Free Painting Estimates for Portland-Area Homes
Stumptown Painters covers exterior repaints, interiors, cabinets and deck staining for homes across the Portland metro, with free on-site estimates and written scopes you can check line by line.
- • Free to request, no obligation
- • Prep and coats spelled out in writing
- • Lead-safe rules for pre-1978 homes
Get Your Free Painting Estimate
Takes under 60 seconds. No credit card required.
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Exterior, interior, cabinet and deck painting across the Portland metro and Vancouver, WA. Estimates are free, on site, and carry no obligation. Painting for pay in Oregon takes an active CCB license, or a Washington L&I registration across the river: verify one before you sign.
01Common Paint Problems
Peeling on the south wall? Mildew on the shady side?
- Peeling or Flaking PaintPaint lifting off siding or trim, usually where water gets behind it.What it means →
- Blisters or BubblesRaised bubbles in the paint film, from moisture or heat under the coat.What it means →
- Mildew, Algae or MossGray, black or green growth on shaded, damp walls and decks.What it means →
- Chalky or Faded PaintA powder that rubs off on your hand, or color gone flat on sunny walls.What it means →
- Cracking or AlligatoringHairline cracks or a scaly pattern in old, built-up paint.What it means →
- Soft or Rotting TrimWindow sills, fascia or corner boards that give under a screwdriver.What it means →
02Painting Services
Exterior, Interior and Cabinet Painting
Siding, trim and doors
Exterior painting
Full repaints, siding, trim, doors and stucco, with washing, scraping and priming spelled out in the estimate.
Walls, ceilings and trim
Interior painting
Single rooms to whole-house repaints, priced by scope: rooms, wall height, and whether trim, doors and ceilings are in.
Kitchens, vanities and built-ins
Cabinet painting
Degrease, sand, prime and spray. Usually a fraction of new cabinets when the boxes are sound.
03All Services
Every Service, in Detail
- Exterior PaintingFull-house repaints, siding, trim, doors, and stucco recoating, with prep spelled out in every quote.Costs, prep and process →
- Interior PaintingWalls, ceilings, trim, accent walls, and whole-home interior repaints, priced room by room.Costs, prep and process →
- Cabinet PaintingKitchen, vanity, and built-in refinishing with sprayed, durable cabinet enamels.Costs, prep and process →
- Deck & Fence StainingCedar, pressure-treated, and composite deck and fence cleaning, staining, and sealing.Costs, prep and process →
- Commercial PaintingOffices, retail, multifamily, and light industrial repaints, including after-hours work.Costs, prep and process →
- Lead-Safe Painting (Pre-1978)Certified lead-safe exterior and interior painting for homes built before 1978.Costs, prep and process →
04How It Works
From Question to Estimate in Four Steps
- 1
Describe the project
Answer a few questions about the house and the work: interior, exterior, cabinets or a deck. It takes about a minute.
- 2
Check the license
Before you hire anyone, look up the painter: an active Oregon CCB license, or a Washington L&I registration across the river, plus the lead-safe license on a pre-1978 house.
- 3
Get it in writing
A good estimate lists the surfaces, the prep, the products, the number of coats and the access, line by line.
- 4
Decide on your own time
Read the scope and run it through the bid checker. Sending a request carries no obligation.
05Hiring
How to Choose a House Painter in Portland
1. Look the license up yourself
Oregon requires an active CCB license to paint for pay, plus a Lead-Based Paint Renovation license on pre-1978 homes. Across the river it is Washington L&I. Use the state lookup, not the business card.
How to check a painter’s license →2. Get the scope in writing, line by line
An estimate should name the prep, the primer, the paint product, the number of coats and the colors. A single lump sum cannot be compared with anything.
Check an estimate with the bid checker →3. Ask what the paint is failing from
Peeling, blistering and mildew have causes underneath them. A painter recommending a repaint should be able to say what the new coat will do differently.
