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Exterior paint costs in Chicago

Here’s the ballpark for common exterior paint jobs around Chicago, IL. Want one for your own project? A photo is all it takes.

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Chicago

What it usually costs

  • Repaint the whole house$1.50 – $6.00 per sq ft
  • Paint just the trim and shutters$1.55 – $6.22 per sq ft

A ballpark, not a quote. Some of these are national averages adjusted for Chicago prices, so your job could land outside them.

Exterior paint in Chicago

Before anyone scrapes a Chicago house, think about lead. Illinois health officials say lead-based paint in older homes is the main cause of lead poisoning in children. They also note it was used outside as well as in, especially on windows, trim and doors. Those are the same parts a repaint spends the most hours on.

Chicago's housing is old enough for this to matter. Nearly four in ten city homes were built before 1940, and roughly six in ten across the metro went up before 1980. Federal rules say anyone paid to disturb paint on a home built before 1978 has to be certified in lead-safe work. On a frame two-flat, or a brick bungalow with wood porches and window trim, that means plastic under the work area, misting before scraping, and a careful cleanup every day.

Your photo tells a lot here. Sound paint on the trim of a brick bungalow is a modest job. Paint flaking off a frame house down to bare wood is a much bigger one, because every loose flake has to come off safely before primer goes on. That gap in prep, more than the size of the house, is what separates a quick Chicago repaint from a long one.

Sources

Questions homeowners ask

How accurate is a photo estimate?
It’s a ballpark, not a quote. One photo rarely shows the whole house, so a local painter who walks the property will always be more precise. Use our number as the range to expect before you start calling around.
What changes the price of an exterior paint job?
Square footage is the biggest factor, then how much prep the old paint needs — bare wood or peeling paint takes far more work than a clean recoat. Trim, multiple stories, and a color change add to it too.
Do I need to measure my house?
A rough guess at the wall square footage helps a lot, but if you don’t know it, just skip the question and we’ll estimate from your photo.
Is this really free?
Yes. No signup, no credit card, no spam. We only make money if you choose to connect with a local pro — and that’s up to you.
What photo works best?
A shot of the front of the house, plus any sides showing wear like peeling or bare spots, gives us the best read.

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Nearby

Exterior paint costs nearby

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