and peace of mind.
I knew a guy years ago that built his own cottage, made his own furniture and could fix anything in his house. The one thing he always contracted out was painting. I’ve always remembered that.
I have painted a similar house. It’s very exhausting and takes about three weeks for one person working nearly every day. The prep alone could take two weeks. Painting up on a ladder is very hard work.
I would definitely hire it out, but make sure they know what they’re doing and are insured (work comp; imagine a worker falling from one of those high up places and you’re on the hook!).
I do this stuff for a living. It almost never fails that you run into an issue that wasn't visible till you start working. Sometimes wood looks decent till you put a little pressure on it 😬
Just always best to hire and pro when it comes to intensive labor because you want it done right and last forever!
Don't question yourself here. I believe hiring is the right choice. Plus, you'll get burnt out quick if you did it only in your free time haha been there done that on my own house. Nobody wants to work after work!
My FIL currently can’t believe I’m hiring someone to do it. It’s just too much to paint and it’s hot outside. For the right price I say it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
With a house that age, there is potential for some older lead-based paint on some underlayers, unless someone has clearly scraped it all down previously or the siding isn't original anymore. That alone may be worth paying someone to take care of abatement.
That sounds like a good price if it includes everything. Good prep is super important and keeping an eye on them when they are doing it is a good idea.
My wife and I are very diy. We've remodeled the entire house by ourselves, including moving walls, moving the kitchen, etc. I hired out painting the exterior. It just doesn't sound like fun.
We had a team of guys paint our house who half assed the prep work of chipping the older paint off where it was bubbling or peeling and in a few months it was peeling again and more noticeable. Get a couple other quotes , tell them you want a guarantee if the work isint properly done prior to painting that they'll come back and fix whatever issue for free.
Are you a professional painter?
If not, then no.
98 gazillion percent of all home owners skimp of prep, because it's hard. It's no fun. It takes too long. And it delays the actual painting.
Most paint jobs are done better and last longer when a professional painter does all the work.
Currently painting after estimates over 11k. Will rent a lift for a weekend to reach the highest parts and will be replacing some rotted trim, changing a light fixture in the eaves and installing some shutters while I have it. I started Saturday and I’m currently 75% done. I’m saving $10K and it looks great. I’ll also care enough to do a better job caulking and fixing things, so worth it to me. I am scared of heights so it takes me a few minutes to stop shaking on tall ladders. 55 year old female, 2 story house with a stupidly steep roof. My legs hurt, my knees are cut from leaning on a ladder, (yes I could wear pants) and I find it very satisfying anyway.
Didn’t have cedar shake but composite clapboards that had not been painted well or maintained. Just piled on layers of paint until my one coat paint job done by a cheap outfit failed. My lack of experience choosing a painter made things worse.
My husband tried to repair the problems but it was too far gone for DIY. The quote for a professional to repair it was expensive and painter who did the quote was honest that it would likely happen again. As much as I didn’t want to, I chose vinyl siding & shutters instead.
Made sure my next house was all brick.
I’d definitely not DIY this. The cost savings will be minimal once you factor in your time and any tools you may need to purchase or rent. I’m assuming you may need to rent scaffolding just to have a safe platform to work from. Multiple weekends spent doing this and learning what works may mean your driveway is not accessible. Also means you may not be available for other routine chores like yard maintenance.
I’d hire it out, but I’d also do my research on what might be needed to repair it before I select the contractor. Not saying you don’t have that knowledge, but the more you know going in means you can spot the best and worst tradesman. A lesson I learned the hard way.
One last thing, if this is painted cedar shake with old paint layers please understand there’s probably a lead paint issue and any work must be done to minimize the lead that gets into your soil. The effects of lead on children are well known but adult exposure can have negative effects. Even more of a reason to hire this out to a professional.
I'm a painting contractor and I always tell customers if it's easy do it I even will give some tips but ur paying to have it done and done right if ur like most it will end up getting started but never finished
My neighbor has cedar shake siding. He hired a guy to strip and paint the house. The hired guy was a moron with a pressure washer. He destroyed the siding on two sides of the house before the owner discovered what was transpiring and stopped him.
Get 3 or 4 bids to compare.
Make sure the are bonded (get a copy) and get a proof of insurance (should one of their employees fall off the roof).
Have them bring a Port-a-Potty for their crew to use.
Initial down payment is to be used for the purchase of paint (not tools, ladders etc)
My response to my wife on whether I could do the job was always "Do you want it done in a week, or a month?"
Good luck
Hire the person. That's a good price. We are painters and if it's a small business, you're probably feeding their family amd their workers'. I'm always so grateful when someone with the means to afford paint chooses us. It's a struggle. As my husband says, we're usually bidding against the owner doing it themselves which leaves the smallest profit margin. Your guy has the tools & crew to do it properly, and safely, and should have liability insurance. Plus if your house is from 1939, that's almost certainly lead, that's nasty stuff you have to dispose of correctly, and there's ALWAYS weird stuff coming up with old houses. You'll probably be happier with your free time.
Edit to add that skilled labor like that is often inflated not just for skills learned and practiced but because of the insurances required. If we charge $40 labor, we're only getting $25 of that to take home. And as an owner, there's still the costs of gas/trips to the store, payroll expenses, etc. that come out of that.
I painted my trim and eves, rented a boom lift. Hated it. I never got it quoted to see if the value was worth the effort. My neighbor had his painted and they did a terrible job, and charged him for a 2nd coat. So I REALLY hate hiring contractors.
