Exterior paint costs in Charleston

Plenty of repaint calls around Charleston are for newer houses out in the suburbs, not the old wood on the peninsula. Nearly half the metro's homes were built in 2000 or later. Either way, the coast sets the terms. Salt rides in on the breeze, summer air stays heavy, and paint on a shaded porch ceiling or a north wall can go green with mildew long before it wears thin. Mildew that gets painted over keeps growing under the new film.

If your house is in one of Charleston's historic districts, paint counts as exterior work. The Board of Architectural Review looks at any of that work you can see from the street. Even repainting in the same color needs a BAR application with photos of the house. Changing colors adds a color schedule with a line for the main body, trim, window sash, shutters, doors, foundation, porch columns, porch deck and the piazza ceiling, each with a manufacturer and color code. Staff can ask for a three-by-three-foot sample painted on site. Brick, stone or stucco that has never been painted needs the full Board's approval before anyone rolls a coat on it.