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Greater Milwaukee
Greater Milwaukee
Most homeowners in the Milwaukee area spend between $400 and $10,000 on a professional paint job, though it can be higher. This is a wide range because it has to be. A single hallway versus a full exterior repaint on a two-story Victorian are both “painting” . . . the cost will clearly differ.
Here’s the more useful version:
| Project | Typical range |
|---|---|
| One bedroom, walls only | $550 – $1,200 |
| Three bedrooms and a hallway | $2,000 – $3,200 |
| Whole first floor, walls and trim | $4,000 – $7,500 |
| Exterior, ranch, siding in good shape | $3,500 – $8,000 |
| Exterior, two-story with deeply peeling siding | $8,000 – $14,000 |
| Kitchen cabinets, average kitchen | $3,000 – $6,500 |
Two factors move these numbers more than anything else: how much prep the surfaces need, and how much surface there is. Everything else is adjustments.
We’ve been quoting painting projects in and around Milwaukee for nearly two decades. What follows is an idea of how we price the work, including some of the parts most companies would rather not put in writing.
If you’re thinking about painting your home – inside or out – and you wound up here, you’re clearly curious about working with a professional painter. And for good reason! Working with a professional painting company offers peace of mind, a precision paint-job, and experience with more technical painting needs that weekend warriors may be hesitant to tackle.
When you hire an experienced professional painter like the team at Culver’s, costs are primarily dictated by how much prep work is needed and the size of the space being painted. The average home painting project ranges from $400 to $10,000 depending on various factors such as size, how many rooms are being painted, etc.
Prep work simply means extra time for our painters and can include: wallpaper removal, textured wall removal or addition, extra trim-work, painting windows and doors, and more.
Our painting projects usually include: 1) application of an oil-based primer coat for proper paint adhesion; 2) two coats of paint; 3) high-grade professional paint from Sherwin Williams; and 4) application with a professional sprayer that provides the seamless “like-new” look everyone loves. If you need extra help, a good professional painting company will also offer design and color-selection advice as part of your service.
We advocate strongly that customers always hire a local painter or painting company they’re comfortable with and trust. Because with any home improvement project, it’s important to work with a reputable company who is in business long-term and cares about doing a great job to earn your trust and possible future business or referrals. If you don’t feel that the workers coming into your home will treat it with as much respect and care as you would, you should look elsewhere until you find a company that you’re comfortable with.
We’ve done enough repair work to know that even the best-intentioned DIY projects can go sideways – but also that fly-by-night professional painters aren’t always able to the precision they claim (for instance, student painters might be cost-effective but are much less experienced than a team that’s been around for a while).
For more questions to ask before hiring a painting company, check out our blog post on the top 10 questions to ask before hiring a painting company.
Because we’ve been providing professional interior painting and exterior painting in and around Milwaukee for years, we’ve quoted and finished more painting projects than most people will see in their lifetime.
To give you a better idea about average painting costs, we’ve broken down aspects of our painting project prices below.
This paint cost calculator is also a pretty accurate tool you can use no matter what part of the country you live in paintingpricecalculator.com.
Ranked roughly by how much each one moves the final number.
1. Condition of the surfaces. This is the big one, and it is the reason two identical-looking houses can be quoted quite far apart. Sound drywall and intact siding need almost no preparation. Peeling paint, failed caulk, water damage, wallpaper glue, or bare wood all mean hours of labor before a drop of finish paint goes on.
2. Square footage. More wall means more paint and more time on the project.
3. What gets painted. Walls only is the baseline. Adding trim, baseboards, door frames, doors, and window sashes can add 40% or more to a room, because that work is slower and detailed and cannot always be sprayed as efficiently.
4. Detail and ornamentation. Crown molding, coffered ceilings, gingerbread trim, multi-color exterior schemes, and anything that requires cutting a clean line by hand costs more per square foot than a flat wall.
5. Height and access. Second and third stories mean ladders, staging, and slower movement. Steep roof pitches and tight setbacks make it slower still.
6. Lead-safe requirements. Many older Milwaukee-area homes contain lead paint. Working safely takes containment, specific tools, and cleanup protocols.
At Culver’s Painting, you’ll always work with one of our owners for your quote: Josh Culver works with customers in the Brookfield, WI and surrounding areas, and in the Madison, WI area, owner Cory McCullick will provide your quote. Quality and customer satisfaction are our two most important goals, so if you have questions or concerns, this is a great time to talk through everything about the project!