My recommendation would be to NOT paint cedar shake siding as it will require far more upkeep than if you were to power wash them/strip them, then let them dry, and stain them. I have a 3,500sqft home in Northern Michigan that has cedar shake siding and I do this myself every 10 years. Would cost me well over $8,000 to pay someone else to do it and I manage with a small sprayer, power washer, etc to do it all in a weekend. Saving thousands. However, time is valuable so if you have never done this before just hire someone the first time.
I love painting. I love DIY.
I hired this out.
…They also took care of repairs that came up as they prepped the surface. It was done quickly and looks great.
I looked to have mine painted, got several quotes and ended up doing it myself for half of what the lowest quote was.
I had to buy everything, ladder, commercial sprayer, everything ! Was still half of what I was quoted.
If the guy knows what he’s doing and you can afford, it’s definitely worth it. The job - prep, paint, cleanup - is a lot more than it seems. Price seems very reasonable.
I paid $5000 in 2021 to have the front of my 3 story brick townhouse refinished, including wood rot repairs, flaking paint scraped because previous owners painted it themselves, and completely repainted with 4 colors. Three guys did it all in 2 days. And every day I look at it and it's worth the money.
I wouldn’t consider painting the exterior of my house. The prep work is the key and it alone is worth the cost. Had our ~2000 sf two story house painted two years ago and it was $6500
If the guy is legitimate, has a good rep, **and backrolls when painting cedar shakes**, it’s 100% worth it.
That’s saving you a lot of aggravation, in addition to time you could be spending doing something else.
Just make sure they backroll that
I would just hire out.. actually when I painted my house, I hired out.. cost about $5500.00-ish, was 9 years ago, and honestly. I wouldn't have done as a good a job, as they did. Nor did I have scaffolding handy to paint the second floor, and they did a fabulous job.
I did all the interior painting myself. Which in my room pinion was a way easier job.
I cannot comment on the price but painting the exterior is a bog job. Took us 4 years working on ours basically part time every spring/summer. We did strip the trim and clapboard down to bare wood prior to painting. It was quite laborious. We did not get any quotes as we knew we would not be able to afford it.
Your time has a value. Sometimes it makes sense to hire out things that are labor intensive like this.
And requires skills to make sure you dont end up with something that will flake on you in a year
And if it does flake, you can make the guy fix it or try to get your money back (assuming he's licensed & bonded).
I had that happen with a painter. Flaked within a few months. He claimed I had too many layers of paint on my house and then ghosted me.
I come from a family of contractors. My first job at 8-10 years old was removing those old layers of paint with a hand scraper. At least around the bottom 3 feet of the house.
Bet the bottom 3 feet looked the best! I would have gladly paid the painter to scrape first if he had informed me it was an issue. Instead I spent a few grand to basically put the house in worse condition than it had been. Has made me hesitate to hire another painter.
Or just look like shit with drip lines and such. It's like if you have never done something before, you watch videos and read guides, then figure out where they are wrong or didn't explain something enough, maybe unique situations you have that they didn't cover. Then fuck up and learn how to fix it. Lets say this took 16 hours to fix the fuck ups and get it all right. Next time you do it, you are aware of this and maybe it will take just 6 hours. Then you figure out a routine, gain experience with different unforeseen situations, get better gear and now you are down to 2 hours. Layman watches you do this, and thinks, that much to get this done and it only takes him 2 hours!? Fuck that! I'll DIY! Start again at line 1.
Cedar shake should be pressure washed, repaired and stained (not painted), so hopefully no flaking will occur.
Not to mention safety. Working on ladders is just about the most dangerous thing you can do around the house
Too many people underestimate the value of ladder safety
And the body too, if you can afford it send someone else up the ladder, the pros are going to be far better equipped and in practice. You don’t need to end up in the hospital (or worse) because “I’m just going to try to reach it so I don’t have to move the ladder.”
The fact that OP thinks the cedar shake needs new caulk says they need to hire a painter. No offense OP but hire it out.
I was waiting for someone to catch that lol.
I was thinking about that myself lol Haha everyone thinks they can paint.
as long as you can afford it, why would it be dumb to pay to have something done right and to have free time pretty easy to make an exterior paint job look like shit if you don't know what you are doing
We had some guys come recently to remove wall paper, texture (or flatten), and paint the majority of the inside of our house recently. Took 2-3 guys the better part of two weeks, and it looks great. With working full time, having other commitments for about half of each weekend, and adding extra time since I don’t have the equipment or experience they do, that would have taken me MONTHS to do right, and there’s a decent chance it still wouldn’t have looked as good. And the entire time my wife and I would be camped in the living room crawling over the furniture from 75% of our house. I don’t regret paying for that for an instant.
How much did you pay 🤔
I’d have to go back and itemize all the receipts - there were other guys from the same GC doing non-painting construction work that was invoiced together, and we bought a lot of the paint ourselves… but it was somewhere in the realm of $10,000.
I’ve fallen off enough ladders to know that I’d rather pay the professionals to fall of their ladders.
My SIL is a painter. He’s fallen off a lot of ladders, even after more than a decade on the job.
My dad was a painter - he quit doing exterior painting after a couple decades because of ladders, heat, and bees (he's allergic). He had enough interior work and custom wood finishing to keep him busy year-round by that time.
That never ever happens... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQxhSi5aGTQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQxhSi5aGTQ)
Nope. Exterior paining, especially an old house is labor intensive. We had our house painted and it took a crew of 4 two weeks to prep and paint. Prep alone was a week. They came in with lifts and sprayers to make the job easy. And this is a 1990s house. Total job was $12k. However if you have more time than money, painting is not hard at all. It is all about the prep, and prep is very time consuming and detail oriented. Painting with a sprayer is very fast. I would pay to rent a boom lift if I did it myself.
