What does a full exterior colour change cost on a split-level home in Nepean?

A full exterior colour change on a split-level home in Nepean typically runs $4,500 to $9,000, with most projects landing in the $6,000 to $8,000 range depending on condition, surface type, and how many distinct elements you're changing. That's a wide spread, so let me walk you through what actually moves the needle.

Split-level homes present a few unique challenges that push costs above a standard bungalow. The varying rooflines, multiple wall heights, and the mix of upper and lower sections mean more masking, more ladder repositioning, and more time managing transitions between surfaces. If your home has a combination of materials — say, brick on the lower level and vinyl or wood siding above — that's effectively two different prep and painting strategies on one house, which adds both time and material cost.

Prep work is where Ottawa's climate makes itself felt. After a few freeze-thaw cycles, even well-maintained Nepean homes from the 1970s and 1980s tend to show some paint failure — peeling at the soffits, chalking on south and west-facing walls, and hairline cracks around window and door trim. A thorough job means pressure washing, scraping loose paint, caulking all penetrations and joints, and priming bare wood before any topcoat goes on. If a contractor's quote skips over prep details, that's a red flag. Expect $800 to $2,000 of the total cost to be prep and priming alone on a home with average wear.

For a full colour change specifically, you'll almost certainly need two coats of topcoat on most surfaces — one to neutralize the existing colour, one to achieve full, even coverage of the new shade. Premium exterior paints like Sherwin-Williams Duration or Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior run $75 to $95 per gallon in Ottawa and are well worth the investment given our climate. Budget paints will fail sooner and cost you more in the long run.

One important timing note: Nepean's exterior painting season runs reliably from late May through mid-September. Overnight temperatures need to stay consistently above 10°C for proper cure, so don't let anyone talk you into starting in early May or pushing into October — adhesion failures from premature application are expensive to fix.

If you're ready to get quotes, you can browse painting contractors serving the Nepean area through the Ottawa Construction Network directory at justynrookcontracting.com/directory. Get at least three written quotes that specify paint brand, number of coats, and what prep work is included — that's the only way to compare them fairly.