What common paint problems mean →4. Know the range before the visit
Two estimates thousands of dollars apart are often pricing different jobs. Knowing the typical range for your house tells you which questions to ask.
What painting costs in Portland →
Why Portland paint fails, in four numbers
- Rain a year
- 37"
- Most of it falls October through April, which sets the exterior painting season.
- Source: NOAA 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport
- Days with measurable rain
- 157
- Including 18 or 19 days in each of November, December and January.
- Source: NOAA 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport
- Moisture in covered outdoor wood
- 16%
- In the Pacific Northwest, against 12 to 14 percent across most of the country. Wet wood is what pushes paint off.
- Source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook (2021)
- Lead-safe cutoff
- 1978
- Paid work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978 falls under lead-safe renovation rules.
- Source: EPA, 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart E
The climate figures are explained, with their sources, in how long exterior paint lasts in Portland.
06Free Tool
Estimate Your Painting Cost
- Ranges from the published cost guide, with a stated method
- Exterior, interior and cabinets, with an optional square footage
- Flags pre-1978 lead-safe costs on an exterior
- A starting point for the estimate visit, not a binding quote
Headline ranges: exteriors $5,000 to $10,000 for most metro homes, cabinets $3,000 to $8,000. Every row is in the cost guide (12 project types).
Three-story or oversized homes: leave this blank and pick the 3-story row instead.
Typical Portland-metro range
$5,500 to $10,000
The cost guide's range for a 2-story home, 2,000 to 2,500 sq ft.
Toward the high end: cedar siding restoration, accent trim, pre-1978 age.
An editorial estimate from the published method, not a quote and not a survey of quotes. An on-site estimate is the real number.
Request a Free Estimate07Service Areas
13 cities, from inner Portland to Vancouver, WA
- PortlandOld-growth fir lap siding, cedar shingle, 1950s–70s plywood and hardboard
- BeavertonHardboard and T1-11 on 1970s–90s homes, fiber-cement on newer builds
- HillsboroFiber-cement and engineered wood on newer homes, lap siding on older ones
- TigardWood lap and T1-11 on older homes, fiber-cement and stucco on Bull Mountain
- TualatinFiber-cement, engineered wood, hardboard on 1980s homes, some stucco
- Lake OswegoCedar lap and shingle, stained wood, fiber-cement on newer homes
- West LinnCedar and wood lap, fiber-cement on newer homes, stained accents
- Oregon CityOld wood lap and drop siding downtown, fiber-cement and lap on hilltop homes
- MilwaukieWood lap and shingle on older homes, hardboard and asbestos-cement on some ranches
- GreshamWood lap, T1-11, and hardboard on 1950s–80s homes
- Happy ValleyFiber-cement and engineered wood, some stone and stucco accents
- SherwoodEngineered wood and fiber-cement on subdivisions, wood lap in Old Town
- Vancouver, WAWood lap downtown, T1-11 and hardboard on 1970s–80s homes, fiber-cement on newer builds
Exterior Painting, Step by Step
What's Included in a Portland Exterior Repaint
Most early paint failures here come from paint applied over dirty, damp or peeling surfaces, not from the paint itself. These are the six steps a complete exterior estimate should list.
- 1
Wash and treat
Soft-wash or low-pressure wash to remove dirt, chalk, moss, and mildew, with a mildewcide on shaded walls. The wood then needs a day or more of dry weather.
- 2
Repair
Replace soft or rotted boards and trim, and set popped nails. On hardboard and T1-11, this is where swollen bottom edges get cut out.
- 3
Scrape and sand
Remove all loose paint and feather the edges so they do not telegraph through. On pre-1978 homes this happens under lead-safe containment.
- 4
Prime
Prime bare wood and any repairs with a primer suited to the substrate: oil or bonding primer on old wood, stain-blocking primer on cedar, masonry primer on stucco.
- 5
Caulk
Replace failed caulk at trim joints, window and door casings, and siding butt joints so wind-driven rain cannot get behind the paint.
