A breakdown of labour, paint, prep and the hidden line items that surprise first-time customers.
House painting in Adelaide lands somewhere between $400 for a single-room touch-up and $40,000 for a full heritage restoration. The question isn’t “what does it cost?” — it’s “what actually drives the number?”
On a typical Adelaide repaint, labour is 70-80% of the quote and materials are 10-15%. The rest is overhead, equipment, and insurance. So when people say paint is “too expensive,” they almost always mean labour is expensive — because most paint costs less than a day of skilled trade time.
Prep depth. Scraping, sanding, patching and priming can take longer than the actual painting. A painter who skips this ends up 30% cheaper but the coat fails in 3-4 years instead of 10.
Access. Scaffolding for double-storey exterior adds $1,500-$4,000. EWPs for tall commercial work add $500-$1,500 per day. Flat, ground-floor residential is almost always the cheapest.
Heritage overhead. Pre-1970 homes need lead-safe preparation. Victorian and Federation exteriors need decorative elements restored. Budget 40-80% more than modern equivalents.
The single most useful thing you can do is get three quotes for the exact same scope. Quotes should cluster within 15-20%. If one is dramatically lower, it’s almost always because the scope is smaller — less prep, cheaper paint, or missing line items.
Want a faster ballpark? Use our house painting cost estimator for an instant low/mid/high range, then request three real quotes to compare against. Full breakdowns by job type live on our cost guide hub.
How commercial painting differs from residential — pricing, scheduling, compliance and EBA considerations.
Coverage rates, tin sizes, and how to avoid both over-buying and the dreaded mid-job Bunnings run.
Glenelg, Seaford, Henley, Grange — what’s different about coastal painting and why it costs slightly more.
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