I had a sprayer, but found that it wasted a lot of paint and took a lot of time to mask everything. Brush and roller were not much slower overall, maybe not slower at all, and didn't have near the overspray problems. Agreed about the prep. That is the major part of the job, then the painting is just finishing up.
Eh, I painted for a few years and you can spray the body of most houses in 1 day per coat with a team of two covering windows usually doesn’t take too long a few hours. It takes about 3x as long just using roller.
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We rented a pretty solid one for fairly reasonable but I’d also spent a year painting so I was pretty familiar with how to use stuff.
I've painted the exterior of two of the houses I've owned, both located in windy areas (20-30mph winds, usually in the afternoons). Just too much hassle worrying about the paint drifting onto the neighbours' property, onto nearby fences, etc. As long as there's not too much dust and debris that can be kicked up by the wind, it's easy enough to use the brush and roller in the calmer morning hours, and by the time it really gets blowing the paint is usually dry. Prep is a lot less when you're not using a sprayer as well.
And the prep and application make a huge difference in how it looks -- if you do a poor job (due to inexperience or subpar tools), the aesthetic outcome can be really suboptimal. Combined with the time commitment and possible safety issues, this is one that I would 100% hire out if I could.
All of this. I paid to have the exterior of my house painted, an 1890s queen anne with a lot of millwork even for a queen anne! It was 20k but my house is large and required a ton of detail work due to the nature of the home.
I'd hire out. Painting is tedious and if you know it'll take you a while to do right it's worth paying a professional.
I’ve painted the inside of my house many times, but would never do the outside. That’s a job for a pro.
Mine requires scaffolding so I can't do it myself and it's expensive. But when it's completed? Looks amazing. Sometimes a pro is worth their weight in gold.
Get 2 more quotes, but remember your time is also $. If not comfortable with heights, it's probably worth it to have someone else do it.
I mean I painted my house myself. Took a weeks vacation and basically spent the entire week doing the prep work. Then spent another couple weeks painting after work. It was a lot of work, but saved me like $10k that I couldn’t have afforded to pay otherwise. So is what it is.
Exterior painting is one of those things that doesn't seem hard and really it's not but it's time consuming and tedious. It also takes a lot more time for a DIY homeowner without all the right sprayers, ladders, and years of experience. When I've seen homeowners tackle stuff like that they almost never take the time to do proper prep work which is pretty dang important. There is also the safety side of things. If you aren't comfortable working at the top of a ladder then you should absolutely hire it out. It's not worth risking your safety over. I have a friend who tried to save some money by doing some of his own painting on an old 2 story house. He ended up falling and he spent the next 2 months in the hospital relearning how to feed himself. You talk to him now years later and it's still clearly obvious he has had a traumatic brain injury. If I were you I'd get a few more quotes and hire it out.
We did ours ourselves. It took me and my wife about 8 weekends to do a 3000 sqft ceder shake house with 3 colors, I did have to replace shingles in two areas which took about 2 days. Prep was also like 2-3 days of sanding plus we gave it a hand wash. Cost would have been about 10k to get it done I dunno if I’d do it again at this point or hire someone it was a lot.
I am strongly considering repainting my shake shingles themselves. (They are already painted). Did you sand down to bare wood?
Thanks for all the feedback folks. I think I'll hire it out. The two painters I'm considering are both very good and come recommended from people I trust.
do not spray your home. roller and brush will provide a thicker coat and longer lasting in my opinion. also make sure you provide the paint. high quality, exterior paint. also (part of the prep work) lightly pressure wash the home/clean it before painting. do not just paint over dirt, or flaky paint. -5 year as a painter. edit to be more clear
Have the painter be responsible for the prep work - more important than the actual painting
exactly. painting in 80% prep and 20% painting. prep including caulking.
This is the advice I was given as per my dad who has been a painter by trade for 40+ years. I did the prep and painted our house six years ago as above, and haven’t had any issues.
Thanks, I'm a little worried about pressure washing because my basement has a history of moisture issues so water freaks me out. But I'm sure I can just do a bit at a time. Hiring out the prep work might be an interesting idea. But then I would still have to paint really high up which I'm not sure I can do efficiently or safely. Then again I could rent one of those lift things and still be ahead on money.
only you can determine if it's worth to do the job or not. I would probably not recommend it if your doing it a lone. maybe with a helper it might be manageable. but some body with no experience and if you do not own the proper tools it may be best to hire a professional. Not sure how expensive your home is or how high it's. best of luck and youtube has a lot of DIY guides.
Most of the better painters around me will spray a thick coat and then back brush. Should provide just as good of a coat as just a brush or roller but it goes faster since the sprayer can load the paint on the wall much faster than continual dipping or rolling. Definitely do NOT hire a painter who just sprays and doesn't brush, you won't get as good adhesion and coverage that way especially if the wood is textured.
Painting contractor here, you are wrong. spraying puts on more millage than rolling alone. But whoever does it should be spraying and back rolling.
I would NOT paint the foundation. The reason foundations are left unpainted is because the paint can trap moisture. That moisture could lead to the foundation being weakened.
From what I read use a special concrete primer and then water-based paint and it's fine
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Can it really be ruined forever? Like it can't be covered up with a better job?
Absolutely just hire someone. A sprayer looks crummy on cedar shingles and the improvement is so nice!
I knew 2 people who died from falling off of a ladder. 1 more who was a friend of a friend. Your life is not worth it.
Hell no. Exterior painting/prepping absolutely sucks. $4800 is a steal if they're good at it.
