Painting, a finish that outlasts the argument
It usually starts with paint that failed two years after you paid for it. The hard part is not the work - it is that every painting company sounds equally sure of itself, and you get one guess. We check licence and insurance before we introduce anyone, and we record the date we checked.
See who is actually qualified near you
- 23Sections published
- 1,215Pages planned
- FreeCost to homeowners
- $0Cost to homeowners
Painting in short
Painting services cover interior repainting, exterior repainting, trim and door work, cabinet refinishing, and the surface preparation that makes any of it last. Most of the labor is prep - washing, scraping, sanding, patching, caulking and priming - not the finish coats. If your home was built before 1978, any paid work that disturbs paint falls under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule and must be performed by a certified firm.
In 2026, interior house painting typically runs about $1 to $4 per square foot of floor space, or roughly $1,800 to $10,000 for a whole home, according to This Old House. Exterior painting runs about $2.20 to $4.40 per square foot, or roughly $4,400 to $8,800 for a typical 2,000-square-foot house. Your actual price depends far more on surface condition and prep than on the paint you choose.
Explore Painting
Everything we publish on painting, grouped the way homeowners actually search - not the way a company would organise it.
- Services 11 services - replacement, repair, and specialty work 11 pages
- Cost What painting actually costs in 2026, by type and by city 172 pages
- Problems Something wrong? Start here 8 pages
- Comparisons Option A vs. B, compared honestly 5 pages
- Guides In-depth guides on painting, written and reviewed by pros 11 pages
- Tools Estimate your project cost in under a minute 5 pages
- Materials 7 materials - cost, lifespan and where each one fits 7 pages
- Brands 7 painting brands, compared on price and warranty 7 pages planned
- Decision Guides Which option is actually right for your home 3 pages
- Checklists Step-by-step checklists before you hire 4 pages
- Emergency Something urgent? What to do in the next hour 1 page
- Maintenance Keep it working - schedules and upkeep 1 page
- Financing Ways to pay over time, and what they really cost 1 page
- Seasonal When to book, and what each season changes 1 page
- Permits Permit rules and what they cost 1 page
- Insurance What insurance covers, and what it does not 1 page
- Warranties What the warranty actually covers 1 page
- Research The data behind our recommendations 5 pages planned
- FAQ Answers to the most common painting questions 1 page
- Glossary Painting terms explained in plain English 11 pages
- AI Tools Describe the problem, get a plain-English answer 1 page planned
How a pro gets in front of you
Most sites sell your number to whoever pays the most for it. We do not - your details reach only the painting companies matched to your job. We are building licence and insurance checks on top of that, and we will publish each one with the date it was performed rather than claim it in advance.
A few pros, never a list
Your details go to the small number of local companies matched to your job, and to nobody else. They are not sold on.
No paid placement
A company cannot buy a better position in a match or in our rankings. Where we rank, the method is published so you can re-score it yourself.
Check the licence yourself
Ask for the number and look it up on your state board’s public register. We are building this into the match; it is not running yet.
Ask the insurer, not the contractor
Get liability and workers’ compensation certificates sent to you by the insurance agency direct. A forwarded PDF proves nothing about today.
What painting usually costs
Ranges, with the source and the date underneath. Anyone quoting you a single national number is guessing, and you should know enough to notice.
No verified painting price ranges published yet.
We don’t publish a cost until we can show the data behind it. If you need a
number today, the quote form gives you real prices from local companies.
HomeMatchup vs. a lead site vs. doing it yourself
Three ways to get this work done. Here’s what each one actually gives you.
| HomeMatchup | Typical lead site | DIY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How many companies call you | A short, named shortlist you agreed to | Often 4-5+ at once, sold to whoever buys the lead | None - the work is on you |
| Licence & insurance | Self-reported today - we tell you how to check it and are building the check in | Usually self-reported by the contractor | Your own permits and liability |
| What it costs you | Free - pros pay us, and only for a real match | Free, but your number is resold | Materials plus your time |
| Price guidance before you talk | Published ranges with the data behind them | Rarely shown before you hand over details | You research it yourself |
| If it goes wrong | A named company, and a record of who received your job | Hard to trace which site sold the lead | No recourse |
Describes how HomeMatchup operates and the common lead-generation model. Not a claim about any named competitor.
What people say after they’ve hired
We’d rather show you nothing than show you someone else’s reviews.
Plenty of sites fill this space with reviews scraped from elsewhere, or written for them. We don’t. The first painting review on this page will come from a homeowner we matched, after their work was finished and paid for.
- Only from homeowners we actually matched
- Only after the job is complete
- Published unedited, including the bad ones
- 1You get matchedA few checked pros, free
- 2Work gets doneCheck their licence and insurance first
- 3We ask youOnce, after completion
- 4It appears hereExactly as you wrote it
Painting questions, answered
The questions homeowners ask us most about painting.
Painting materials
The materials you'll actually be choosing between.
The wrong painting hire costs more than the right one.
Paint is 90% preparation and preparation is the part you cannot see once it is covered. The failure arrives long after the invoice cleared. Getting matched takes about a minute, costs nothing, and you can walk away from every quote you receive.
Free · No obligation · Only your matched pros get your details