How much should I budget for professional exterior painting on an Ottawa two-storey home?

For a professional exterior paint job on a two-storey home in Ottawa, you should budget between $5,500 and $12,000, with most typical projects landing in the $7,000 to $9,500 range. The wide spread depends on the size of the home, the siding material, how much prep is needed, and the products used.

Here's how those costs typically break down:

Labour: $4,000 to $7,500 — Exterior work is more labour-intensive than interior because of ladder and scaffolding setup, weather coordination, and the physical demands of working at height. A two-storey home usually requires a crew of 2–3 painters working 5 to 8 days.

Materials: $1,200 to $2,500 — This covers paint, primer, caulking, masking, and any replacement wood for rotted trim. A two-storey home typically needs 15 to 25 gallons of exterior paint. Premium products like Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior or Sherwin-Williams Duration run $65 to $85 per gallon and are genuinely worth the premium in Ottawa's climate.

Scaffolding or lift rental (if needed): $500 to $1,500 — Most two-storey homes can be done with extension ladders and ladder jacks, but if you have a steep lot, high gables, or limited ground access, scaffolding adds cost.

Ottawa's extreme continental climate is the single biggest factor in exterior painting. Your paint film has to survive temperature swings from -30°C in January to +35°C in July, plus exposure to 200+ cm of annual snowfall, freeze-thaw cycles, ice damming at soffits, and intense UV in the summer. Cheap exterior paint simply won't hold up — you'll be repainting in 3–4 years instead of 8–12.

The painting season in Ottawa is realistically mid-May through mid-October. Paint needs consistent temperatures above 10°C for proper adhesion and film formation, and humidity below 85%. This compressed season means exterior painters are in high demand during summer. Booking in September or early October sometimes gets you better scheduling and occasionally a modest discount as crews look to fill their calendar before winter.

Different siding materials have different cost implications:

• Vinyl siding: Rarely painted, but can be with specialty coatings — $4,000 to $7,000 for a two-storey
• Wood clapboard or board-and-batten: Most common painting substrate — $6,000 to $10,000 depending on condition
• Stucco: Requires elastomeric or masonry-specific coatings — $7,000 to $12,000 because of the porosity and texture
• Brick with painted trim/soffits only: $2,500 to $5,000 since you're only coating the wood elements
• Aluminum siding: Needs adhesion primer — $5,000 to $8,500

Prep work is where the real value lies. A proper Ottawa exterior job includes power washing to remove dirt, chalk, and mildew; scraping and sanding loose or peeling paint; priming bare wood with an alkyd or shellac-based primer; caulking gaps around windows, door frames, and where trim meets siding; and replacing any rotted wood before painting over it. In older neighbourhoods like Centretown HCD, New Edinburgh, or Rockcliffe Park, wood trim details can be extensive and require careful hand preparation.

Ottawa pricing for exterior work runs about 10–15% below Toronto for comparable homes. A similar two-storey in Etobicoke or Oakville would typically quote $8,000–$13,000.

Make sure any painter you hire carries WSIB coverage and liability insurance — exterior work at height carries real risk, and you want to be protected. In Ontario, if an uninsured worker is injured on your property, you could face significant liability.

Browse Ottawa Paint Contractors on the Ottawa Construction Network directory to find exterior specialists who understand the demands of our climate. Get at least three detailed written quotes that break out prep, priming, number of coats, and the specific products being used.