How Long Does It Take To Paint A House

From choosing the right shade to deciding on the patterns and the people behind the project – painting a house needs a lot of willpower alongside generic manpower. It’s important to handle such projects as eloquently as possible.

But how long does it take to paint a house by following all these criteria?

Between the size of the house and the time it takes for the paint to dry, it can take anywhere from 3-4 days to 3-4 weeks to paint an entire house. Again, professional painters can do the job significantly faster than DIY enthusiasts as they can ensure proper resource management in a coordinated manner.

While painting a house, everything else often comes to a halt. But if you keep procrastinating in the meantime instead of preparing for the upcoming stages, the process will never end.

Today we’ll attempt to provide you with a first-hand experience of what it’s like to paint a whole house. In addition to how long it takes, we’ll provide short but specific tips on how to manage your time and resources throughout the entire procedure. So, don’t skip anything!

Painting A Room: How Long Can It Take?

If you want to paint a house, you have to start by painting a room first. Consequently, a room acts as a singular unit for whatever issues you’ll be facing down the road.

The common factors behind painting a room have been briefly explained below. These are the factors that you’ll have to take care of first & foremost if you want to paint a house –

Crew Credentials

Do you want to hire professional workers from an agency or take care of the project in-house? There are merits and demerits to both of the options. But if you don’t have substantial experience in painting with interior or exterior paint, it’s best to leave the job to the professionals.

If needed, you can attempt to paint the interior rooms by yourself to get a taste of the task. But painting the exterior of a house involves a lot of extremities. So, we’d highly recommend gathering a professional crew for the exteriors.

Again, keep in mind that while professional workers will leave a dent in your moneybag, they’ll do the work faster. Hence, if you value time over money, outsource your painters and workers from reliable and noteworthy agencies.

Crew Size

The more people in your troop, the better! Because it takes longer when there are fewer people involved.

However, more people also means more paychecks at the end of the project. So, if you’re hiring from outside, make sure you can afford the workers before ordering in bulk.

Area Coverage

The house size is directly proportional to the rate of project completion. Normally, if you consider a two-bedroom ground-level home as a small one, it’ll take less than 2 days. With enough manpower, you can even finish painting the entire house i.e. interior and exterior in under a day.

Again, if the house has multiple floors with five or more bedrooms, it can take anywhere from 4-5 days to 1-2 weeks. For a ballpark figure, you can use the number of bedrooms to analyze the number of days it might take to finish the project.

For instance – two-bedroom apartments can take up to 2 days. Similarly, seven-bedroom apartments can roughly take up to 7 days or more to completely finish the project.

Prepping Requirements

The painting itself actually doesn’t take as much effort or time. It’s the prepping period beforehand that eats up most of the time. The prepping period involves –

  • Dusting The Floor
  • Cleaning The Walls
  • Cleaning The Ceilings
  • Peeling Off Flaky Paint
  • Sanding The Walls
  • Covering The Furnishings
  • Covering The Carpets/Floors
  • Arranging For The Paint Cans
  • Getting Paint Brushes, Ladders, etc.

You can drop by the nearest Home Depot or Lowes to get everything you need to prepare your house for painting. Again, if you hire a professional crew, they’ll take care of these requirements on your behalf.

Read More – Does Home Depot Sell Benjamin Moore Paint?

How Long Does It Take To Paint The Interior Of A House?

It doesn’t take as long to paint the interior of a house compared to the exterior. If all the rooms have been prepped, you can finish painting all of the rooms in mere hours.

Now, it’d be a different situation if you lived in a castle with 300 different secret rooms and attics. Then you couldn’t be done with all the rooms in hours unless you had an army of 500-600 people working for you. 

To help you put things into perspective, here’s a table cross-referencing the number of people needed to finish painting a room based on its area & the working capability of the people.

Area Of The Room/ApartmentTime Taken (Approx.) By 1-2 Professional RenovatorsTime Taken (Approx.) By 3-4 Professional RenovatorsTime Taken (Approx.) By 1-2 Inept Non-WorkersTime Taken (Approx.) By 3-4 Inept Non-Workers
1600 sq. feet4-6 Hours2-3 Hours1-2 Days6-8 Hours
2400 sq. feet6-8 Hours4-6 Hours2-3 Days1-2 Days
3600 sq. feet1-2 Days6-8 Hours3-4 Days2-3 Days
5400 sq. feet2-3 Days1-2 Days4-5 Days3-4 Days
12000 sq. feet5-6 Days3-4 Days8-10 Days6-8 Days

As you can see, on average, it doesn’t take more than two people to paint a small room in an hour or two. Even if you’re not a certified renovator, you can achieve the same results with sustainable painting skills and experience.

Read More – How Long Does Car Paint Take To Dry?

How Long Does It Take To Paint The Exterior Of A House?

It can take anywhere from 3-4 days to 1-2 weeks to paint the exterior of a standard-sized house or building.

It takes longer to paint the exterior of a house than the interior. The process is slower since it’s harder to reach the vertical surface thoroughly within the same time limits.

