Exterior paint calculator
Estimate exterior house paint by square footage — siding, trim, garage doors, and shutters. Enter your wall area below and the calculator returns the gallons you need plus a real per-gallon price for any of 15 brands, so you can see the paint cost before you shop. For the full paint-plus-labor total, use the cost calculator.
Exterior coverage runs lower than interior
Two reasons. First, exterior surfaces are usually more textured (lap siding, stucco, T-111), which sucks paint into the profile. Second, exterior paints are formulated with more flexible, UV-stable resins that lay down a slightly thicker film on purpose. Plan for ~350 sq ft per gallon, or less on rough stucco.
Why two coats outside, almost always
Sun, rain, and freeze/thaw will eat any film thinner than two full coats. The 15-year warranty on Kompozit PRO is two coats. Big-box premium paints rated for 25-year exterior life are also two coats. Don't skip.
Trim, doors, garage doors, shutters
Subtract their area from the wall total — this calculator does that automatically. We use 21 sq ft for a standard door, 112 sq ft for a double garage door, 15 sq ft per window, and 12 sq ft per pair of shutters. Then if you're painting trim a different color, tick the trim checkbox to add ~10% paint volume in the trim color.
Coverage by surface type
Texture is the deciding factor outside. The rougher and more porous the surface, the more paint it drinks, so set your expectations by material before you buy:
- Smooth lap or vinyl siding: 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon, the easy case.
- Fiber-cement and T1-11: 300 to 350 sq ft per gallon; the grain holds a little extra.
- Stucco: 200 to 300 sq ft per gallon — add about 25 percent over a smooth estimate.
- Brick and block: as low as 200 sq ft per gallon; deep mortar joints really matter.
Exterior paint cost by brand
Paint cost is gallons × price per gallon. Coverage is nearly identical across the major exterior lines (about 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon), so the price tier is what moves your bill. These are current per-gallon prices for the brands the calculator can price for you:
| Brand & line | Price / gal | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Backdrop Exterior | ~$69/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Marquee | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Ultra | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Premium Plus | ~$33/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior | ~$85/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Regal Exterior | ~$70/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| C2 Paint Guard | ~$65/gal | 350 sq ft/gal |
| Diamond Vogel Artistry | ~$42/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Diamond Vogel Palisade | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dunn-Edwards Evershield | ~$72/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dutch Boy Maxbond Plus | ~$42/gal | 375 sq ft/gal |
| Glidden High Endurance Plus | ~$28/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams WeatherShield | ~$50/gal | 375 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit ONE | ~$40/gal | 388 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit PRO | ~$52/gal | 388 sq ft/gal |
| Magnolia Home Exterior | ~$50/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Manor Hall | ~$55/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG UltraLast | ~$48/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Rodda Horizon Exterior | ~$56/gal | 375 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Emerald Exterior | ~$86/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Duration | ~$80/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint | ~$60/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams A-100 | ~$49/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Resilience | ~$73/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Valspar Duramax | ~$50/gal | 350 sq ft/gal |
Run the calculator, pick a brand and line in the result panel, and it multiplies your gallons by that product's price for an exact paint cost. Prices are US averages and vary by region and retailer.
What it costs to paint a house exterior
Paint is only part of the bill. For a 2,000 sq ft home you will spend roughly $400 to $1,000 on body and trim paint, plus $100 to $300 in supplies (rollers, brushes, sprayer rental, tape, drop cloths). Doing it yourself, that is your whole cost.
Hiring a painter pushes the total to about $3,000 to $7,000 for the same house, because labor is 70 to 85 percent of an exterior job — prep, ladders, and masking eat the hours. For a full breakdown with labor by region, use thepaint cost calculator.