For homeowners with an exterior painting quote, or a paint job still to get quoted.
Have a person read your exterior paint quote.
Send the quote and get a written benchmark note back: what it covers, what it leaves out, what is vague, the arithmetic, and questions to ask the painter. No quote yet? Describe the job and get a scoping document to send to painters yourself.
Supplied by finalist.cc, which we run. A person reads each one. Next: you fill in a short form on finalist.cc, and the reply comes by email with the note, or with questions first. See a sample benchmark note.
No painter list is published here, and we do not send your request, quote or details to contractors. Painting inside? Try interiorpainting.directory.
- Siding
- Trim and corner boards
- Fascia and rake boards
- Soffits
- Doors
- Windows and shutters
- Gutters and downspouts
- Porch and railings
- Garage door
Illustration. Each number is a line a bid should price. Prep and repair, number 10, sits under all of it.
What you get, and from whom
House Painting Directory is a door to finalist.cc for outside paint jobs. We run finalist.cc. A person reads what you send and writes back by email.
You have a quote
Send it on finalist.cc. Paste the text, or say it is a PDF or photo and we ask for the file when we reply. You get a benchmark note: what the quote includes, what is missing, what is vague, the arithmetic, questions to send back to the painter, and a plain scope you can hand to other painters so a second quote prices the same job.
No quote yet
Describe the job. The form takes no photos; when we reply, we ask for them by email. You get a scoping document: what the job is, what the photos show, measurements still needed, what a bid should price line by line, and questions painters will ask. You send it to painters yourself.
No contractor list here. This site publishes no list of house painters. We do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors, and we take no payment from contractors for referrals.
Detailed scope guides: Prep, scraping, priming & caulking · Wood, fiber cement, stucco & brick · Spray and backroll vs brush and roll
The parts a bid should price
Two bids for the same house can price two different jobs. One covers the siding and trim; the other adds the soffits, the gutters and the porch floor. Name every part and the bids line up.
The numbers match the drawing above.
- 1
Siding
The walls: lap boards, shingles, fiber cement, stucco or brick. Say which walls, and whether the gable ends count.
- 2
Trim and corner boards
Window and door casings, corner boards and the band between floors. Usually a second color, and more brush work per foot.
- 3
Fascia and rake boards
The boards along the roof edge. High up, hard on paint, and a common place for rot to hide.
- 4
Soffits
The underside of the roof overhang, vents included. Easy to leave off a bid by accident.
- 5
Doors
The front door, side doors and their frames. An accent color on the front door is often its own line.
- 6
Windows and shutters
Painted wood sashes and sills, and shutters, which may come down to be painted. Vinyl windows are usually left alone.
- 7
Gutters and downspouts
Painted, cleaned or left as they are. Say which, so every bid does the same thing.
- 8
Porch and railings
Floor, steps, posts, rails and the porch ceiling. Floors take a different paint than walls.
- 9
Garage door
Panels and trim. Metal and wood doors get different prep.
- 10
Prep and repair
Washing, scraping, sanding, priming bare wood, new caulk, rotten boards replaced. You can’t see it once the paint is on, so get it in writing.
Before you ask for quotes: the exterior painting scope checklist
Tick what applies. The drawing fills in as you go. Nothing is sent from here. Copy or print it for your own notes, or put it in the form below and a person at finalist.cc turns it into a scoping document.
Built before 1978? Lead-safe rules usually apply.
Paint from before 1978 can contain lead. Scraping and sanding it makes chips and dust that are dangerous, most of all to young children. EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule (40 CFR part 745, subpart E) sets how paid work that disturbs that paint has to be done.
Tick “built before 1978” on the scope so it is on paper from the start. EPA’s lead pages explain the rule for homeowners at epa.gov/lead. This is a plain summary of the rule, not advice.
- The firm. The company doing the work needs EPA’s RRP firm certification (or its state’s, where the state runs the program), with a trained renovator assigned to the job.
- The pamphlet. Before work starts, you get EPA’s Renovate Right pamphlet, usually with a form to sign saying you did.
- The setup. Outside, plastic goes on the ground to catch chips, and nearby doors and windows are closed.
- The tools. No open-flame burning, no heat gun above 1,100 degrees F, and no power sanding, grinding or blasting unless the machine has a shroud with a HEPA vacuum attachment.
- The small-job line. Minor work that disturbs 20 square feet or less of exterior paint is exempt, as long as none of those tools are used and no windows are replaced. A whole-house repaint with scraping will usually be past it.
Send this checklist for a scoping document
This form goes to the same desk as finalist.cc. Use it if you have no quote yet. Have a quote already? Send it on finalist.cc for a benchmark note instead.
What happens next
- Your checklist and notes go to finalist.cc, which we run.
- A person reads them and replies by email with a scoping document, or with questions first. If photos would help, the reply asks for them.
- You send the scoping document to painters you choose. We do not send your request or your details to contractors.
Who you’re writing to
finalist.cc, which we run. We are not a painting contractor and don’t do the work. A painter you hire is a separate business, and your contract is with that painter.
Words you’ll see on a paint bid
- Spray and backroll
- Paint sprayed on, then rolled over while it’s wet so it works into rough and porous surfaces.
- Spot priming
- Primer on bare or repaired spots only, before the finish coats go on.
- Chalking
- Old paint breaking down into powder that rubs off on your hand. It gets washed off before new paint goes on.
- Caulk
- Flexible filler for the joints around trim, windows and doors.
- Two coats
- Two full coats of finish paint. Ask whether the price is for one coat or two.
- Sheen
- How shiny the paint dries: flat, satin, semi-gloss or gloss. Trim and doors often get more sheen than walls.
- Frieze board
- The trim board along the top of a wall, just under the soffit.
- Rake board
- The trim board that runs up the sloped edge of a gable.
- Elastomeric coating
- A thick, stretchy coating made for stucco and masonry. It bridges hairline cracks.
- Lead-safe work practices
- The containment, tools and cleanup EPA’s RRP rule requires on most paid work on pre-1978 homes.
Questions
Do you do the painting?
No. House Painting Directory sends you to finalist.cc, which we run. We are not a painting contractor. A person reads your quote or your job description and writes back.
Will you send my job to painters?
No. No painter list is published here, and we do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors. The scoping document is yours to send to painters you choose.
What does a benchmark note look like?
finalist.cc has a sample benchmark note on a made-up interior repaint quote, and a sample scoping document. Yours follows the same shape for an outside paint job.
Why do bids on the same house come in so far apart?
Often because they price different jobs: one coat or two, spot or full priming, soffits and gutters in or out, how much rotten wood gets replaced. A scope that names each part and the prep puts every bid on the same job.
Do I need the exact square footage?
No. The number of stories and the surfaces you want painted are enough to start. Any painter will want to see the house before giving a firm price.
When can exterior paint go on?
When the weather matches what the label allows. Each product’s label gives the lowest air and surface temperature it can go on at, and most say how long it needs before rain. Ask which product the bid uses.
What do you do with what I send?
We use it to answer you. We don’t sell it, and we don’t send it to contractors. The privacy page has the rest.