From arranging for the extension ladders to repositioning them to cover a different area, there are one too many additional tasks involved in the exterior prepping period. Consequently, on average, it takes almost double the time to paint the exterior of a house compared to the interior of it.

Again, it can take longer if the house is multi-storied. More vertical height invites more risks overall. Hence, it’s best to take things slow and steady even if it takes longer to paint.

However, there’s a slight bright side. Compared to the interior of a house, the exterior of a house dries faster due to enhanced ventilation. The right type of weather (i.e. when it’s not raining or too humid) naturally arranges for proper circulation of air. And this allows each coat of paint to dry well before you’ve finished painting the entire wall.

But the time significantly varies depending on the type of paint you’re using outside. And with exterior paint, the coat is much thicker to promote stability of the coating.

So, even if the paint already feels dry to the touch after an hour or two, you should wait at least two more hours before applying another coat. This is the ground rule for latex paint.

Again, if you’re using oil-based paint, it’ll take even longer for the paint to dry thoroughly. On average, oil-based paint takes around 6-8 hours just to feel dry. And if you want to apply another coat, then you’ll have to give it an entire day.

So, if you’re using premium-quality oil-based paint to paint the exterior of the house, it’ll take multiple days. And the count will only tilt towards the right of the number line if you take the prepping time & the sealing afterward into account.

How To Paint A House Efficiently?

Lots of factors are involved in painting a house. So, you have to learn how to establish coordination between these factors so you can utilize your time and resources wisely.

Here are a few homeowner tips on how to paint a house efficiently –

Conquer & Divide: Part I

The size of the crew is directly proportional to the overall efficiency of the project. If there are people to spare, you can divide the project effectively and delegate the specific tasks to the different leaders. These leaders can then use the workers under them to finish the tasks in an efficient manner.

For instance – if there are 5 rooms in a house, how long do you think it’ll take 2 people and 10 people respectively to paint all of the rooms? With just 2 people, if they take up to 2 hours per room, it’ll take at least 10 hours to complete the task.

On the other hand, you can divide the group of 10 workers into 5 groups of two workers easily. Then all 5 groups can simultaneously work in 5 different rooms. That way, they can finish painting all of the rooms in a subtotal of 2 hours only.

Conquer & Divide: Part II

After dividing the workers, divide the tasks based on their complexity levels as well. Focus on the tasks step by step.

For instance – come up with a timetable first. Let’s say you’re taking on a five-day project. Then fully focus on the cleaning and preparation for the first three days. Make sure everything’s ready to go on the third day by delegating the tasks appropriately between the workers.

If everything goes smoothly, you’ll have a clear field to work with on the 4th day. You can focus on the painting completely without having to worry about peeling off the flaky paint midway.

Avoid Bad Weather

Look up the weather situation before closing down the entire house for renovation. Don’t start the project if the weather is stormy or rainy since the air will be too humid.

Check out the humidity before painting a house because the air needs to be significantly dry for the paint to dry in time. When the air contains too much water vapor, the paint will clump up instead of drying and there’ll be air pockets as well.

These air pockets will poke holes through the dry layer afterward. Eventually, the paint will become fragile enough to peel off on its own. So, while painting a house, make sure the weather is dry and the rooms have proper access to fresh air and sunlight.

Clean Up Before Painting

Fresh paint won’t want to adhere to sticky and dirty surfaces. Hence, it’s a good idea to clean the entire house before painting everything. If you don’t have much time, you can power wash the house to get rid of surface-level dirt.

However, if you can manage the time and money, then we’d recommend deep cleaning the house with a professional crew. That way, you’ll get to revamp the house from the ground up without distorting the primary structural integrity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to mix the leftover interior paint with the exterior paint after finishing the inner part of the house?

You can mix a little amount of similar-grade interior paint with exterior paint if needed. However, if you don’t mix them properly, you’ll end up with flimsy and clumpy paint. Mixing a good amount of interior paint will reduce the longevity of the exterior paint significantly.

Read more – Can You Use Interior Paint Outside?

Does it take longer to paint a new house than an old one?

Yes, it takes a little longer to paint a new house than an old one. But it depends on the prep time and crew effectiveness completely. If the plastering part is already taken care of in the new homes, the painting part won’t take that long at all.

How long does it take to paint a 1500 sq. feet apartment?

With active construction workers, it’ll take approximately less than 4-5 hours to paint a 1500 sq. feet apartment. Alternatively, if you take care of the gig without professional workers, it’ll take at least 2-3 days to finish the procedure. Between paint-proofing the furnishings and getting everything in order, you’ll lose track without proper guidance.

How long does it take for interior paint to dry?

Depending on the thickness of the coating, it can take an hour or two for latex-based paint to dry. If you want to reapply i.e., apply another coat, then it’s best to wait for a minimum of 2-3 hours for the previous coat to completely dry.

Before You Go

Painting an entire house is no small feat, but with the right contractors and renovators, it’ll feel like a hassle-free project. And while it’s important to find the right people for the task, it’s just as important to find quality paint for the house.

So, looking to buy durable and premium paint to renovate your house this summer? Then you should definitely check out – Does Lowes Sell Benjamin Moore Paint?

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