What does it cost to paint crown moulding and baseboards throughout an Ottawa home?

Crown moulding and baseboards are the finishing touches that frame every room — when they're freshly painted, the whole space looks polished. When they're scuffed, chipped, and yellowed, even freshly painted walls look incomplete. In Ottawa homes, trim painting is one of the most requested services, especially in older neighbourhoods where original wood trim has decades of wear.

Ottawa Pricing for Crown Moulding and Baseboard Painting

Most Ottawa painters price trim work in one of two ways — per linear foot or per room:

Per linear foot pricing:

• Baseboards only: $1.50 to $3.00 per linear foot


• Crown moulding only: $2.00 to $4.00 per linear foot


• Both baseboards and crown: $3.00 to $6.00 per linear foot

Per room estimates (average 12x14 room):

• Baseboards only: $100 to $200 per room


• Crown moulding only: $125 to $250 per room


• Both baseboards and crown: $200 to $400 per room

Whole-house estimates:

• 1,200 sq ft bungalow or condo (baseboards + crown throughout): $1,500 to $3,000


• 1,800-2,200 sq ft two-storey: $2,500 to $5,000


• 2,800-3,500 sq ft larger home: $4,000 to $7,500


• 4,000+ sq ft home with extensive trim: $6,500 to $12,000+

These Ottawa rates are about 10-15% less than what painters charge in the GTA for the same scope of work.

What Drives the Cost

1. Profile Complexity

Simple, flat baseboards and minimal crown profiles paint quickly. But many Ottawa homes — particularly in established neighbourhoods like Westboro, the Glebe, Alta Vista, and Manor Park — have detailed multi-piece crown moulding with coves, dentil patterns, and built-up profiles that require careful brush work. A simple 3-inch baseboard takes half the time of a 6-inch profiled baseboard with a shoe mould.

• Simple flat or rounded profiles: base pricing
• Moderate profiles (ogee, colonial): add 15-25%
• Complex multi-piece or heritage profiles: add 30-50%

2. Current Condition

Trim in good condition needing a simple refresh (light sand, two coats) is straightforward. But Ottawa trim often has specific issues:

• Paint buildup: decades of repainting without stripping fills in profile details and creates thick edges — needs scraping and sanding, adding $0.50-$1.50 per linear foot
• Nail holes and gaps: common as homes settle, especially in Ottawa's clay-heavy soil — caulking and filling adds $0.25-$0.75 per linear foot
• Water damage at baseboards: Ottawa's humid basements and occasional flooding cause baseboard damage in lower-level rooms — replacement may be needed before painting
• Pet damage: scratches and chew marks on baseboards need filling and sanding

3. Stained-to-Painted Conversion

Many Ottawa homes from the 1980s and 1990s have dark-stained oak trim that homeowners want painted white or light grey. This is a bigger job than repainting already-painted trim:

• Thorough sanding to scuff the clear coat
• Shellac-based bonding primer (essential to block tannin bleed from oak — without it, yellow/orange stains bleed through white paint within weeks)
• Two finish coats minimum
• Add $1.00 to $2.50 per linear foot over standard repaint pricing

Paint Selection

Trim paint needs to be harder and more durable than wall paint because baseboards get kicked, scuffed, and vacuumed against constantly. The standard choices for Ottawa painters:

• Benjamin Moore Advance (waterborne alkyd): $55-$70 per gallon — flows beautifully, dries hard, excellent durability. The most popular choice among Ottawa trim painters.
• Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel: $60-$75 per gallon — similar performance, slightly faster dry time
• Traditional oil-based enamel: still preferred by some painters for the hardest possible finish, but slower drying and higher VOC

Sheen: semi-gloss is the standard for trim — it's durable, wipeable, and creates a nice contrast with eggshell or matte walls. Some homeowners prefer satin for a more modern, less shiny look.

The Process

A professional trim painting job follows this sequence:

Protect floors and walls with tape, drop cloths, and masking paper

Clean all surfaces — trim collects dust, grease (especially kitchen crown moulding), and grime

Sand lightly for adhesion — 150-grit for previously painted, 120-grit for stained

Fill and caulk all holes, gaps, and cracks

Prime any bare wood, filler spots, or stained surfaces

Apply two coats of trim paint with proper drying time between coats

Remove masking and touch up any edges

For a whole-house trim job, expect 3-5 days of work depending on the home's size and trim complexity.

Getting Quotes

When comparing quotes for trim painting, make sure each one specifies whether door frames and window casings are included — some painters quote "all trim" meaning baseboards, crown, door frames, and window casings, while others quote just baseboards and crown. The difference can be 30-50% in total cost. Browse the Ottawa Paint Contractors listings on the Ottawa Construction Network directory to find painters who excel at trim and detail work, and get at least two written estimates for comparison.