Exterior painting is the biggest paint job most homeowners ever book, and the hardest to price from a photo. Here are real Melbourne price ranges for 2026, what moves a quote, and how to tell a thorough job from a fast one.
The short answer
Published Melbourne guides put exterior painting at roughly $30 to $80 per square metre, with a single-storey brick home exterior commonly landing between $6,300 and $10,500. Weatherboard homes with heavy preparation, two-storey homes and homes needing scaffolding run higher. A small single-storey refresh with sound existing paint can come in under those ranges; a two-storey weatherboard restoration can exceed them.
Your real number comes from an inspection, not a calculator.
What drives an exterior quote
Preparation, always. Washing, scraping flaking paint, sanding edges, spot-priming bare timber and re-caulking gaps can be half the hours on an older home. A quote that skips preparation is not cheaper, it is shorter-lived.
Cladding type. Weatherboard takes the most preparation: more edges, more scraping, more caulking. Brick and render are faster when sound, but cracked render and mortar repairs add time. Previously painted brick needs breathable coatings.
Height and access. Single-storey on a flat block is the cheap version. Two storeys, sloping blocks and tight side access mean scaffold or boom lift time, and that is real money.
Condition. A home repainted on a sensible cycle is a straightforward recoat. A home left fifteen years has peeling paint, rotting boards, rusted gutters and failed putty, and each of those is repair work before paint.
Colour change. Going from dark to light or covering strong colours takes extra coats.
How often should you repaint?
For Melbourne conditions, a well-prepared and well-painted weatherboard exterior typically holds up 7 to 10 years, and brick or render 10 to 15 years. Melbourne's mix of hot sun, driving rain and cold snaps breaks coatings down faster than milder climates, and north and west-facing walls age fastest. When water stops beading on the surface and the colour has faded or chalked, the paint has stopped protecting the house, and every year you wait adds preparation cost to the next job.
Weatherboard vs brick: what changes
Weatherboard: more preparation, more maintenance, and the most rewarding transformation. Boards are washed, scraped, sanded, gap-sealed and spot-primed before two topcoats. Rotten boards get replaced, not painted over.
Brick and render: usually a wash, minor repairs, and two coats of a suitable masonry paint. Painting bare brick for the first time is a one-way decision worth talking through, because unpainting brick is not realistic.
Fascia, gutters and windows: priced as part of the job, and often where the detail hours go. Timber windows need the most care; metal windows need the right primers.
What a proper exterior quote includes
A written exterior quote should spell out the wash, the scraping and sanding included, repairs itemised, primer and topcoat products by brand and line, the number of coats, and how gutters, windows, paths and gardens are protected. Ask every painter who quotes to put those in writing. The ones who do proper preparation will happily detail it, because it is where their price goes.
Timing in Melbourne
Exterior painting needs dry surfaces and reasonable temperatures, so the main season runs from spring through autumn, with winter work scheduled around clear windows. Book ahead for spring: every Melbourne painter's calendar fills once the weather turns.
Does exterior painting add value?
Real estate agents will tell you street appeal sets the inspection before buyers reach the front door, and a fresh exterior is the largest visible change most homes can get for the money. If you are painting to sell, keep colours broadly appealing, spend the effort on the street-facing elevation and entry, and get the work photographed in good light. If you are staying, the value is protection: paint is the skin that keeps water out of the structure, and repainting on time is cheaper than repairing what water does.
Getting your number
We inspect the whole exterior, photograph what needs repair, and give you one itemised written price for preparation and painting. No ranges, no surprises part-way through. If you are in Hallam, Narre Warren, Dandenong or anywhere across the south-east, call 0426 179 466 or send the quote form.