Repainting a house exterior in Melbourne costs $30–$80 per square metre of wall in 2026. On a whole-job basis that lands at $10,000–$18,000 for a single-storey weatherboard, $6,000–$12,000 for a rendered home, and $4,000–$8,000 for brick veneer where only the trim gets painted. Add 40–60% for a double storey once scaffolding is counted. Cladding type and the condition of the old paint move an exterior quote far more than the size of the house, and this guide breaks both down with the rates painters actually work from.
We’ve painted Melbourne exteriors since 1987, we carry $20M public liability, and we quote every exterior painting job at a fixed price after seeing the house. The numbers below are the real ranges we see quoted across Melbourne, not a national average.
Key takeaway
Exterior painting in Melbourne runs $30–$80 per m² of wall in 2026. Weatherboard costs the most ($10,000–$18,000 single storey) because prep is 60–70% of the labour. Render sits at $6,000–$12,000, brick veneer trim-only at $4,000–$8,000. A double storey adds 40–60%, and bad paint condition can add up to 70% again.
This page covers exterior costs only. If you’re pricing interior work, or the whole house inside and out, see our house painting cost Melbourne guide.
How much does it cost to repaint a house exterior in Melbourne?
A full exterior repaint on a single-storey Melbourne home costs $4,000–$18,000 in 2026 depending on cladding, with weatherboard at the top of that range and brick veneer trim-only at the bottom. The table below shows typical whole-job prices by cladding and storeys, including preparation, primer where needed, and two topcoats of premium exterior paint.
| Cladding | Single storey | Double storey |
|---|---|---|
| Weatherboard | $10,000–$18,000 | $15,000–$30,000 |
| Rendered / cement sheet | $6,000–$12,000 | $12,000–$20,000 |
| Brick veneer (trim only) | $4,000–$8,000 | $7,000–$14,000 |
| Full brick paint-out | $9,000–$18,000 | $14,000–$25,000 |
| Heritage Victorian / Edwardian | $14,000–$28,000 | $15,000–$30,000+ |
Two things stand out. First, cladding matters more than floor plan. A small weatherboard can cost more to repaint than a big rendered home, because every board needs individual prep. Second, heritage ranges overlap across storeys because ornamental detail, multiple colours and possible lead paint drive the price more than height does.
These figures assume the existing paint is in fair condition. The prep-condition multipliers further down can push any of these ranges higher.
Key takeaway: Cladding sets your starting range. Weatherboard is the most expensive exterior to repaint in Melbourne, brick veneer trim-only is the cheapest, and render sits in the middle.
What are exterior painting rates per square metre in Melbourne?
Melbourne exterior painting rates are $30–$80 per square metre of wall area in 2026, covering prep, primer where required, and two topcoats. The rate varies by surface, because different claddings take different amounts of labour and paint.
| Surface | Rate per m² (walls) | Why it sits there |
|---|---|---|
| Weatherboard | $45–$80 | Board-by-board scraping, sanding, filling, priming |
| Render (sound) | $30–$50 | Texture holds more paint, needs crack repair and sealer |
| Bare brick (first paint-out) | $35–$55 | Porous surface, sealer coat plus two topcoats |
| Cement sheet | $30–$45 | Stable sheets, but joints and flashings need prep |
A word of caution on doing the maths yourself. A standard single-storey 3-bedroom home has roughly 100–160 m² of paintable exterior wall once you subtract windows and doors. Multiply that by a wall rate and you’ll land under the whole-job ranges above. That’s because gutters, fascias, eaves, window frames and doors are priced per item on top of the wall rate, and on a brick veneer they’re most of the job.
That’s also why we don’t quote per square metre over the phone. Per-m² rates are a sanity check for comparing quotes, not a price. For how per-m² and per-job pricing compare, see our per-square-metre vs per-room pricing guide.
Key takeaway: Use $30–$80/m² to sanity-check a quote, not to build one. Trim, windows, gutters and doors are priced per item and can be half the bill on some homes.
How does cladding change the cost of exterior painting?
Weatherboard costs up to three times more than brick veneer trim-only to repaint, because preparation is 60–70% of the labour on timber boards. Here’s how each common Melbourne cladding prices out.