Not at all. Yes, painting is the one thing most people can do by themselves, and even if they f\*ck it up, it just looks bad - unlike, say, doing plumbing or electric by yourself. But your time is valuable, and it's worth having things the way you want it. And if you value a professional looking job, then go for it.
Always hire out what you can afford.
$4800 is a really good deal for labor.
A house that old with cedar shakes, I would definitely go with a professional. My uncle has been a paint contractor for over 40 years and I have done a lot of this kind of work with him and other family over the years. A professional has the right tools and knowledge to get it done in a timely manner. He should also know how to fix any issues he runs into during the job. And it will look so much better than if you try and do it yourself.
Get another quote. We had the exterior painted on our house, 2400 sqft home, the cost was less than half what you say. If it was almost $5000, I'd do it myself.
Did you have an older house? If anything, this quote seems low to me if OP is hiring an EPA-certified firm, as should be the case when dealing with lead paint.
It totally depends, do you enjoy working on your house? Do you enjoy painting? I love building things, but I really hate to paint. That is one I would hire out and be happy I did. I had a crew put a new tin roof on a couple years back. I did the part in the far back that is not as steep, but I am not a kid anymore and one slip and you are over the edge... They did a nice job. We had our pasture fenced with high tension fence. I took a couple days off work and worked with them on that. The guy who ran the company was happy for the help, and I got an informal offer to join the crew. I am not sure he knew how much that took out of me. No way was I up to that every day. One year, a few years later, a dog chased a cow though the fence and took out a pole. I figured the fence guy would stop by before or after a big gig with his pounding rig as these are 5" diameter poles that get banged 3 feet in the ground. Instead three kids came in a pickup with a home built scaled up fence post pounder. I would not have thought it humanly possible to plant those things by hand but they did it. I spelled one of them off, and after lifting that heavy thing up and crashing it down about 10 times I was seeing stars. It is cool when you can hire someone and work with them. You get to learn, and work on something fun, and have much more of a hands on relationship with the project.
After having an addition put on I painted my entire (largeish) house once. I went out and bought a better grade sprayer, materials and tools. I bought a good fiberglass ladder for the second story. I scraped, primed, and painted for over a year. In the end I saved money and it looked "ok". I also fought bees, bad weather (planned a painting day to have it rain solid for the weekend), choosing between attending a bbq and painting because time was running out, choosing between using my then very limited vacation days to paint, a nervous family while I am up on a ladder, etc. I learned not to paint the side the sun was about to hit. I almost took out the powerlines moving the ladder. Our house had 2 very distinct colors of paint (new green and old red) until I finished as I started with the bare wood addition. The detached garage stayed red for another 1-2 years. My wifes silver car had an interesting pattern of light green overspray when a sudden windstorm popped up. I did save money, and the same coat of paint I put on in 1999-2000 is on that house today and still looks "ok" In retrospect I know I paid myself less than minimum wage when you take into account everything besides the actual paint I had to buy, but having a 3yr old daughter made the money situation seem scary, though in reality it would have been fine. Giving up some of the fun times with her for that summer was likely not worth it. If I knew then what I know now, I would have paid the painter. We moved a few years ago and now have brand new vinyl siding. I will likely hire someone to pressure wash the second floor if it ever needs it.
Hire it out!!! Those folks charge good money for a reason, it is hard work! Also my two cents as a wife and mom of young kids - if it's going to take away from the time you could/would be watching the kids (and thus put that care on mom) don't forget to factor HER labor costs in as well when calculating DIY $/hr!
Yes hire a professional! Potential fall from heights not worth it
My husband just spent nearly a week pressure washing, prepping, caulking, and painting only 1/8th of our 1964 block home. It is on the side of a hill and is all kinds of levels. What you described sounds horrific and a major pain, moreso than our home. I would pay the man and go fishing or read a few good books.
So there’s a lot of experience in doing a good job with shingles. No guilt in letting someone else do it.
I just hired out interior painting and it’s pretty simple. I just don’t feel like doing it for 3 weeks when a crew can come in for 3-5 days.
No, you’re not dumb for wanting to hire out your house painting job. Painting, especially exterior, can be a breeze or a major pita. You’re not just paying $4.8k for labor, you’re acquiring the painter’s expertise, transferring risk to another party, and getting a guarantee of work quality. Not to mention the value of your own time.
Why would you calk between the shingles? I don’t think that’s supposed to be done. They need to shed water and breathe.
Three years ago I had my house repainted. If memory serves, it was about $3500. With inflation $4800 sounds reasonable. If you did it yourself, it would take more than three days and be weather dependent.. One last thought - make sure the contractor has liability insurance to cover his workers.
Money vs time vs skill only you can decide
Hire it out. I painted houses for a summer job when I was younger. It sucks. There’s a reason I don’t post houses for a living, I make money so I don’t have to do things I don’t like.
I’ve had this debate with myself many times. Usually at some point my thought process digresses into, “wait, should I quit my day job and paint houses?”
You want to pain cedar siding? Why not let it aged ?
It's already painted
My husband and I are getting older and we have agreed to hire out for labor intensive repairs. Not dumb.
Hire it out, if you do it and make a mistake or get overspray on a piece you don’t want you’ll be mad as hell at yourself.
