An exterior paint job races the calendar twice. The coating needs Ontario's short painting season, with dry days and sane temperatures. The house needs the work done before another winter pries at every unprotected joint. So the scheduling conversation matters as much as the colour conversation: a crew booked in June finishes inside the season. One booked in October is gambling.
Rhodex prices exterior work on what the surface needs, not what the square footage suggests. Two houses the same size can need very different jobs, and the difference is almost entirely prep.
What the job actually involves
The wash comes first, because mildewed or dusty siding takes no paint properly. Then comes the diagnosis. Peeling and blistered areas get scraped back to sound paint, sanded and feathered. Bare patches, stains and patched areas get primed. Gaps and joints that let water behind the coating get caulked. Rotten trim gets flagged for repair before it gets buried under colour.
Only then do the coats go on: usually one primer and two finish coats on the areas that earned it, applied within the paint's temperature and dew-point range. Brick and masonry, if they're in the scope, get masonry-specific products, because ordinary paint traps moisture in the wall and spalls the face of the brick come winter.
What changes the price
As general market estimates (not Rhodex prices), a Canadian cost guide puts exterior painting at roughly $2.50 to $6.00 per square foot, with detached homes around $4,500 to $8,000 and townhouses $1,800 to $4,500. What moves an individual quote:
- Prep condition. Heavy scraping and repair can add $1,500 to $5,000 to a job that would otherwise be straightforward.
- Height and access. Storeys mean staging and ladder work, which slow every square foot.
- Surface mix. Wood, vinyl, brick, stucco and metal each take different products and different handling.
- Colour change. Light over dark (or the reverse) adds coats or a bonding primer to the scope.
- Detail load. Trim, shutters, railings and doors are measured in slow linear feet, not fast square ones.
Rhodex's own prices are never published online. Each job is quoted from a walk-around of the house, itemised with labour, materials and HST.
Quick answers
How much does exterior painting cost?
As general market estimates, exterior painting in Canada runs roughly $2.50 to $6.00 per square foot of surface; a detached home commonly lands in the $4,500 to $8,000 range and a townhouse $1,800 to $4,500, with heavy prep work adding $1,500 to $5,000 in the worst cases.
When is the best time to paint a house exterior in Ontario?
The season runs roughly from late spring through early fall, because paint needs surfaces and air within its application temperature range and dry time between coats. What matters more than the month is a dry stretch of days. Dew, rain and direct sun each ruin a coat in different ways.
Can you paint over peeling paint?
Not directly. Whatever is loose now will take the new coat with it next spring. Peeling areas get scraped, sanded, primed and only then painted. On older homes, peeling paint may also raise the lead question for homes of a certain age, which changes the safe-handling approach.
Does exterior paint really need primer?
On bare wood, patched areas, stains and any surface going from dark to light, yes. Primer is what makes the top coat wear evenly instead of flashing shiny and matte patches across the same wall. Skipping it shows up within two seasons.
How long should an exterior paint job last?
With proper prep, seven to ten years on well-drained siding and trim is a reasonable expectation in Ontario's climate, less on south and west faces that take the weather. Jobs that fail early almost always failed in the prep, not the paint can.
How Rhodex handles exterior painting
Tell us the house and the surfaces in scope. An office manager quotes the job from a walk-around, including the prep the surface actually needs, and schedules it inside the painting season untill the job is done, not against it. You approve the quote before anyone is dispatched. The work carries a 365-day warranty on workmanship.
Where we paint exteriors
Painting crews work Etobicoke and Mississauga in the west; Vaughan's Woodbridge, Maple, Concord and Thornhill; and north through King City, Aurora, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Markham and Stouffville.
Related reading
Ready when you are
The season is finite. The earlier the ask, the more of it you get. (647) 205-7554, 8:30 am to 10:30 pm, every day.
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