How Much Paint for a House Exterior?

Measure the outside of your house and calculate the gallons of exterior paint you need, with a worked example and coverage tips.

Estimating exterior paint takes a bit more measuring than a room, but the method is the same: surface area × coats ÷ coverage.

Here's how to measure and a worked example.

Measure the exterior

1. Walls: house perimeter × wall height (to the eaves).
2. Gables: for each triangular end, width × height ÷ 2.
3. Subtract garage doors, large windows and entry doors.
4. Trim is usually bought separately (often 1–2 gallons).

Worked example

• A 40 × 30 ft single-story house: perimeter 140 ft × 10 ft walls = 1,400 sq ft.
• Two gables, 30 ft wide × 6 ft high: 2 × 90 = 180 sq ft. Total 1,580 sq ft.
• Minus garage door (~112 sq ft) and windows and doors (~200 sq ft): about 1,270 sq ft.
• Two coats at 300 sq ft per gallon: 1,270 × 2 ÷ 300 ≈ 8.5 gallons. Add 10%: about 9.3 gallons.
• Buy: two 5-gallon buckets.

Coverage tips

• Rough siding, stucco and brick soak up paint. Use 200–250 sq ft per gallon.
• Spraying uses noticeably more paint than rolling.
• Buy all the paint at once (or box it) so the color is consistent.

See also: cost to paint a house exterior.