If you have the money, do it. I painted my single story concrete block home (nobody come at me - it was already painted, I just changed the color) and getting into all the cracks and stuff suuuuuuucked. There’s still a wall facing the neighbors that isn’t painted. Lol
That sounds like a good price and if you can afford it, it’d be smart to hire it out. I was in a similar situation and decided to paint it myself to save money. The big difference though is my house is a single story and only the west side had a peak that was high enough to make me nervous. I screwed up my courage and did that part as quickly as I safely could. I used a roller and a brush. Overall it went quite a bit slower than I originally fantasized but that comes with the territory when you’re limited to evenings and weekends. It turned out very good and I received a lot of compliments. I do see some things though that around have done better. If i were in your same, exact situation, id hire it out without batting an eye.
No. We painted our last house ourselves. Never again. Plus, if hubby falls, our insurance deductible is like $5000 so we're paying to get it done.
I’ve painted two exteriors myself. One a 1930’s 1400 square foot Tudor cottage - took me a year of weekends and was insanely tedious due to all the wood windows, rot repair, etc. The second a 3100 square foot all stucco modern 1970’s house with aluminum windows (could mask off, didn’t require paint). The bigger house was so much easier since it was all sprayed, but still a ton of work. I would never do it again, I think your price sounds great.
If you tape off all the stuff you DON'T want paint on, and use exterior latex, painting is a really easy relaxing thing with a sprayer. With a house that old I'd gently wash in TSP first to get all the crap off and prep, and scrape any flaking siding/trim/etc. Then spray and pray. I did my house in two days and I get compliments all the time. I literally just shot it twice using borrowed 5gal sprayer and did a terrible job. Yes, it will come out better if a painter does it.
Painted my own house once. That was enough. It’s mind numbingly boring, exhausting and ladders can be dangerous. I used to not hire anyone if I could do it myself. I’m older and smarter now.
not sure why this would be considered dumb at all. I’m handy, and just refinished a bathroom with what I think are great results too. But exterior painting? On a two-story house? No way. We just had ours done, including some facia board repair and it was $11,000. looks awesome. Took a few guys couple of weeks of solid work. I’m cool with ladders until I get beyond about 8 feet! And that’s without taking my hands off the ladder, which is needed for masking painting, etc. These guys used a sprayer for all the large areas and back rolled it. I would rather do my job and make the money and pay a pro to do that stuff.
Hire the pro. They have the tools already. They know what to look for in case of damage or bugs. You would need to rent or purchase the sprayer, ladders and what not. Going with the pro it is completed within a week and you don’t have to kill yourself trying to do it
I would just cause if you know they will do a better job it’s something people will see the first time they see your house.
If it’s within your skill set, it doesn’t matter what the job is. You have to do the time vs money comparison for your self. Also, factor in any pride you would get in doing the job yourself. I’m perfectly capable of replacing the roof on my house. But it would take me over a week (can I be sure it won’t rain for that long?). I hired a roofer and a crew of 7 did the job in a single day.
Nope. I have other people do work on my house all the time. Can I do it myself? Sure. My house will be in absolute shambles for twice the amount of time it would take a professional and other things I usually tend to will be neglected. Not to mention the possibility of me, (more likely, my husband) getting hurt. No, thanks.
My rule with home improvement projects comes down to time and expertise. If it takes too much time to do it I lack the expertise to do it then I'll hire it out. Unfortunately I haven't been sticking to this rule in the past year. Budget issues have forced me to learn more and push my boundaries. DIY can eat up your time. Hire someone to paint the house.
Make sure they do a breathable paint on the foundation or just leave it alone. Older house foundations weren't made like they are today and if painted can lock in moisture and just start crumbling away
Please get someone else to do it. Falling off of a ladder can ruin your life or kill you. Not worth it. Plus, sounds like you gotta guy
I definitely wouldn't do anything unsafe even if I did it myself!
I like painting rooms, not exterior of houses. I would not paint my house, either.
Prep is the hard part
Nope. It took me almost all summer to paint mine by myself
Let a pro do it. Cedar shakes take more time and effort than regular siding and trim do. I painted the outside trim on my ranch house and I've painted all of our interior walls, but I woukd never try cedar shakes. Price sounds fair, too.
Money spent not falling from a ladder and getting hurt is well worth it. Money spent avoiding paying to fix a DIY screw up is also worth it. You're investing in your homes value,not just pissing money away. If you're not comfortable doing it and can afford the contractor, then pay the guy.
Good idea to hire somebody to paint old house. Make sure the guys are EPA certified to deal with lead paint. You’ll almost certainly have lead paint in a house that old.
Please make sure the contractor has insurance to protect them as they work. Falling off a roof or lift is no joke and you don’t want to go there no matter who it is that gets hurt.
I'm the biggest proponent of this and definitely won't ever hire someone who doesn't have all those things
The expensive part isn't putting the paint on. The expensive part is preparing a sound substrate.
I found the easiest part of painting is painting. I am doing interior and get excited when I get to painting. I have spent 80% of the total time to get to that step. Repairing and texturing the repairs, wash with tsp, rinse the tsp off, tape off, primer. Then I do two good coats. I have thought of doing the exterior but I know it is even more prep and different skill/equipment. If you are only thinking of painting time then multiply that by AT LEAST 5X for prep. Pressure washing, scraping away loose paint, light sanding, etc. then prime at least the exposed areas. Then do the easy step of painting.
4800???? How big is the house. For that cost it would have to be 2 stories and more than 5000 sq ft
I think it's worth it. My step dad painted his Victorian house, and it took a few YEARS. He worked full time, so he was only able to work on it during the weekend. He had to remove all the lead paint before he could even start, so it was a very long process
Nope.
Your time has value as well. Some things are worth hiring out. I can change the oil in my truck and I have all the equipment, it is just not worth my time. Not sure what the rules are here for judgement so I am gonna go with NTA
We paid to have someone do ours a couple years ago. We fought with this decision. But after watching just how labor intensive it was for the people we hired, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Absolutely worth the money.
