$3.00-$6.00 per sq ftMay to mid-OctoberFree written estimate
Exterior painting in Toronto, booked to the weather window
Paint Toronto paints siding, stucco, soffit, fascia, doors and exterior trim across the city and the 905. Waterborne exterior coatings need surface temperatures above roughly 10 degrees and a dry window either side of application, so we schedule to the forecast rather than to the calendar.
Wash, scrape and sand before any primer is opened
Bonding primer matched to the cladding, not a general-purpose one
Late-season booking usually costs less than the June peak
Get your exterior estimate
Tell us the cladding type and the number of storeys.
Researched Toronto ranges before HST. Your written quote governs.
What decides whether an exterior job lasts
The window, not the month
Coatings applied below about 10 degrees or onto a surface that has not dried out fail early, whatever the calendar says.
Prep against the substrate
Chalked aluminum needs a wash and a bonding primer. Bare wood needs a penetrating primer. The wrong one peels inside three years.
Access priced honestly
Second and third storey work is staging and ladder time. It is a separate line, not absorbed into a square-foot rate.
Our Process
How an exterior job runs
1
Survey the elevations
Cladding identified, failure points mapped, storeys and access noted, and a written scope produced per elevation.
2
Wash and dry
Surfaces washed down to sound material, then left to dry to a coatable moisture content. This step cannot be rushed.
3
Scrape, sand, caulk, prime
Loose material removed, edges feathered, joints and penetrations caulked, bare and repaired areas primed with the matched product.
4
Topcoat and inspect
Coats applied to the quoted count inside the forecast window, then walked with you elevation by elevation.
Exterior painting cost in Toronto
Researched 2026 Toronto ranges, before HST. Measured on paintable surface, not floor area.
Trim and accents
From $900
Soffit, fascia, window trim and a front door
One to two storeys, ladder access
No cladding repaint included
Common as a refresh between full repaints
Under 1,500 sq ft typically $2,000-$4,000
1,500-2,500 sq ft typically $4,000-$8,000
Equivalent to about $3.00-$6.00 per sq ft of surface
Two colours, cladding plus trim
Widespread peeling or failed builder coating
Wood repair or replacement before coating
Lead-safe handling on pre-1980 painted wood
Staging rather than ladders on tall elevations
Booking exterior painting in September rather than June
Exterior labour rates in Toronto run measurably higher at the peak of the season than they do in the fall, because every crew in the city is committed through June and early July. The work is not better in June. Late August through early October gives lower humidity, cooler surface temperatures that slow flash-off, and more scheduling room, which is why we push exterior enquiries towards the back half of the season whenever the substrate is sound enough to wait.
What an exterior scope covers
Four things we do before a topcoat goes anywhere near your cladding.
Priced per elevation
Each face quoted on its own condition, so three sound sides are not charged at restoration rates.
Moisture checked before coating
Washed surfaces given time to dry through, not coated the following morning because the schedule said so.
Primer matched to the cladding
Bonding, penetrating or masonry primer named in the quote for each surface on the house.
Dates moved, not forced
We reschedule rather than apply a coating below the surface temperature the product needs.
Exterior Painting specifics
How exterior painting is measured, by paintable surface
Exterior quotes in Toronto are measured against paintable surface: the actual cladding, soffit, fascia and trim area, not the square footage of the house. That is why two 1,800 square foot homes can quote hundreds of dollars apart. A bungalow spreads its floor area across one storey with a large roof and modest wall height. A narrow three-storey semi in the east end has less floor area and considerably more wall.
Windows cut both ways. They remove cladding area and add cutting-in, and on a heritage elevation with divided lights they add a great deal of it. We count openings rather than deducting them as a flat percentage.
What your cladding decides about exterior painting
Wood siding and trim take a penetrating primer and will tell you honestly when the previous coating has failed, because it peels rather than fades. Aluminum siding fades and chalks instead: run a hand down a south elevation in Scarborough and the powder that comes off is the oxidised binder. That layer has to be washed off, because a topcoat bonded to chalk is bonded to nothing.
Stucco and parged surfaces need an elastomeric or masonry-rated coating that can bridge hairline movement without splitting. Vinyl can be painted, but only with a product rated to stay within the original colour's heat absorption, because a dark colour on vinyl will warp the panel.
Exterior painting on Toronto's lakeshore elevations
Homes along the Etobicoke and Scarborough lakeshore, and through Ajax and Pickering, take direct sun and lake-driven wind on their south faces. Those elevations fail first and by a wide margin, which is why a whole-house repaint often finds one elevation sound and another down to bare wood.
We price by elevation rather than averaging across the house, so a client with three good sides and one failed one is not paying restoration rates on all four.
Exterior painting questions
How much does exterior painting cost in Toronto?
Roughly $3.00 to $6.00 per square foot of paintable surface before HST, which puts a typical detached house between $4,000 and $9,000. Homes under 1,500 square feet commonly land between $2,000 and $4,000. These are researched 2026 Toronto ranges rather than a quote for your elevations.
When can exterior painting be done in Toronto?
The reliable window runs May to mid-October. Waterborne exterior coatings need surface temperatures above roughly 10 degrees Celsius and a dry period either side of application. We schedule against the forecast, and we will move a date rather than coat a wet or cold surface.
Can you paint aluminum siding?
Yes, and it is one of the more common exterior jobs in Scarborough and Etobicoke. Old aluminum chalks, so it needs a full wash to remove the oxidised layer and then a bonding primer before a topcoat. Skipping the wash is the single most common reason a siding repaint fails.
Do you paint brick?
We do, but brick has its own page because the product is different. Brick that still needs to release moisture takes a breathable mineral coating rather than an acrylic, and painting brick is effectively permanent, so it is worth a conversation before committing.
How many coats do exteriors get?
Two over a sound, primed surface is standard. Bare wood, a dark-to-light change or a heavily weathered elevation takes a primer plus two, and that is stated in the quote rather than decided on the ladder.
Book your exterior before the window closes
Free elevation survey and a written scope across Toronto and the 905.
