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How Much Does It Cost To Paint A Brick House?

How much does it cost to paint a brick house

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Brick houses have a stylized look with natural textures created by the bricks. Some homeowners go with the finish, but bricks have the option of painting to spice up their look and enhance the textures.

Painting brick houses may seem like a task-full activity, primarily due to the nature of brick surfaces calling for different painting approaches and costs.

This article, how much does it cost to paint a brick house, gives an overview of some of the cost estimates you may need to start painting your brick house.

Factors to Consider When Analysing the Cost to Paint a Brick House

A brick house has many activities involved when it comes to painting. Some of the common factors that cause variations in the cost are:

Labor 

Hired labor varies depending on the number of workers involved, the work demand, and the task’s difficulty, among other factors. 

Location 

It is much cheaper to paint a house on the city’s outskirts than in the inner city. This is due to differences in the availability of materials, work demand, and building permits. 

Coats of paint 

The amount of paint you will use for your project depends on the number of coats you will be applying. Using a good primer reduces the number of coats of paint necessary. 

Weather 

Due to the work demand, it costs more to paint during the spring and summer than in other seasons. Since most people paint their houses at this time, the price of various materials and labor will go up. 

Painting in bad weather conditions also increases the number of workdays if the hired contractor is paid on workdays. A typical method is a price per square foot or cost per hour of work done. 

How Are Brick Houses Painted?

A woman painting a brick wall around a fireplace

Bricks require more prep work than other painted surfaces such as countertops, tiled floors, and interior doors. Bricks have larger pores that may collect dirt and debris, making them susceptible to plant growth.

Brick houses take more paint than other surfaces due to the large pores and uneven surfaces. This can be made easier by prepping the brick surfaces using a primer and filling in any holes or cracks.

Painting brick protects the surface from dirt buildup and abrasion and makes it easy to clean and maintain. The general steps to painting brick include:

  • Cleaning the surface
  • Filling in any damaged spots 
  • Priming the brick surface 
  • Painting the brick surface 

These steps are broken down cost-wise by price per square foot to allow you to calculate the relative costs involved in each step. 

1.   Labor costs

Labor accounts for most of the project costs for a hired painter. Painting brick is a more labor-intensive project compared to other painted surfaces. 

Labor costs include prepping the surfaces and cleaning up after finishing the job. 

Removing previous paint coats 

If your brick house has a paint job, it will have to be removed before another new layer is applied. The average cost of removing paint from brick is about $1.6 per square foot. 

Cleaning the surface 

Brick has large pores that make dirt accumulations and plant growth common. Exterior brick surfaces need some good cleaning to clear out any dirt in the pores to allow for a good finish.

The common cleaning method is power washing, but not to a high degree since the water may damage the already delicate brick surface. If you hire a contractor, the quote for power washing may be included in the cost of the coat, which may be about $35-$100.

Correcting any blemishes 

The grout area is caulked to fill in any cracks and large orifices that may take up more paint or trap air bubbles. For broken or damaged bricks, a mason fixes the damaged bricks before the job continues. 

2.   Primer costs

Priming is an essential task when it comes to painting brick. Primer fills in pores and evens out the brick surfaces, which:

  • It saves the amount of paint used
  • Using a primer will help to create an even surface for the paint to adhere 
  • It prevents dirt from building up in brick pores 
  • It prevents plant growth on the brick surfaces as there are fewer holes 
  • It prevents the bubbling of the paint due to trapped air bubbles

Therefore, a good primer is a key to having a smooth finish without bumps and blemishes on the coat. This is unless you’re going for a more textured look, in which case priming is also advised, but you can limit the amount used. 

A primer costs between $7 and $15 per gallon, covering about 250 square feet. So, for a house with a paintable surface of 1800 square feet, expect to pay about $50–$108 for a single coat of primer and double that amount for two coats of primer. 

3.   Paint costs

A man pouring paint into a paint tray

Due to the porous nature of brick, you will need so much paint if you use regular paint or a good amount of primer to cover up the pores and create an even surface. Luckily, paints formulated for brick are thicker and easily adhere to brick surfaces. 

This saves on the amount of paint, primer, and work done. Various affordable brick paints and tricks get you a cost-efficient finish. 

Buying paint 

Expect to pay between $20 and $80 a gallon for masonry or brick paint. A gallon of paint takes up about 250-400 square feet. 

For a 2500-square-foot house, you will need about 7-10 gallons of paint; if you paint in two layers, this makes it 14–20 gallons. The estimated cost of paint for this house will be about $280-$400 on the low end and $400-$800 on the high end.

With this estimate, remember that 2500 square feet won’t be the total paintable surfaces, and you might spend even less on the paint. For example, if your entire paintable surface is 1500 square feet, you will spend between $120 and $300 on paint. 

Types of paint 

Many types of paint are made in different colors and for different purposes. To choose the right type of paint, consult your local contractor or paint supplier for the best paint for your project. 

