What an exterior painting proposal should include
Start with prep, in detail. Washing, scraping, sanding, caulking, and priming bare wood is where cheap bids cut corners, so spell it out and the homeowner learns what the other bid left out. Then the coats: name the product line and say two coats, because one-coat bids are common and look identical on a spreadsheet.
List trim, shutters, doors, and railings as their own lines. Homeowners forget these exist until the crew shows up, and separating them avoids the end-of-job argument about what was included. Say how many colors are in the price, since a third accent color is a real cost.
Close with the timeline, weather language, how you protect plantings and windows, and a written warranty. A five-year peeling warranty on a two-coat job costs you nothing and wins against a bid that has none. A before and after photo from a similar house does more than any paragraph.
How to price exterior painting
Most painters price from the paintable surface and adjust for condition and height. In 2026 a full exterior repaint runs about $1.50 to $4.00 per square foot of siding for labor and paint, which puts a typical 1,800 to 2,500 square foot home between $4,000 and $12,000. One story stucco or vinyl sits near the bottom of that range; two story wood siding with heavy trim sits near the top, and a third story or a steep lot adds ladder and staging time that should show up as a line, not a surprise.
The sample splits the job the way the crew works it. Prep and power wash at $650 is about ten percent of the body price on a house in fair shape; heavy peeling, chalking, or lead-safe work on a pre-1978 house can push prep to $1,500 to $2,500, and it deserves its own number so the client can see why. The body at $4,900 covers two coats of a premium line such as Sherwin-Williams Duration or Benjamin Moore Aura, with the paint included. Trim, fascia, and shutters at $1,400 is roughly a quarter to a third of the body price on most homes, more where the trim is ornate. Front door refinishing runs $350 to $600 when it is stripped, stained, and sealed rather than painted, and gutter cleaning while the ladders are up is $150 to $300.
Material choice moves the total by $500 to $1,500 on an average house, so name the line and let the client see what a step up costs. Rural markets and the South run lower; coastal and metro markets run higher, sometimes by a third. Check the ranges against the painters your customers already call.
How to price the optional items
Put the front door refinish and gutter cleaning in as optional lines, one on by default and one off. Optional items do two things. They raise the average job by a few hundred dollars because people say yes to a door they were going to get around to anyway. And they give the client a way to lower the price without haggling: they turn something off and feel in control.
Price optional work at a small premium. You are already on site with ladders up, so gutter cleaning at $250 is nearly pure margin, and the client sees it as cheap compared with calling a separate company. The rule: on by default when most clients take it and the price is modest, off when it is a bigger decision.
Mistakes that lose painting bids
A single lump sum. If the client cannot see prep as its own number, they cannot see why you are $900 more than the other guy. Vague product names. "Premium paint" means nothing; the product line and sheen do. No expiry date. Paint prices move and so does your schedule; a 14-day expiry creates a reason to decide.
Sending a PDF attachment. It cannot be signed, it cannot collect a deposit, and it is read once on a phone at 9 pm. A proposal page with an accept button gets signed the same evening more often than you would think. Quoting from the driveway. Walk every side of the house and look at the north wall up close; that is where the rot and the mildew live, and finding them on day one costs you the job's margin.
Deposit and payment
Thirty percent at signing is standard for exterior work and covers materials. Collecting it by card the moment they sign removes the follow-up call and the check in the mail. The balance is due on completion after the walkthrough; request it from the proposal and the client pays from the same page, or record the check when it arrives, so the signed scope and the money stay together.
Sending it and following up
Send the proposal the evening of the walkthrough, while the house is fresh in both your minds. A reminder goes out on day three and again on day seven if it has not been signed. You can see when it was opened and which sections held their attention: if they lingered on the prep line, lead with prep on the follow-up call. If the scope changes after signing, a change order adds the north wall or the garage doors with its own signature, so the paperwork matches the work.
Questions
- How much should I charge for exterior painting?
- Most residential exterior repaints in 2026 land between $4,000 and $12,000, or $1.50 to $4.00 per square foot of siding, depending on size, prep condition, stories, and the paint line. Price prep, body, and trim as separate lines and you will rarely have to defend the total.
- Should I include materials in the price?
- Yes, inside each line. Homeowners do not want a separate materials invoice, and including paint lets you name the product line and sheen, which is a selling point against a bid that only says premium paint.
- How long should the proposal be valid?
- Fourteen days. Long enough to get a second bid and decide, short enough to keep your calendar honest through the painting season. The template expires on its own, reminds the client on day three and day seven, and can be extended with one click if they ask for more time.
- What deposit should a painter ask for?
- Thirty percent at signing is normal for exterior work and roughly covers the paint and the first day of labor. Ask for more only on large or custom jobs. Collect it by card on the proposal page so a signed job is also a funded one, and bill the balance after the walkthrough.
- Should prep be its own line?
- Always. Prep is where cheap bids hide their savings, and it is the single number that explains a price difference. A separate prep line with the steps in the description lets the homeowner compare like with like, and it protects you when a house turns out to need more scraping than it looked.
- Is an e-signature on a painting proposal legally binding?
- Yes. Electronic signatures are valid for service contracts under ESIGN and UETA in the United States. YesPage records consent, identity through the email link, the time, the IP address, and a tamper-evident audit trail with every signature, and both of you get the signed PDF with a certificate of completion.
