Exterior painting Cost Calculator
Exterior painting and decorating in 2026 UK costs £2,800–£6,800 for a typical 3-bed semi (~80m² of exterior wall, soffits and fascias). The cost driver isn't the paint — it's prep, scaffolding and surface condition. A heavily flaking pebbledash semi can hit £8,500; a tidy modern render with low…
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2 steps, using the figures from our cost guide.
How this calculator works
Every figure in this calculator is the one published in the cost table on our exterior painting guide. Pick the option that matches your job and the calculator returns that published range, adjusted for your region - it does not model anything the guide does not already say.
That is deliberate. A calculator whose rates drift from the page it sits under is worse than no calculator, because two numbers on the same site disagree.
What it cannot know: access, the condition of what is already there, and anything structural. Those are what separate three real quotes from each other.
Published exterior painting costs (2026)
| Option | Typical 2026 cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical 3-bed semi (~80m²) | £2,800–£6,800 | |
| Scaffolding, 3-bed semi (2 weeks) | £900–£1,800 | |
| Scaffolding, tall Victorian / deta | £1,800–£3,500 | |
| Heavy prep & masonry repair | £900–£2,800 | |
| Fascias, soffits & gutter line | £450–£900 | |
| Bargeboards, sand & prime | £200–£500 |
These are the figures from our exterior painting cost guide.
What actually moves an exterior painting price
Paint is the cheap part. On most jobs the materials are a modest share of the total; the rest is labour, and labour is bought by the day. That is why two decorators can quote the same house well apart - one has priced two days of proper prep, the other half a day of a quick wash and cut-in. Our painter and decorator day rates guide shows the going rate where you live, which is the number sitting underneath every estimate on this page.
Prep is the swing factor. Sound masonry that just needs a wash, a stabilising coat and two topcoats is quick work. Flaking pebbledash, blown render or bare timber that has to be scraped, filled, primed and left to dry pushes the day count up before a drop of finish paint goes on. Height and access do the same: a rear elevation over a conservatory or a sloping garden needs a tower or scaffold, and that hire sits on the bill whether the painting takes a day or three.
A few things reliably add cost that no calculator can see for you - rotten fascias or bargeboards found once the old paint comes off, lead paint on an older house that needs careful handling, and colour changes on render that need an extra coat for coverage. Read any quote for what is included: the number of coats, whether prep and making-good are itemised, and whether scaffolding is in the price or extra. If you want that breakdown before you commit, our painting and decorating hub lists the specialists who quote this way.
Exterior painting calculator — FAQs
It uses the same published figures as the cost guide it sits under, adjusted for your region. It is a budgeting estimate, not a quote - only a site visit produces one of those.
Not automatically - scaffolding is a separate line in the table above. Pick the row that matches your house, whether that is a standard 3-bed semi or a taller Victorian or detached, and add it to the painting figure. Much single-storey and low two-storey work is done off ladders and a mobile tower with no scaffold cost at all; the charge appears when height, a conservatory below or an awkward boundary forces a fixed scaffold.
Most exterior coatings need the surface dry and the weather mild to cure properly, so the main season runs spring to early autumn. You can paint in a settled dry spell over winter, and decorators are quieter then so may quote keener rates, but the risk is losing days to rain - which matters most when scaffolding is on hire by the week.
Related cost guides
- Exterior painting cost guide — The full price guide
- All painting decorating services — Browse the hub
- All BestBuilders services — Every trade we cover
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