Real exterior painting prices from projects Ellwanger Painting completes every season in Bellingham and Whatcom County. Below you'll find cost per footprint square foot, home-size ranges, what drives exterior pricing up on older Bellingham homes, and real project examples with actual numbers. Also see our interior painting prices.
Exterior pricing is based on your home's footprint square footage — the ground floor area — not total paintable surface area. Story height, prep needed, siding type, trim detail, and number of colors all move projects toward the higher end or above this range.
A two-story, 100-year-old home with detailed trim and 4 colors will be at the $9+ end.Most exterior paint failures come down to skipped prep. A home with heavy scraping, bare wood, dry rot, and caulk failure needs significantly more labor before any paint goes on. That's not padding — it's the difference between a job that holds 10 years and one that peels in 2.
Homes in poor condition will land at the upper end or above the $6–$9 range.Use these ranges as a starting point. Final pricing always depends on an onsite inspection, actual surface condition, and the written scope of work in your estimate.
| Scope | Typical home size | Typical range | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exterior repaint Small house |
~800–1,050 sq ft footprint | $5,000–$7,000 | Pressure wash, full prep, 2 coats on siding & trim. |
| Exterior repaint Medium house |
~1,100–1,500 sq ft footprint | $7,000–$12,000 | More elevation, more trim, more prep time. |
| Exterior repaint Large house |
~1,500–2,500 sq ft footprint | $12,000–$22,000 | Two-story, complex elevations, extensive prep. |
| Exterior per sq ft Whole exterior system |
Priced by footprint sq ft | $6–$9+ / footprint sq ft | Masking, spraying two coats of topcoat, hand brushing and rolling trim. |
| Cedar siding Staining & finishing |
By linear or sq ft | Included in exterior range | Oil-based or linseed oil stains. Cedar requires specific primer — bare cedar cannot go straight to topcoat. |
These aren't national averages — they're real projects from homes we've painted in Bellingham. Use them as ballpark ranges, then request a walkthrough for an exact quote.
Full exterior repaint including pressure washing, spot-priming bare wood, two coats on siding and trim, and minor carpentry repairs. This project landed in the $12,000 range — large deck in the backyard added masking time, and the two-story elevation added staging time. Paint quality and access difficulty were both on the higher end.
Exterior painting in Bellingham typically costs $6–$9 per footprint square foot. A small home (800–1,050 sq ft) runs $5,000–$7,000. A medium home (1,100–1,500 sq ft) runs $7,000–$12,000. A large home (1,500–2,500 sq ft) runs $12,000–$22,000. Homes with heavy prep needs, dry rot, detailed trim, or multiple stories land at the higher end or above this range.
Footprint square footage is the ground floor area of your home — not total paintable surface area. Exterior painting is priced by footprint sq ft because it correlates with overall project scope. A 1,200 sq ft footprint home has roughly 1,200 sq ft of floor area but significantly more actual surface area when you add two stories, trim, fascia, and soffits.
Older homes require significantly more prep — more scraping of failing paint, more caulking at aged siding joints, more spot-priming of bare wood, and often dry rot repair before any topcoat goes on. Prep is where the durability of the job is determined, and older homes need far more of it than newer construction.
A properly prepped and coated exterior repaint in Bellingham should last 8–12 years. Prep is the key variable — thorough scraping, proper priming, and quality topcoats will outlast a quick-coat job by many years in the Pacific Northwest climate. Skipping prep is how exterior paint fails in 2–3 years.
Yes — cedar siding and wood shingles are common in Bellingham and a surface we work with regularly. Bare cedar requires an oil-based or shellac-based primer before topcoats to prevent tannin bleed and ensure adhesion. We use stains and finishes designed for wood movement and moisture resistance in the Pacific Northwest climate.
Yes. Ellwanger Painting is EPA RRP certified for lead-safe work on pre-1978 homes — proper containment, HEPA cleanup, and legal disposal. WA Contractor License ELLWAPL779QL, verifiable through the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.