Weatherboard
Melbourne’s inner west and north (Footscray, Yarraville, Seddon, Newport, Brunswick) are full of weatherboard homes, and they’re the most labour-intensive exterior there is. Every board gets checked for rot, scraped, sanded, filled and spot-primed before topcoats. Expect $10,000–$18,000 single storey. Our weatherboard repainting guide covers the full process, and if your boards are already flaking, read why weatherboard paint peels in Melbourne before you get quotes.
Brick veneer
The cheapest exterior scope in Melbourne. The brick stays bare and you’re painting trim only: fascias, eaves, gutters, window frames and doors. Typical cost $4,000–$8,000. If you want the brick itself painted, that’s a first paint-out at $9,000–$18,000, because porous brick drinks a sealer coat plus two topcoats. Once painted, brick can’t practically go back, so read our guide to painting a brick house before committing.
Render and cement sheet
Common across newer estates in Point Cook, Tarneit and Truganina, and on 1950s–70s homes. Sound render runs $6,000–$12,000 single storey. Cracked or drummy (hollow-sounding) render needs repair first, which adds $500–$2,000 before paint goes on. The texture also holds more paint per square metre than a smooth wall. Full detail in our rendered house exterior cost guide.
A freshly coated rendered exterior. Render texture holds more paint per square metre than smooth cladding, which is why its rate sits above cement sheet.
Heritage Victorian and Edwardian
Turned posts, fretwork, brackets and multi-colour schemes push heritage exteriors to $14,000–$28,000 and beyond. Pre-1970 homes also carry lead paint risk, covered below.
Key takeaway: Get quotes for your cladding, not “a house”. A painter who quotes weatherboard and render at the same rate hasn’t looked at your walls.
How much more does a double-storey exterior cost to paint?
A double-storey exterior costs 40–60% more than the same home in single storey, and scaffolding or elevated access accounts for $2,000–$5,000 of that. A standard render or brick double storey runs $7,000–$14,000, while larger weatherboard and heritage double storeys run $15,000–$30,000.
The extra cost isn’t just access hire. WorkSafe Victoria requires proper fall protection for sustained work at height, so ladders alone don’t cut it on a full double-storey repaint. Scaffold takes days to erect and dismantle, and painters simply work slower at height. An elevated work platform (EWP) at $300–$600 per day can be cheaper on simple facades with good ground access.
If a double-storey quote looks suspiciously cheap, check whether access equipment is included at all. The full breakdown, including scaffold vs EWP trade-offs and timelines, is in our two-storey house painting cost guide.
Key takeaway: Budget 40–60% over single-storey prices for a double storey, and treat any quote without named access equipment as incomplete.
How does paint condition change your exterior painting quote?
The condition of your existing paint is the biggest multiplier on an exterior quote. Sound paint prices at the bottom of the range, and widespread failure back to bare timber can add 40–70%. Preparation is where the labour hours go, so the more failed paint on the walls, the more the job costs.
| Condition of existing paint | What prep it needs | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|
| Sound, similar colour | Wash down, light sand | Baseline (bottom of range) |
| Chalky and faded, but intact | Wash, sand, binding sealer on powdery areas | +10–20% |
| Localised peeling or flaking | Scrape, feather edges, spot-prime failure zones | +20–40% |
| Widespread failure, bare timber showing | Strip back whole sections, full prime | +40–70% |
| Rot or lead paint present | Timber repairs, safe lead containment | +$2,000–$8,000 on top |
Boards scraped back and spot-primed. This is the work that separates a $10,000 weatherboard quote from an $18,000 one.
Two flags worth knowing about. Homes built before 1970 in suburbs like Footscray, Yarraville, Seddon and Williamstown are high-risk for lead paint, and safe removal adds $3,000–$8,000 on a full exterior. Our lead paint cost guide covers when testing is worth it. And a dark-to-light colour change can need a third coat, adding roughly $2,000–$4,000 on a full exterior.
Key takeaway: Repainting while the old paint is still sound is the single best way to keep the price down. Every year of visible peeling adds prep hours to the eventual quote.
What should an exterior painting quote include?
A proper exterior quote itemises prep scope, named paint products, number of coats, access equipment, and which surfaces are in and out. Consumer Affairs Victoria recommends written quotes and insurance checks before any work starts. On a typical exterior repaint, labour and prep are 70–80% of the bill and materials 20–30%.