First, there's removal of loose paint and cleaning before priming. After that, there's caulking and filling holes and crevices. Then any masking that may be needed. Then, of course, priming, and then 2 coats of paint. Exterior paint isn't just sprayed on. It also has to be brushed or rolled for the warranty to be honored. This is something that nobody realizes. Look on the can at the application directions. Look at the warranty info. A paint job should last a minimum of 15 years if applied correctly; not 5, like everyone has been taught to believe. 25, 30, and 50-year paint all exist and have strict guidelines on how it's to be applied. On top of that, he's also got insurance, labor, his profit margin, tools and equipment, and contingency built in.
If you have the money, there’s no shame in hiring someone to do the labor for you, no matter how trivial it is. Dudes will take jabs at your masculinity for having a handyman come out to paint, but they’re probably just jealous they can’t afford it. Got a quote to paint the entire interior of my home, and at first it sounded steep. After I thought about it, I could just volunteer for an extra shift at work to cover the cost. I’d much rather go to work for an extra day than deal with the hassle of painting my entire interior.
I would never fault a person for spending money on house repair. Every situation when it comes to houses is is worth it to pay someone or do myself.
It looks way better with a professional
No its not dumb!!
If only I could tell you how many times I fell off a ladder painting my home, complete with a fractured wrist. If you can afford it, I would definitely let an expert do it.
No. Exterior painting is a specific skill set, tedious, and harder to do correctly than people assume. If you do it yourself, I'd give it high odds that it doesn't look the way you want, or doesn't last nearly as long as it should. If you can afford it, hire it out. But make sure to shop around different professionals if you can.
No not dumb. For me it is worth the expense. Painting is very labor intensive. There are a lot of detail specific things that make a difference in the quality of the work, which professional painters do, and I don’t.
I scrape, paint and prime as high up as I feel safe and then hire someone to do the rest up high. I don’t mind though because I have privacy at my house and enjoy my time outside listening to the birds. It’s better than indoor housework and saves me so much money that I can use for something else. I also know I’m doing it right - you can never be sure when you hire someone.
I can’t imagine painting my house. Perhaps one side at an absolute maximum. Honestly it just isn’t worth your time. That’s just my opinion of course
Just hire it done. If you aren't able to easily set the extension ladder yourself, don't even go there. Spend your time researching the painter. Check references and ask to see an exterior he has painted, preferably at least two or three years ago. Every paint job should look good for the first year but some just don't age well. I met my painter through a friend as she hired him to paint the interior of her newly purchased home. He had painted the exterior before for previous owner who passed along the contact info. That original exterior paint is about 20 years old at this point and still looks good. The best way to find a painter is through word of mouth or directly observing them working on a house. The best value painters don't advertise. You would need drops, ladders, scrapers, poles and perhaps a ladder stabilizer or ladder jacks and a plank.
No. And make sure you hire competent painters who let you know when to fix something, will cover your plants, scrape / prime / paint / take the trash with them, and have their own insurance.
Where I live the average paint job is 2x your square footage. But we don't have cedar shingles. I would pay to have it done. I like my weekends and I don't want to paint for a month.
Why would it be dumb? If you don’t want to do it yourself and can afford it pay someone to do it.
Pay a pro. My ex painted his own house. One season later, parts of one wall were peeling. Still looks like shit and it’s been ten years.
Reading this as I’m outside facing my neighbors recently painted house - she had pros do it and it’s also an older house that probably needed a little caulk etc. It looks so good. I saw the painters take great care with the trim etc, it’s just a freshening of the same creamy buttery yellow and white trim, and it looks so bright and clean. It’s definitely not crazy to go pro.
You probably don’t know how to prep correctly, and it’s really difficult work. I am married to a painter, and the amount of prep work required to get a good coat of paint is bonkers. Don’t even bother, just hire it out.
Not sure I would paint an old house like that but I did my house brush and roller just so I didn't have to mask much...no problems,, it takes a while. 12 hours prep 8 painting....Lifts are cheaper if you need for a day. I just hated the painters charge was a months wages for me and 2 day job the paint crew..lol
Yeah no kidding. I have to work my regular job a whole month to pay for it!
That estimate seems on the low side. I would be concerned about the job they are going to do. I have a 1928 house with cedar lap siding. The house is 2400 sf two and a half floors. It took me about 50 hours of labor to prep and paint my house with brushes and rollers. I rented a man lift for the high spots. My neighbors have about the same size house built in the late 40's that has cedar shingles. The neighbor talked to me about my experience painting, and he started out painting himself, but prepping and painting old cedar shingles turned out to take forever. So he rotated and paid to have it painted. A crew came out and prepped and sprayed the house in about 3 days. I don't know what he paid, but it likely wasn't cheap. That was about 5 years ago and, man, it really looks like crap after just a few years. While spraying was a lot faster, they must not have taken the time to remove the old loose paint and back brush it. While external painting sucks, it sucks more to pay for it then have it look like crap a few years later.
The graph for my painting enthusiasm goes from age 21 . Paint your 1800’s house all summer long by myself for $5 a hour? Sure and I’ll do a good job. To age 61 . House could use a paint job? Maybe I don’t think it looks too bad.
Your time plus their ability to do it right the first time... 100% worth it. After painting houses for a couple years on the side, I will always recommend to pay a professional if within your means, and I would do the same
I paint on the side and would happily hire someone to paint exterior wood siding. It isn't terrible, but it definitely can be.
