Exterior paint costs in Denver

Denver's thin air is hard on paint. The EPA says ultraviolet light gets about 6 percent stronger for every kilometer of elevation, and the Mile High City sits more than a kilometer and a half up. Walls and trim that face the sun fade and chalk sooner than they would at sea level, and dark colors show it first. If your south and west sides look tired while the north side still looks fine, that's the sun, and a painter may suggest doing just those sides.

On a brick house, the paint work is mostly wood: trim, eaves, porch posts and window sashes. That's slow, hand-brushed detail, and it can fill several days even when the walls stay bare.

Lead is still part of the picture, since half the houses within the city's own borders went up before 1980. Paint from before 1978 can contain lead, which means a certified crew, plastic on the ground and a careful cleanup.

If you live in a historic district, colors are your call. A Historic Denver guide for people living in districts lists paint color among the common misconceptions: design review doesn't include it. Review applies to work that needs a permit, like new siding or replacement windows. So a repaint is simple, but swapping out rotted siding boards is a different conversation.