How much to paint a house in Florida? Orlando & Sarasota

In the following article, you will find the best house painting estimates in Florida, focused on the Orlando and Sarasota areas. Continue reading to know the factors that affect the prices of house painting and some advice to add value to your property.

How much does it cost to paint a house in Orlando, Florida?

Painting a house in Orlando, Florida, may cost between $3,500 and $18,000, depending on several factors, such as square footage, number of stories, type and brand of paint, prep work required, and labor, if you are looking for interior or exterior painting, among others.

According to the Pool Paint Screen LLC experience, the factors that most affect the cost of painting a house in Florida, are the following:

Square footage: The bigger your house is, the more you have to pay to get it painted. In Florida, most houses are around 1,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet, which means the average price to paint a house is typically between $3,000 and $10,000.

Number of stories: A single-story house is cheaper to paint, in the first place, because it has a lesser surface to cover but, on the other hand, a multi-story house will need ladders and scaffolds, which complicate the job and increase its price.

Type and brand of paint: There are different types of paints: Acrylic Latex, Water-based (Latex) and Oil-based. Each one has a different price per gallon and is suitable for different applications (wood, vinyl, concrete, stucco, masonry, etc.), both in the exterior and interior of your house.

Prep work: The nature and intensity of prep work increase the house painting costs. If the walls and ceilings need to be cleaned or repaired, if you need to remove old lead-based paints, if you need to move a lot of furniture, among other tasks and customer requirements, all of these will add to the final house painting price.

Labor: In Florida, painters typically charge $2 to $5 per square foot, or $25 to $125 per hour, or $200 to $500 per day. On the other hand, a small, single-story house with little prep work, perhaps could be painted by a single person, but bigger houses which require a lot of prep work, will need more than one worker, so your labor costs could be very variable.

However, all these prices are just a reference. If you need to paint your house, the best you can do is to use an online calculator or ask a reliable painting company for a free estimate. They will take into account your specific needs and requirements and will give you a more realistic estimate.

How much does it cost to paint the exterior of a house in Florida?

To paint the exterior of a house in Orlando, Florida, can cost from $3,500 for a single-story, 1,200 sq. ft. house, to $18,000+ for a multi-story, 5,000+ sq. ft. house.

Those estimates can vary greatly, depending on several factors, such as the exterior house materials. In Florida, the cost to paint a brick house is, usually, from $7,000 and $18,000. But, if it is a stucco house, the cost ranges typically from $4,000 up to $20,000.

In Florida, particularly in Sarasota and Tampa, contractors usually charge $2.50 to $5.50 per sq. ft., or $25 to $125 per hour, to paint the exterior of a house. Additionally, you must consider the type of exterior paints required and their costs:

Acrylic Latex paints: With prices from $20 to $50 per gallon, these are the most recommendable types of exterior paints for humid environments or rainy weather, such as those of Florida. It can be used to paint wood, brick and stucco.

Water-based (Latex) paints: Have prices similar to acrylic latex paints (from $20 to $50 per gallon) but have a lower permeability, thus, they tend to retain the moisture between the paint layer and the wall materials.

Oil-based paints: They cost from $20 to $70 per gallon. Have a very low permeability, so they can form water bubbles below the paint layer if your house is in a very wet environment or subjected to rainy weather.

Masonry paints: With prices ranging from $25 to $55 per gallon, are specially designed to work with stucco. Are moisture resistant paints, suitable for wet environments and rainy or sunny weather. It can be used to paint stucco exteriors.

We recommend visiting the Sherwin-Williams website to check out exterior house paint prices and select the colors of your preference. When it comes to Pool Paint Screen LLC, we like to use Super Paint in Satin finish.

How many gallons does it take to paint a 2,000-square-foot house?

A gallon of paint can cover from 360 sq. ft. to 400 sq.ft., depending on the type and quality of the paint. Thus, to paint a 2,000 square foot house you will need at least 5 gallons of paint.

The next question is, How many coats of paint are needed? This depends on the quality of the paint and the color. Usually, two coats of paint are enough to obtain a good finish. But, if you want to paint an old dark color surface with a new lighter color, you will likely need more than two coats of paint.

Regarding the quality of paints, there are available in the market top brands, such as Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore. Pool Paint Screen LLC always uses Sherwin Williams products to ensure the quality of its exterior house painting jobs.

How often should you repaint your house in Florida?

On average, a house should be repainted every 5-7 years. However, if you have a property in Florida, where there is intense sun exposure, rainy weather and humid environments all around the year, you will likely need to repaint your house every 3-5 years. When painting the exterior of your house, Pool Paint Screen LLC uses Super Paint from Sherwin-Williams, which will last up to 10 years!

This also depends on materials. In Florida, house exteriors are typically built from wood, cement, stucco or brick. Each of them has its own recommended repainting time:

Wood exteriors: 3-5 years.
Stucco exteriors: 5-7 years.
Cement exteriors: 10-15 years.
Brick exteriors: 15-20 years.

Those are just average times but you, as the homeowner, should always monitor the condition of your property and take actions to repair or repaint it whenever you consider necessary.

Does painting increase property value?

Absolutely! To paint your house increases the value of your property, whether you want to stay and live there or are painting to sell it.

According to some real-estate and painting industry sources, repainting the exterior of your house can yield a 55% ROI (Return On Investment), while repainting your house interior can yield a 107% ROI. It means that to paint both, the interior and exterior of a typical house can increase the value of your property up to $4,000.

On the other hand, repainting your house with some particular colors also adds value to your property. Let’s see more about that in the next section.

What color should you paint your house to sell it faster and for more money?

Recommended colors to add value to your property are light gray and beige, for exterior house bodies, and neutral warm colors, such as beiges, tans and taupe, for most interior applications. All of these must be properly combined with adequate contrasting colors, such as dark grays, navy blue, or black on front doors, shutters and trims.

For exteriors, you must follow the 3-colors rule:

60% (body) - One color – Recommended: light grays, beiges.
30% (garage and trim) – One color - Recommended: black, dark grays, navy blue.
10% (accents, doors, shutters) - One color - Recommended: black, dark grays, navy blue.

For interiors, everything depends on each space of the house, but the colors that more value add to your property are:

Kitchens and dining rooms: light grays, light blues, gray blues recommended.
Bathrooms: light blues, light lavender blue, light grays are recommended.
Living rooms: beiges, taupe, oatmeal, tans and golds are recommended.