In Ottawa, painting a whole house costs roughly $4,500 to $12,000 for a full interior repaint and about $4,000 to $15,000 for a full exterior in 2026, meaning a complete inside-and-out job on a typical detached home commonly lands between $9,000 and $25,000. On a per-square-foot basis, interior painting runs about $3.50 to $7.00 per square foot of floor area (walls, ceilings, and trim), while exterior painting runs roughly $3.00 to $6.50 per square foot of siding surface. Per room, most Ottawa painters charge $450 to $900 for a standard bedroom and $900 to $1,800 for a large open-concept livin...
Most Ottawa homeowners budget for interior and exterior separately, because the two jobs use different crews, materials, and seasons. A full interior repaint of a 1,500–2,000 sq ft home — walls, ceilings, doors, and trim — typically runs $6,000 to $11,000 in 2026, or about $4,500 to $7,000 if you skip ceilings and trim and paint walls only. A 2,500–3,000 sq ft home with high foyers and a finished basement commonly reaches $11,000 to $16,000. On the exterior, a modest bungalow with aluminum or vi...
If you are only repainting inside, the detailed room-by-room breakdown, paint-quality tiers, and prep pricing are covered in depth in our Ottawa interior painting cost guide. This page focuses on the whole-house picture including the exterior.
Ottawa painters quote three main ways: per square foot, per room, or as a flat project price after a walkthrough. Per square foot of floor area, expect $3.50 to $7.00 for interiors including walls, ceilings, and trim, or $2.00 to $3.50 for walls only in a home with clean drywall and standard 8-foot ceilings. Per room, a standard 10 x 12 bedroom runs $450 to $750, a bathroom $300 to $550, a hallway and stairwell $600 to $1,200 (the stairwell drives that up because of ladder and scaffold work), an...
Going from a dark colour to a light one, or painting over bold accent walls, often requires a primer coat plus two finish coats instead of two coats total. Budget an extra 20–35% in labour and materials for dramatic colour changes.
Exterior pricing in Ottawa depends almost entirely on what your house is clad in, because prep is the expensive part. Previously painted wood siding is the most common and most labour-intensive: expect $4.50 to $7.00 per square foot once you factor in scraping, sanding, spot-priming bare wood, and caulking. Aluminum siding repainting runs about $3.00 to $5.00 per square foot and requires a thorough clean and a bonding primer to prevent peeling. Stucco and parging typically run $3.50 to $6.00 per...
Most exterior coatings need surface and air temperatures above roughly 10°C, which limits Ottawa exterior painting to about mid-May through late September or early October. Crews book up fast, and late-season work carries scheduling risk if a cold snap arrives.
Two Ottawa homes of the same size can differ by thousands of dollars, and prep work explains most of the gap. Interior jobs cost more when walls need patching, when old wallpaper has to come down (add $2 to $5 per square foot), when there is water staining that needs stain-blocking primer, or when the home is fully furnished and requires extensive masking and floor protection. Popcorn ceiling removal is a separate trade-level task and adds $3 to $6 per square foot. On the exterior, peeling paint...
DIY interior painting is genuinely worthwhile for a single room. A bedroom costs about $120 to $220 in paint, primer, tape, rollers, and drop sheets versus $450 to $750 hired out, and the skill ceiling is low if you take your time cutting in. Whole-house interiors are a different story: you are looking at 60 to 100 hours of work, and the finish quality on ceilings, trim, and stairwells is where amateur jobs show. Exteriors are where most Ottawa homeowners should stop. You need ladders or scaffol...
Labour is roughly 70–85% of a painting quote, so DIY saves a lot on paper. On a $9,000 interior, materials might be $1,200–$1,800 — but factor in equipment rental, your time, and the cost of redoing work that does not hold up.
The ranges above are planning numbers; a real quote requires an on-site walkthrough. When you request estimates, tell each painter the square footage, ceiling heights, which surfaces are included (walls, ceilings, trim, doors, closets), whether you are changing colours dramatically, and for exteriors, your siding type and storey count. A proper written quote itemizes prep work, primer, the specific paint brand, line, and sheen, the number of coats, and whether furniture moving and cleanup are in...
In 2026, a full interior repaint in Ottawa typically costs $4,500 to $12,000 and a full exterior costs $4,000 to $15,000, so a complete inside-and-out job on a typical detached home usually lands between $9,000 and $25,000. Size, ceiling height, siding type, and the amount of prep work drive where you fall in that range.
Interior painting runs about $3.50 to $7.00 per square foot of floor area including walls, ceilings, and trim, or $2.00 to $3.50 per square foot for walls only. Exterior painting runs roughly $3.00 to $6.50 per square foot of siding surface, depending on the material.
A standard 10 x 12 bedroom costs $450 to $750, a bathroom $300 to $550, and a large open-concept living and dining area $900 to $1,800. Ceilings add roughly $1.00 to $2.00 per square foot, and doors and trim are often billed separately.
A bungalow exterior typically runs $4,000 to $6,500, while a two-storey home with wood siding, trim, soffits, and fascia commonly runs $9,000 to $15,000. Wood siding is the most expensive to prep at $4.50 to $7.00 per square foot; aluminum and fibre-cement are cheaper at $3.00 to $5.00.
Most exterior coatings require surface and air temperatures above roughly 10°C, so the practical Ottawa exterior painting season runs from about mid-May to late September or early October. Some low-temperature paints extend that slightly, but cold-weather application carries real adhesion risk.