Brick typically needs thicker paint formulated to fill in pores and adhere to the surface with fewer coats required. You should also consider looking for paint resistant to mildew growth to protect the brick surface in the future. 

Oil-based paints are harder to handle since they require mineral spirits to be used as a solvent and take longer to dry. They, however, last longer, and surfaces are easier to clean up.

Latex paints are cheaper and easier to handle as they are water-based. They dry quickly and have fewer volatile organic compounds(VOCs), making them less toxic than oil-based paints. 

  • Lime washing brick 

This involves the addition of masonry lime and salt made with water to the brick surface, leaving behind a chalky, white, or tinted finish. Doing this exposes part of the brick to give a vintage aesthetic look. 

It costs about $0.8 per square foot to paint using this technique. 

  • Whitewashing brick 

This painting technique allows painting and preservation of the textured look of brick. The paint is thinned out by diluting it and then applied over the brick surface. 

It costs about $0.89-$1.6 per square foot to paint using this technique. 

4.   Finishes

There are various finishes to choose from. High gloss and semi-gloss finishes have a shinier finish and are more expensive, while matte and flat finishes have a dull look and are cheaper. 

Finishes help prolong the painted surface by preventing chipping of the paint. Paint fades over time and may be replaced after about 7–10 years. 

How Much Does it Cost to Paint a Brick Houses as a DIYer?

A picture of a brick wall

For DIY enthusiasts looking to give their brick houses a new paint coat, the process may be simply provided you follow the right steps. Due to the large margin of error and first-time mistakes can be tiring and expensive for inexperienced or first-time DIYers. 

Even for experienced DIYers, painting the whole house may be difficult since, apart from the skill, you also need the right equipment and materials. 

Why Should I Consider DIY Painting My House? 

There is no wrong with DIY enthusiasts trying to paint their own houses since you can accomplish the task if you have the will and the skill. This is simply provided you have the necessary materials and manpower and put in the right safety and painting measures.

In doing this, remember that professionals are better equipped physically and skill-wise to give a long-lasting finish. It is cheaper if you already have the proper tools and equipment, but it may cost as much as the labor if you hire or purchase the same. 

What Is Needed For DIY Painting? 

To begin painting brick, you will have to do the prep work, which involves using a few handy pieces of equipment to make your work easier and more accurately done. 

  • Equipment 

It costs about $40 per day to rent a power washer and $100-$380 to buy one. It is essential to clean the brick surface before applying any paint thoroughly. 

You must use some safety equipment, especially when handling paint and painting high areas. For painting, you will have to buy or rent the painting equipment:

Equipment Price
Safety Goggles $10-$20
Safety Gloves $6-$8
Painter’s Mask $20
Ladder $7-$30
Paintbrushes/rollers/trays $15-$30
Paint Sprayer $40-$100 per day to rent
  • Labor 

You will need some manpower to help lighten the burden of handling everything yourself. You can recruit some friends and family and finish an average-sized home in 3-7 days if you factor in good weather conditions. 

How to Reduce The Cost to Paint a Brick House

Here are a few tips for having a quality but cheaper paint finish to get the most out of your budget and reduce it.

  • Use cheaper paint but a good primer.

Primer is the base layer of the paint job, and it has many functions. Most of them are to create a good paint finish while saving paint. 

Use an expensive primer, but cheap paint as priming determines the quality of the paint finish. 

  • Hire a professional

For huge projects, you may question whether hiring a professional or doing the job yourself is better. 

Since painting brick involves many steps and equipment, you may spend more on renting or buying equipment. Hiring a contractor will be cheaper since they will be equipped with the necessary tools and equipment for the job and include it within their quotes at a lower price.

  • Rent equipment for the most extended time frame possible 

Instead of renting equipment per hour, choose or bargain to rent it per day or for the duration of time you’ll be painting. This is to maximize the purpose of the equipment within a larger time frame compared to the limited hours. 

This also becomes cheaper in case of unsuitable conditions that may cause the equipment to function at its lowest capacity while you’re still paying for its current use. 

FAQs

How long does painting a brick house take?

It takes about 2-3 days to one week for an average-sized house and 1-2 weeks for a larger house. This period varies with 

  • The weather changes
  • The size of the house
  • The working hours of the painters

How many coats should I use for my brick house? 

A brick house typically requires two layers of paint, but this varies with the homeowner’s needs.

If you’re switching from a light to a dark color, you may have to apply more coats of paint, and if you’re going from a dark to a light color, you may have to use more primer. 

Which is the best method for painting a brick house? 

The paint application technique varies depending on the painter, access to the required materials, and convenience. 

If it is a windy day, paint sprayers will likely have excess overspray that may go on to neighboring plants and vehicles. 

Paint sprayers will likely be used when fast application and placement of paint in orifices that are out of reach is needed. 

Paintbrushes are used to cover blemishes caused when painting and also when making small details such as patterns and designs. 

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