- 6
Two finish coats
Apply two coats of a quality 100 percent acrylic, sprayed and back-rolled or brushed. One coat is the most common way cheap quotes cut cost.
Exterior house painting in Portland: costs, stucco and siding repair →
Local Painting Guides
Painting Guides for Portland Homeowners
- How Much Does It Cost to Paint a House in Portland, OR?Real price ranges, local factors, and what actually moves the needle on your final quote.Read the guide →
- How Long Does Exterior Paint Last in Portland?What USDA research says about paint life on each kind of siding, why sunny walls wear out first, and how to tell when your house is due.Read the guide →
- When Is the Best Time to Paint a House Exterior in Portland?Why dry-season prep wins, and how to plan around Portland's weather.Read the guide →
- How to Choose a House Painter in PortlandWhat to verify, what to ask, and red flags worth walking away from.Read the guide →
- Painting a Pre-1978 Home in Portland: Lead Paint, Prep, and SafetyWhat lead-safe certification means and why it matters for older Portland houses.Read the guide →
- How to Prep Your Home for Exterior PaintingThe prep steps that decide how long your paint job actually lasts.Read the guide →
- Cabinet Painting vs. Refacing vs. Replacement in PortlandWhen refinishing makes sense, when refacing is the better buy, and when you should bite the bullet on new cabinets.Read the guide →
- Paint Sheens Explained: The Best Finish for Each RoomMatte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss: which finish belongs where, and why.Read the guide →
Painting Estimate FAQs
How much does it cost to paint a house in Portland?
It depends on the house far more than the city. The cost guide's typical Portland-metro ranges: a one-story home of about 1,200 sq ft runs $3,500 to $6,500 for the exterior, and a two-story home of 2,000 to 2,500 sq ft runs $5,500 to $10,000. A single bedroom is usually $300 to $800 for the walls, a whole 2,000 sq ft interior $3,500 to $8,000, and kitchen cabinet refinishing $3,000 to $8,000. Prep, stories, trim detail and pre-1978 lead-safe work move a job within those ranges. The cost calculator gives a fast range; an on-site estimate gives the real number.
What should a painting estimate include?
The surfaces, line by line, and the prep each one needs: washing, scraping and sanding loose paint, priming bare wood, replacing failed caulk, and any board or trim repair priced separately. It should name the paint product and line, the number of coats, the colors and the access. Two finish coats of a quality acrylic is the standard on an exterior; one coat is the most common way a low estimate cuts cost. In Oregon, a residential contract over $2,000 has to be in writing.
What license does a painter need in Oregon?
An active Construction Contractors Board (CCB) license to paint for pay. If the house was built before 1978 and the job will disturb painted surfaces, the painting company also needs a CCB Lead-Based Paint Renovation (LBPR) license, because Oregon runs the lead-safe renovation rule itself. Across the river, Washington uses L&I contractor registration and its own lead-safe certification through the Department of Commerce. Look the number up yourself on the state site before you sign.
When is the best time to paint a house exterior in Portland?
Late May through September. NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals put Portland at about 37 inches of rain a year, most of it October through April, and exterior paint needs dry wood and mild nights to cure. July and August are the driest months. Good painters fill their summer calendars early, so spring is the time to get estimates. Interior and cabinet work can be done any time of year.
What happens after I request an estimate?
We review it and follow up by the contact method you chose to ask about the project and set a time to see it. Sending a request is free and carries no obligation. The written estimate should cover the surfaces, the prep they need and the access. Before you sign anything, check the CCB license and run the estimate through the bid checker on this site.
Is it free for homeowners?
Yes. Requesting an estimate costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Nothing is agreed until you sign a written contract, and in Oregon you can cancel an initial written contract until midnight at the end of the next business day unless you agreed the work would start sooner.
Ready for a Real Number?
Describe your project. Sending a request is free and carries no obligation. Before you hire anyone, check the license: Oregon CCB, or Washington L&I across the river.