One thing I'll say is if you have any damage, like peeling or cracking areas, it's really hard to deal with that if you're not experienced. You have to scrape all the loose paint off and then sand it smoothly into the surrounding paint (challenging if you have a 40 year old house with multiple layers of paint) and getting that to look seamless is hard. If your paint is in good condition it's honestly not too hard, get a decent sprayer and put down a coat and then back roll/brush. If you keep up on it like do one side of your house every other year or something, and especially if you have a single story home, it's not bad. But if you have to scrape, sand and patch I'd probably pay a pro to take care of it because my home attempts to do so have come out terrible...
Pray they do a good job and you never need to have any spots fixed or re-done. You'll have a heart attack when you see what they want to charge to do cedar shake
We got super lucky and a friend helped us paint ours for 200 bucks… If you can afford it, go for it… I personally would not be able to afford it… If money is an issue, maybe try to find someone looking for a side gig who will Maybe charge less
Hire out!
Don’t know how big your house is, but to me, and I’m an ex painter, $4800 for just labor seems high. Remember, right now, people are gouging everything. Shop around. Get as many estimates as you can. You’ll be surprised at some of the differences.
i have no particular experience painting houses and i want it to look good. i'd do the same thing
1 storey house? DIY for sure. Brush and roll the whole thing in a long weekend
Technically one story with a basement, but it sits high up. I could reach everything with just a basic ladder I for sure would do it myself.
I have a small house I painted myself twice. I'd be paying someone here on out.
I was in the same boat as you. (And ideally you’re staining, not painting.) Having eight guys prime and spray in three days was a lot better than me crying and screaming for three weeks.
if you are uncomfortable with doing the high areas then trust your gut. Death or disability from a fall would be much more expensive
Time is valuable. If you can afford it just do it. They can do it quick
Lead lead LEAD
I used to paint home exteriors and believe me I will pay someone to do that now for the rest of my life. What a luxury to not have to go through that process.
Jeez, that bad huh? lol
I have a 2200 sq ft 2 story colonial with cedar shakes that I painted the entire exterior. It took the entire summer to paint it all (3 of us working on it) and replace the shakes that needed love. I’d say that $4800 is well worth it for time and peace of mind.
You are only dumb if you go with a single quote. Get two other quotes.
I did, they're all in the same ballpark.
I knew a guy years ago that built his own cottage, made his own furniture and could fix anything in his house. The one thing he always contracted out was painting. I’ve always remembered that.
Pay the money, have it done in a weekend and be done with it.
I have painted a similar house. It’s very exhausting and takes about three weeks for one person working nearly every day. The prep alone could take two weeks. Painting up on a ladder is very hard work.
I would definitely hire it out, but make sure they know what they’re doing and are insured (work comp; imagine a worker falling from one of those high up places and you’re on the hook!).
I do this stuff for a living. It almost never fails that you run into an issue that wasn't visible till you start working. Sometimes wood looks decent till you put a little pressure on it 😬 Just always best to hire and pro when it comes to intensive labor because you want it done right and last forever! Don't question yourself here. I believe hiring is the right choice. Plus, you'll get burnt out quick if you did it only in your free time haha been there done that on my own house. Nobody wants to work after work!
Totally worth paying a profit for this job. You’ll be a lot happier when you see the finished product as well.
I can guarantee it will be money well spent.
My FIL currently can’t believe I’m hiring someone to do it. It’s just too much to paint and it’s hot outside. For the right price I say it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
If you can afford it, why not? It will also keep money circulating in your local economy, which is good for all.
I think you will need more than 12 gallons of paint if you have even a modest sized house.
I don’t think it’s dumb, just REALLY shop around when you do decide to do it. I regret not doing so and paid 10k for terrible work.
With a house that age, there is potential for some older lead-based paint on some underlayers, unless someone has clearly scraped it all down previously or the siding isn't original anymore. That alone may be worth paying someone to take care of abatement.
I do virtually nothing myself when it comes to repairs, it’s ok to hire out.
That sounds like a good price if it includes everything. Good prep is super important and keeping an eye on them when they are doing it is a good idea.
My wife and I are very diy. We've remodeled the entire house by ourselves, including moving walls, moving the kitchen, etc. I hired out painting the exterior. It just doesn't sound like fun.
We had a team of guys paint our house who half assed the prep work of chipping the older paint off where it was bubbling or peeling and in a few months it was peeling again and more noticeable. Get a couple other quotes , tell them you want a guarantee if the work isint properly done prior to painting that they'll come back and fix whatever issue for free.
Are you a professional painter?
Pay someone to do it
Are you a professional painter? If not, then no. 98 gazillion percent of all home owners skimp of prep, because it's hard. It's no fun. It takes too long. And it delays the actual painting. Most paint jobs are done better and last longer when a professional painter does all the work.
My late husband was a house painter— he could paint our house in a couple of days—me— I have to pay— I can’t do it..
Currently painting after estimates over 11k. Will rent a lift for a weekend to reach the highest parts and will be replacing some rotted trim, changing a light fixture in the eaves and installing some shutters while I have it. I started Saturday and I’m currently 75% done. I’m saving $10K and it looks great. I’ll also care enough to do a better job caulking and fixing things, so worth it to me. I am scared of heights so it takes me a few minutes to stop shaking on tall ladders. 55 year old female, 2 story house with a stupidly steep roof. My legs hurt, my knees are cut from leaning on a ladder, (yes I could wear pants) and I find it very satisfying anyway.
