How to Quote Exterior Painting: Surfaces, Access, and Material Allowances
Three things separate an exterior quote from an interior quote: pressure wash, access equipment, and weather allowance. Skip them and the painter eats the gap.
Exterior painting quotes need three things interior quotes don't: pressure wash time, access equipment, and a slower prep level for sun damage and biological growth.
Pressure wash — the auto-generated prelim
Surfacely auto-generates a wash & preparation line on every repaint with external area. The calculation:
washHours = totalExternalArea ÷ washRate washRate (US) = 800 ft²/hr (default) washRate (SI) = 75 m²/hr (default)
For 2,150 ft² (200 m²) of exterior, that's 2,150 ÷ 800 ≈ 2.69 hours of wash (or 200 ÷ 75 ≈ 2.67 hours from the metric defaults). New build projects skip this — bare substrate doesn't need washing.
Surfacely stores all rates in metric and converts to imperial only at the display layer, so US painters see ft²/hr without any precision drift.
Access equipment as a separate cost line
Scaffold, scissor lift, boom lift — these go in the access section, not labor. Surfacely seeds three locale-aware templates:
- Scaffold: delivery + erect & dismantle + weekly hire (week-locked)
- Scissor lift: delivery + collection + day or week hire
- Boom lift: delivery + collection + day or week hire
Default margin on access equipment is 15% — the painter's value is logistics, not value-add. Cost-plus applies to all three.
Common exterior surface formulas
| Surface | Formula | Default coats | Speed step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fascia | length × board width | 2 | 4 — Steady (160 ft²/hr · 15 m²/hr) |
| Soffit | length × overhang depth | 2 | 3 — Careful (110 ft²/hr · 10 m²/hr) |
| Gutter | length × profile girth | 2 | 4 — Steady (160 ft²/hr · 15 m²/hr) |
| Roof | plan area × pitch factor (1.0 – 1.5) | 2 | 5 — Efficient (215 ft²/hr · 20 m²/hr) |
| Barge board | length along slope × board width | 2 | 3 — Careful (110 ft²/hr · 10 m²/hr) |
| Downpipes | pipe girth × length × qty | 2 | 3 — Careful (110 ft²/hr · 10 m²/hr) |
| Timber deck | length × width × qty | 2 | 3 — Careful (110 ft²/hr · 10 m²/hr) |
| Brickwork | length × height × qty | 2 | 3 — Careful (110 ft²/hr · 10 m²/hr) |
| Metal cladding | length × height × qty | 2 | 4 — Steady (160 ft²/hr · 15 m²/hr) |
Material allowances on exterior
Spread rates drop on rough exterior substrates. Apply Surfacely's coverage adjustment — the multiplier applies to whichever spread rate the painter has set (gal/100 ft² in the US, L/m² in metric markets):
- Soaks it up: ×0.70 (30% less coverage) — porous, rough, unpainted masonry
- Normal: ×1.00 — standard exterior repaint in good condition
- Covers well: ×1.15 — sealed, smooth, previously well painted
Weather and rework allowance
Build a contingency line into overheads for weather delays. Most painters use 5–10% of total job hours.