Materials are real money on an exterior. A single-storey home takes roughly 30–60 litres of topcoat across two coats depending on texture, plus primer and sundries, so budget $1,500–$3,000 in materials with premium products. Typical 2026 shelf prices for the main Australian exterior systems:
| Exterior topcoat (10L) | Typical shelf price |
|---|---|
| Dulux Weathershield | $190–$230 |
| Haymes Solashield | $160–$210 |
| Taubmans All Weather | $140–$180 |
Shelf prices move around, and trade rates run lower, but the gap between premium and builder-grade paint is small next to the labour bill. Melbourne gets over 2,000 hours of sunshine a year (Bureau of Meteorology), and cheap exterior paint chalks and fades fast under that UV load. A premium system properly applied lasts 12–15 years; a budget job can need redoing in 5–7.
Key takeaway: Check the quote names the paint product and coat count. “Premium paint, painted properly” is not a specification, it’s a sales line.
How can you keep exterior painting costs down?
The honest levers are timing, colour choice and scope, not haggling the rate. Here’s what actually moves an exterior price:
- Paint before failure spreads. The prep multipliers above are the biggest swing in the whole job. Sound paint is a baseline job; peeling paint is a premium one.
- Keep the colour scheme simple. One body colour with white trim is the cheapest scheme. Multi-colour heritage schemes add 30–50%.
- Stay close to your existing colour. Avoiding a third coat saves $2,000–$4,000 on a full exterior.
- Combine exterior and interior in one booking. One mobilisation, one setup, better whole-job value.
- Ask about winter scheduling. Painters are quieter mid-year, and modern exterior acrylics apply fine on dry Melbourne winter days. See the cheapest time of year to paint.
What we’d steer you away from is taking the lowest of three quotes on price alone. On exteriors, a lowball number almost always means skipped prep or one coat instead of two, and the finish fails years early. The warning signs are covered in our guide to lowball painting quotes.
How do we quote an exterior repaint?
We inspect the house in person, check the paint condition wall by wall, and give you a fixed-price written quote that names the prep scope, the Dulux products, the coat count and the access equipment. No per-metre guesses over the phone. We’ve been doing this since 1987, we carry $20M public liability, and we hold 5.0 star Google reviews. For the step-by-step of how a full exterior job runs, see our complete exterior painting guide.
Want a real number for your exterior, not a range?
Free on-site inspection and a fixed-price written quote for any cladding, single or double storey. Painting Melbourne exteriors since 1987.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to repaint a house exterior in Melbourne?
A full exterior repaint in Melbourne costs $10,000–$18,000 for a single-storey weatherboard, $6,000–$12,000 for a rendered home, and $4,000–$8,000 for brick veneer where only the trim is painted, in 2026. Double-storey homes cost 40–60% more once scaffolding is counted. Prices cover preparation, primer where needed, and two topcoats of premium exterior paint.
What are exterior painting rates per square metre in Melbourne?
Melbourne exterior painting rates run $30–$80 per square metre of wall area in 2026. Weatherboard sits at $45–$80/m² because every board needs scraping, sanding and priming. Sound render runs $30–$50/m² and a first paint-out on bare brick is $35–$55/m². Trim, windows, gutters and doors are priced per item on top.
Why does weatherboard cost more to repaint than brick or render?
Preparation. On a weatherboard exterior, 60–70% of the labour goes into scraping, sanding, filling and spot-priming individual boards before any topcoat. Render and brick need washing and crack repair, but far less board-by-board handwork. That is why a single-storey weatherboard runs $10,000–$18,000 while an equivalent rendered home is $6,000–$12,000.
How much does it cost to paint the exterior of a double-storey house in Melbourne?
Add 40–60% to single-storey prices. A standard render or brick double-storey exterior runs $7,000–$14,000, and larger weatherboard or heritage double-storey homes run $15,000–$30,000. Scaffolding or an elevated work platform accounts for $2,000–$5,000 of that, and safe access at height is a WorkSafe Victoria requirement.
Does the condition of the old paint change the price of an exterior repaint?
Yes, more than any other single factor. Sound, chalky paint that only needs a wash and light sand prices at the bottom of the range. Localised peeling adds 20–40%, and widespread failure back to bare timber can add 40–70%. Rot repairs and lead paint removal on pre-1970 homes add $2,000–$8,000 on top.
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