Home owners should plan ahead to find out how much it will cost to paint their house. House painting contractors may give different house painting quotes and estimates depending on their work schedule. The cost of painting the same house may rise in the Summer and Fall when painting contractors are busiest.

Home painters many times come up with different approaches to the exact same job. Knowing what those approaches are will help determine your costs and allow you to intelligently evaluate a house painting estimate.

Exterior house painting can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Some house painters will prefer to spray the paint on, and others will rely on brushes or rollers to paint the same walls. Each technique has advantages and disadvantages. Painting contractors using the spray method may be faster, but often create a mess if windows and trim are not protected from the spray. Rollers will give a fast job without the mess, but are best suited for painting stucco, concrete and brick. Brushes are the slowest application, but experienced house painters will often rely on them for the best results, especially on shingle and houses with clapboard or other siding materials.

Before calling a contractor for your first house painting quote, be aware of the condition of the walls of your house. Is the paint peeling, bubbling or cracking? Is there mold, mildew or moss growing on the walls? A good painter will not paint over unstable surfaces. Preparation requirements like scraping off old paint, priming raw wood, and caulking imperfections, gaps and cracks will affect your estimate.

Painting contractors will know if the job will require one coat of paint, or multiple coats. If you are trying to hold costs down, choose a paint color which is the same as the old color. Painting white over white may involve only a single application, but painting a light color over a dark one may require three coats. Since you will be paying for each coat of paint, be prepared for the cost. Finally, with all this in mind, approach two or three house painting contractors, and then compare the costs. The estimates will give you a good idea of cost and value.