Exterior painting cost in Ottawa: siding, brick, stucco and the painting season

The Ottawa average looks low beside the house figures for two reasons. It is six years old, and it mixes a repainted front door or a run of fascia with whole houses, which pulls it down. It tells you what Ottawa homeowners reported paying in 2020 for exterior work of every size, which is a different question from what a whole house costs now.

Two HomeStars numbers also disagree with each other: $1.50 to $3.50 a square foot on the Ottawa page, $3 to $6 in the national guide. Both were on the site on 2026-10-06. The Ottawa figure is the local one; the national one comes closer to the guide’s own house-type table, as the examples below show.

Sources: HomeStars, “Cost to Paint a House in Canada: A 2026 Guide”; HomeStars, “Painting Cost Per Square Foot in Canada”; HomeStars Ottawa painters; HomeStars, “Painting Services Cost Guide For Ottawa”; HomeStars pressure washing and caulking cost guides. These are third-party market figures, most of them national. They are not a quote from us, and a quote for your house will differ.

1,500 and 2,000 sq ft houses: worked examples

Square footage on a listing is floor area, and painters price the walls. HomeStars makes the point for interiors, that painters measure paintable wall area rather than floor area, and it holds outside too. A two-storey house has far more wall per square foot of floor than a bungalow, so two homes with the same listing size can be very different jobs.

Here are three houses with simple rectangular footprints, about 9 feet of wall per storey, and no gables, dormers or exposed foundation. Windows and doors are not subtracted, because HomeStars does not say whether its rates assume they are. This is our arithmetic on HomeStars’ rates, not anyone’s quote.

At 1,500 sq ft, the two-storey has about 540 more square feet of wall than the bungalow.

How much does it cost to paint the outside of a 1,500 sq ft house?

On HomeStars’ Ottawa rate, about $2,200 to $5,000 for a bungalow and $3,000 to $6,900 for a two-storey, from the table above. HomeStars’ own band for a 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft exterior repaint is $3,000 to $8,000, so both land inside it. Its per-square-foot guide also gives a bungalow on a 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft footprint at $4,000 to $8,000: a smaller house at a higher price, which is what the national rate produces.

How much should it cost to paint the exterior of a 2,000 sq ft house?

As a two-storey, about $3,500 to $8,200 at the Ottawa rate and $7,000 to $14,000 at the national one. HomeStars puts the house-size band at $3,000 to $8,000 and, in a separate table, a two-storey detached home at $8,000 to $15,000. A 2,000 sq ft two-storey sits where those two tables meet: $8,000 is the top of one and the bottom of the other. The same guide lists a semi-detached home at $5,000 to $10,000 and a large detached home of 2,500 sq ft or more at $15,000 to $25,000 and up.

How much to paint a 1,500 sq ft house exterior in Canada?

HomeStars’ national answer is $3,000 to $8,000, with the high end in Toronto and Vancouver, where its per-square-foot guide says labour runs 15 to 25% above the national average. Ottawa sits lower: the only Ottawa rate HomeStars publishes, $1.50 to $3.50 a square foot, is about half the national one. With labour at 60 to 70% of the total, the local labour market moves a quote more than the paint does.

How much paint per 1,000 sq ft of exterior?

About 2.2 to 4 cans of 3.79 L for each coat, depending on the product and the surface, so about 4.5 to 8 cans for two coats. The spread rates come from the manufacturers’ own data sheets:

Benjamin Moore adds “depending on surface texture and porosity”, and stucco is where that bites. Its Ultra Spec Masonry Elastomeric Waterproofing Coating (K360) spreads at only 80 to 100 sq ft per 3.79 L, so 1,000 sq ft of stucco takes 10 to 12.5 cans for one coat.

HomeStars prices exterior acrylic latex at $50 to $80 a gallon. On 1,000 sq ft, two coats of an ordinary acrylic come to roughly $225 to $640 of paint (our arithmetic). The same 1,000 sq ft at HomeStars’ Ottawa rate is $1,500 to $3,500, which is why paint is rarely where two quotes differ.

The number of coats moves the total too. Sherwin-Williams’ Duration sheet calls for one coat on repaint work and two on bare surfaces, and a colour change, bare wood or a chalky surface needs more.

Sources: Benjamin Moore Canada, Aura Waterborne Exterior Soft Gloss (F632) data sheet and the Low Lustre (F634) sheet; Sherwin-Williams, Duration Exterior Acrylic Latex Satin (K33-Q) data sheet, 3/2026; HomeStars’ per-square-foot guide for the gallon price and its general coverage figure.

What each siding costs to paint in Ottawa

HomeStars’ Ottawa page names brick exteriors, wood trim and vinyl siding as common Ottawa materials, and its Ottawa rate of $1.50 to $3.50 covers brick, siding, stucco and trim alike. Within that range, each material moves the quote through what it needs before the paint goes on.

Vinyl siding: the colour rule

Vinyl is cheap to paint and limited in colour. Benjamin Moore’s Aura Exterior data sheet says not to paint vinyl any colour darker than the original, or with a Light Reflectance Value (LRV) under 57, unless it is in the company’s approved colours for vinyl. Otherwise the siding absorbs more heat and can warp. Sherwin-Williams draws the line at an LRV of 56 unless its VinylSafe colours are used. Benjamin Moore says sound vinyl usually needs no primer; only pitted or porous areas do.

