An exterior repaint is published at $3,000 to $10,000 for an average 2,000 square foot house in 2026. In Santa Rosa the wall material and its condition decide where a house falls: sound stucco in Rincon Valley, sun-baked panel siding on a 1970s tract house, or old redwood with peeling paint near downtown.
The dollar figures on this page are national figures published by HomeGuide for 2026. They are not our quotes. Sonoma County labor rates, the paint chosen and the condition of your own surfaces move a real price up or down. Last checked October 2026.
How much does it cost to paint the exterior of a house?
The national figure is $1.50 to $5.00 per square foot of wall, or $3,000 to $10,000 for an average 2,000 square foot house. HomeGuide lists these ranges by home size.
| Home size | Published national range |
|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | $1,200 to $4,000 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $1,800 to $6,000 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $2,600 to $8,500 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $3,200 to $10,500 |
| 3,000 sq ft | $3,800 to $12,500 |
Prep is the part that varies most here. Summer sun dries out south and west walls, and winter rain gets behind any paint that has cracked. A house that has gone too long between coats needs far more scraping, priming and caulking than one painted on time.
How much to paint a two-story house outside?
A two-story house costs more than a one-story house of the same floor area, because there is more wall and it has to be reached from tall ladders or staging. HomeGuide's main exterior page publishes no separate two-story figure.
Its page on aluminum siding says multi-story access can add up to 50%. Its vinyl siding page lists $1,500 to $7,900 for a two-story home of 1,500 to 2,500 square feet. Treat those as rough guides. Sloped lots in Fountaingrove and Bennett Valley can make one side of a house three stories tall, and we price that from the site.
How much for a small single-story ranch?
A small single-story ranch falls in the lower rows of the published table: $1,200 to $4,000 for 1,000 square feet and $1,800 to $6,000 for 1,500 square feet.
Ranch houses are the easiest exteriors to reach, and Santa Rosa has thousands of them. What pushes one up the range is usually wide eaves with exposed rafter tails, weathered fascia boards and panel siding that needs its lower edges sealed.
How much to paint just the trim, shutters and front door?
Exterior trim alone is published at $1 to $4 per linear foot, or $1,000 to $2,500 for a house. Shutters are $50 to $100 per pair. A front door is $125 to $225, and a garage door $150 to $550.
Painting only the trim makes sense when the walls are still sound, which is common on stucco houses. Fascia and window trim take the weather first, so a trim-only job can buy the walls a few more years.
Does the exterior price include power washing, scraping and caulking?
With us, yes. Our price includes washing, scraping loose paint, caulking open joints and priming bare spots, and the written quote lists them. Prep is part of our standard job, not an extra.
Always check this on other quotes. As a guide, HomeGuide publishes $170 to $360 for power washing a house. It gives no national labor price for caulking on its own and no per-house price for scraping.
How much more if the old paint is peeling?
Peeling paint adds cost because every loose edge must be scraped back to sound paint, sanded and primed before the new coats. No national per-house figure is published for this. We price it from the walls we see.
A few peeling spots on the weather side add little. Whole walls of failed paint on old redwood can double the prep time. If the house was built before 1978, lead-safe work rules can apply to the scraping, and that also adds time. See our lead paint page.
How much does it cost to paint stucco, brick or vinyl siding?
The cost to paint stucco is published at $1.00 to $5.50 per square foot, or $2,400 to $8,100 for an average house. Brick is $1.50 to $4.50 per square foot, and vinyl siding $1 to $3. Wood siding is listed at $1.50 to $5.00.
Stucco and wood are the walls we see most around Santa Rosa. Stucco takes more paint per square foot because it is rough. Fiber cement on the rebuilt homes in Coffey Park and Larkfield holds paint well and is usually a simpler repaint.
Spray or roll outside: is there a cost or quality difference?
Spraying is faster and rolling uses less masking, so the cost difference on a whole house is usually small. Quality depends on the surface and the painter more than on the tool.
On stucco and rough wood the best result often comes from spraying the paint on and rolling it in while wet, called back-rolling, which pushes paint into the texture. Smooth fiber cement sprays well. On windy afternoons, which are common south of town, brushing and rolling keeps paint off cars and neighbors.
A free estimate with a written quote is the only way to get a real price for your job. Call or text (707) 205-3959.