The quote and consult takes about 30-60 minutes to evaluate an interior home for an estimate. However, exterior jobs may require more time to evaluate all surfaces.
After reviewing your property, we provide a written estimate that outlines our recommendation. This generally included 2 coats of stain or paint, oil based paints as a primer coat, and high quality paint from our long-time partner Sherwin Williams.
Our quotes include labor and materials needed, including all paint preparation and finish materials: plastic, brushes, paint, etc. Depending on your home and other conditions such as the weather, a project could take as little as a day, or could take several weeks.
Interior painting prices are determined by:
How many rooms are being painted (priced per square foot)
The condition of the walls and trim
Whether we’re painting just the interior walls or trim and doors as well
Prep work in advance, including wallpaper removal
The more rooms and space to be painted, the higher the cost to paint your home. The condition of the surface areas affects the quote as well.
In some cases, additional services that require more time on the job can increase these base prices. Here are some average prices for common add-ons we see when evaluating a new paint job.
The exterior of your home is the first thing you and others notice about it. Giving the exterior of your home a fresh new coat of paint can give it new life. When determining the cost to paint your home, we ask these three questions:
What is the size of your home?
What is the siding made of and what condition is it in?
Does your home have ornamental features?
Do you live in a one-story ranch, or a two-story Victorian home as the detail involved will impact the price of exterior painting. If the siding of your home is in great condition, it may only require minor prep work. Therefore, you may be looking at $0 to $500 for things like power-washing or caulking here and there. However, if your home’s siding is peeling and needs a little more attention, you may be looking at upwards of $2,000 to $4,500 to properly prep, though, this is typically only in the most extreme cases.
If you’re looking to freshen up more than just the siding on your home, expect additional costs. For instance, if your home features window shutters, you may be looking at $175 to $350 to paint them a different color. If your home features a porch, expect an additional cost of $600 to $1,150 to cover all floors and surfaces.
Painting cabinets is the highest-return project in this entire article. A kitchen that would cost $30,000 or more to replace with new cabinets can look genuinely new for a fraction of that. Our approach: we remove every door, drawer front, and piece of hardware, label everything, and finish the doors in our shop where we can control dust and cure conditions. Boxes are finished on site. Everything returns to exactly the position it came from.
Kitchen cabinet painting cost depends on the number of doors and drawers, the existing finish, and whether the cabinets are wood, laminate, or thermofoil. Most kitchens land between $3,000 and $6,500. Laminate and previously painted cabinets require extra bonding work and sit toward the higher end.
Should we use oil-based or latex paints?
We almost always use an oil-based primer beneath latex topcoats, which provides a durable and hardy layer of protection for your final coat, helping to avoid bleed-through and other issues. Oil primer also provides a better texture, called tooth, for the topcoat to adhere to. For new paint on new drywall, oil isn’t necessary, but this is a case-by-case decision.
Do I need to worry about lead paint in my home? Do you do lead abatement?
Culver’s Painting complies with all lead-based paint rules and regulations, and Wisconsin DHS recognizes Culver’s Painting as a lead-safe renovator. Many older homes in the Milwaukee area do have lead paint. We can help you with lead testing, but the best way to avoid lead exposure is sometiems to paint over the old paint! This “locks in” the lead, and is often the preferred way to avoid lead exposure in your home. So long as you don’t expect the new paint to be disturbed meaningfully, this is a great way to feel confident in your home’s safety. Read more about lead safety in Milwaukee.
Do you paint cabinets and kitchens?
Painting kitchen cabinets can be a great way to revamp your kitchen on a budget. We do kitchen cabinet painting that can absolutely revitalize older homes. We take a comprehensive approach, removing all cabinet doors and hardware, painting it in our shop, and returning it (and its hardware if you like) to the exact position it came from.
Call For An Estimate
Each home and customer’s goals are unique, and each of our quotes are customized based on the home, too.
With this knowledge, we hope that you feel more empowered to hire an interior painting or exterior painting painter in the Milwaukee, WI area. Give us a call for a free quote.
At Culver’s Painting, we provide accurate price estimates with no hidden fees or surprise charges. We appreciate our customers and know they work hard for their painting investment, which is why you’re treated fairly and with respect throughout the process. Call us today for a free estimate from a Milwaukee painter or Madison painter.
Culver’s Painting is proud to have worked with many families and businesses in the Milwaukee and Madison areas. We’re happy to provide a free quote any time to help you understand your painting options!