Aluminum siding: chalk and a 10 °C floor

On older aluminum siding the factory finish often turns chalky long before the panels wear out. Benjamin Moore’s data sheet requires the surface clean and free of chalk before painting, which makes washing the first line of the quote. Sherwin-Williams adds a temperature rule for metal: on large expanses of metal siding, the air, the surface and the paint must all be at 10 °C or warmer, well above the 1.7 °C the same Duration sheet allows on other surfaces. Our page on aluminum and vinyl siding painting covers the chalk test and the primers.

Brick: check before you paint it

HomeStars’ Ottawa rate covers brick at the same $1.50 to $3.50 as siding, and paint is hard to get back off brick once it is on. In Ottawa there can also be a heritage question. The City’s plan for the Wilbrod/Laurier Heritage Conservation District in Sandy Hill (April 2015) lists painting among the alterations that do not need a heritage permit, and in the same plan says “existing unpainted brick should not be painted.” If your house is in one of the city’s heritage conservation districts, read that district’s plan before pricing the brick. Benjamin Moore also says new masonry needs 30 days to cure before it is painted.

Stucco: more paint, and cracks first

Stucco can take an ordinary exterior acrylic (both topcoats above list it) or an elastomeric, which goes on thick and spreads at 80 to 100 sq ft per can against 250 to 450 for the topcoats. Benjamin Moore’s K360 elastomeric bridges cracks up to 0.8 mm. Cracks of 0.8 to 1.6 mm get caulked and patched first, and anything wider is routed out and repaired before coating. The K360 also needs 10 °C. Sherwin-Williams says new stucco should cure at least 30 days before painting.

Wood trim and siding: the shortest repaint cycle

HomeStars puts the life of an exterior repaint at 7 to 10 years for most homes, with wood-clad homes at the short end and fibre cement at the long end. South and west walls, which take the most sun, usually show wear first.

Paint it or replace it?

The siding guide was updated 2026-08-21 and prices new siding across Canada, so the two columns come from different markets. Removing the old siding adds $1.00 to $2.50 a square foot on the same guide. Paint makes sense when the panels are sound. It does not fix warped vinyl, loose aluminum or failed stucco.

The painting season, and what it does to the price

HomeStars says most exterior paints should not go on below 10 °C, which limits the season in most provinces to roughly May through October. The product labels are more precise, more lenient in one way and stricter in another:

• Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior and Sherwin-Williams Duration both allow application down to 1.7 °C air and surface temperature.
• Duration adds that temperatures must not drop below 1.7 °C within 48 hours, that the surface must be above the dew point, and that rain or snow should not be expected within 2 to 3 hours.
• Sherwin-Williams says standard latex primers cannot be used below 10 °C. The metal siding rule above and Benjamin Moore’s masonry elastomeric set the same 10 °C floor.

On these labels, 10 °C is the floor for primer, metal siding and elastomeric stucco coatings. A topcoat over sound paint is allowed colder.

Ottawa’s weather then decides which days count. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991 to 2020 normals for the Ottawa airport:

Read it against the labels. April has warm afternoons but a freezing night on 12.9 days, and each one rules out the two days before it for a paint with a 48-hour rule. May and September give a day above 10 °C almost every day and almost no freezing nights. October still has 21 days above 10 °C, but 6.6 freezing nights and 12.4 at 2 °C or below, within a few tenths of the label minimum, so an October job is decided one forecast at a time. Work that needs 10 °C, like priming, metal siding and elastomeric stucco, has the least room: October’s average high is 13.0 °C.

The calendar also moves the price. HomeStars says exterior demand in Canada peaks from June to August, when rates can run 20 to 40% higher, and points homeowners to spring and fall slots as long as the days stay above 10 °C. On the normals above, Ottawa’s weather backs two of those months in particular, May and September, with summer afternoons and spring or fall demand. Our post on the best time to paint in Ottawa covers the calendar month by month.

Prep: the part of the price you cannot see from the street

HomeStars says prep takes 30 to 50% of a painter’s time on site, and that an exterior runs 50 to 100 hours of crew time, against 40 to 80 for a full interior on a 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft home. Most of that is the work before the first coat:

• Washing. Benjamin Moore’s sheet wants the surface free of dirt, mildew and chalk, and says to wash even sheltered areas such as eaves and porch ceilings. HomeStars prices pressure washing a house exterior at $250 to $350 for one storey and $350 to $550 for two.
• Scraping and sanding back to a sound edge wherever the old coating has let go.
• Caulking the gaps water gets into. HomeStars lists window caulking at $2 to $6 a linear foot.
• Priming bare wood, bare metal and patched areas, the step tied to the 10 °C floor.
• Access. A two-storey wall, a steep lot or a narrow side yard needs scaffolding or a lift, which HomeStars puts at $500 to $2,000.

Older houses add a step. Health Canada says a home built before 1960 probably contains lead-based paint, and one built between 1960 and 1990 may have it on exterior surfaces. In the 2021 Census, 15.9% of the City of Ottawa’s occupied homes were built in 1960 or earlier and another 43.8% between 1961 and 1990 (Statistics Canada). On original coatings that old, Ottawa Luxe Painting works without dry power sanding or heat guns, contains the work area and cleans up carefully. That is a method we follow, not a certification we hold, and it takes longer than scraping a newer house.

HomeStars also says what a standard exterior quote covers: siding, trim, fascia and soffits. Decks, fences, front doors and garage doors are usually priced separately, so ask whether yours are in.

Getting a number for your house

Ottawa Luxe Painting has painted homes in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec since 2015. Every exterior starts with a free, no-obligation written estimate, itemized so you can hold it against the figures above. A few photos of each side of the house with your request, and roughly when it was built, usually mean a faster, more accurate price.

Call (613) 799-5057 or email info@ottawaluxepainting.ca.