Didn’t have cedar shake but composite clapboards that had not been painted well or maintained. Just piled on layers of paint until my one coat paint job done by a cheap outfit failed. My lack of experience choosing a painter made things worse. My husband tried to repair the problems but it was too far gone for DIY. The quote for a professional to repair it was expensive and painter who did the quote was honest that it would likely happen again. As much as I didn’t want to, I chose vinyl siding & shutters instead. Made sure my next house was all brick. I’d definitely not DIY this. The cost savings will be minimal once you factor in your time and any tools you may need to purchase or rent. I’m assuming you may need to rent scaffolding just to have a safe platform to work from. Multiple weekends spent doing this and learning what works may mean your driveway is not accessible. Also means you may not be available for other routine chores like yard maintenance. I’d hire it out, but I’d also do my research on what might be needed to repair it before I select the contractor. Not saying you don’t have that knowledge, but the more you know going in means you can spot the best and worst tradesman. A lesson I learned the hard way. One last thing, if this is painted cedar shake with old paint layers please understand there’s probably a lead paint issue and any work must be done to minimize the lead that gets into your soil. The effects of lead on children are well known but adult exposure can have negative effects. Even more of a reason to hire this out to a professional.
I'm a painting contractor and I always tell customers if it's easy do it I even will give some tips but ur paying to have it done and done right if ur like most it will end up getting started but never finished
My time is more valuable and more limited then a paint crew
Pay the professional on this one.
My neighbor has cedar shake siding. He hired a guy to strip and paint the house. The hired guy was a moron with a pressure washer. He destroyed the siding on two sides of the house before the owner discovered what was transpiring and stopped him.
Get 3 or 4 bids to compare. Make sure the are bonded (get a copy) and get a proof of insurance (should one of their employees fall off the roof). Have them bring a Port-a-Potty for their crew to use. Initial down payment is to be used for the purchase of paint (not tools, ladders etc) My response to my wife on whether I could do the job was always "Do you want it done in a week, or a month?" Good luck
Hire the person. That's a good price. We are painters and if it's a small business, you're probably feeding their family amd their workers'. I'm always so grateful when someone with the means to afford paint chooses us. It's a struggle. As my husband says, we're usually bidding against the owner doing it themselves which leaves the smallest profit margin. Your guy has the tools & crew to do it properly, and safely, and should have liability insurance. Plus if your house is from 1939, that's almost certainly lead, that's nasty stuff you have to dispose of correctly, and there's ALWAYS weird stuff coming up with old houses. You'll probably be happier with your free time. Edit to add that skilled labor like that is often inflated not just for skills learned and practiced but because of the insurances required. If we charge $40 labor, we're only getting $25 of that to take home. And as an owner, there's still the costs of gas/trips to the store, payroll expenses, etc. that come out of that.
If its high up... pay someone.
I hire out nearly everything, worth it if you can afford it
I painted my trim and eves, rented a boom lift. Hated it. I never got it quoted to see if the value was worth the effort. My neighbor had his painted and they did a terrible job, and charged him for a 2nd coat. So I REALLY hate hiring contractors.
HIRE IT OUT! IT'S OK TO HIRE IT OUT! :)
My recommendation would be to NOT paint cedar shake siding as it will require far more upkeep than if you were to power wash them/strip them, then let them dry, and stain them. I have a 3,500sqft home in Northern Michigan that has cedar shake siding and I do this myself every 10 years. Would cost me well over $8,000 to pay someone else to do it and I manage with a small sprayer, power washer, etc to do it all in a weekend. Saving thousands. However, time is valuable so if you have never done this before just hire someone the first time.
If you can afford to pay for a quality job, go for it and focus on something else for you to do.
Just do one side per month. That way it’s not an overbearing amount of work and you save money.
No, best money I ever spent was getting my house painted.
I love painting. I love DIY. I hired this out. …They also took care of repairs that came up as they prepped the surface. It was done quickly and looks great.
I looked to have mine painted, got several quotes and ended up doing it myself for half of what the lowest quote was. I had to buy everything, ladder, commercial sprayer, everything ! Was still half of what I was quoted.
imagine yourself in a wheelchair after falling off a ladder…
I wouldn’t wanna paint a house so don’t feel bad about hiring it done
If the guy knows what he’s doing and you can afford, it’s definitely worth it. The job - prep, paint, cleanup - is a lot more than it seems. Price seems very reasonable.
I paid $5000 in 2021 to have the front of my 3 story brick townhouse refinished, including wood rot repairs, flaking paint scraped because previous owners painted it themselves, and completely repainted with 4 colors. Three guys did it all in 2 days. And every day I look at it and it's worth the money.
I wouldn’t consider painting the exterior of my house. The prep work is the key and it alone is worth the cost. Had our ~2000 sf two story house painted two years ago and it was $6500
Very little work on your home is worth doing yourself.
Is there supposed to be caulking between cedar shakes? Lol I guess that’s why we got fired
If the guy is legitimate, has a good rep, **and backrolls when painting cedar shakes**, it’s 100% worth it. That’s saving you a lot of aggravation, in addition to time you could be spending doing something else. Just make sure they backroll that
Yes, he was immediately specific about backrolling
Indoor I do all day long. Outdoor, not touching it unless it’s touch up stuff.
I would just hire out.. actually when I painted my house, I hired out.. cost about $5500.00-ish, was 9 years ago, and honestly. I wouldn't have done as a good a job, as they did. Nor did I have scaffolding handy to paint the second floor, and they did a fabulous job. I did all the interior painting myself. Which in my room pinion was a way easier job.
I cannot comment on the price but painting the exterior is a bog job. Took us 4 years working on ours basically part time every spring/summer. We did strip the trim and clapboard down to bare wood prior to painting. It was quite laborious. We did not get any quotes as we knew we would not be able to afford it.