Real Numbers, Not “It Depends”
House painting cost in Fort Collins is the first thing everyone wants to know — and the thing most painting companies dodge. Ask what a job costs and you’ll get “every project is different, call for a free estimate.” That’s true, but it’s not an answer. You’re trying to work out whether this is a $3,000 project or a $9,000 project before you invite anyone to your house.
So here are our actual ranges. These come from the same estimating tool our team uses when quoting Fort Collins homeowners over the phone. They’re ballparks, not quotes — but they’re real.
Exterior Painting Costs in Fort Collins
Most Fort Collins exteriors land between $2,900 and $7,200. Where yours falls comes down to four things: how many stories, the square footage, whether your windows are vinyl or wood, and whether you have a walk-out basement.
Start with the base price for your home, then add for wood windows or a walk-out basement if they apply.
Step 1: Find your base price
These are for a home with vinyl windows and no walk-out basement.
Single-story homes
| Square footage | Base price |
|---|---|
| Under 1,500 sq ft | $2,940 |
| 1,500 – 2,500 sq ft | $3,675 |
| Over 2,500 sq ft | $4,305 |
Two-story homes
| Square footage | Base price |
|---|---|
| Under 2,500 sq ft | $4,200 |
| 2,500 – 3,200 sq ft | $4,990 |
| Over 3,200 sq ft | $5,775 |
Step 2: Add for these if they apply
| If your home has | Add | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Wood windows instead of vinyl | $630 – $685 | Scraping, sanding, glazing repair and careful cutting-in that vinyl doesn’t need |
| A walk-out basement | $525 – $735 | A full additional elevation of surface area |
Step 3: Allow ±$1,000
Expect roughly a thousand dollars either side of that figure depending on three things: how much prep your surfaces actually need, which paint product you choose, and how many colors are in your scheme. A home in sound condition going back to a similar two-color scheme lands at the low end. One with failing caulk, chalked siding, bare wood and a four-color scheme lands at the high end.
Examples
A 2,000 sq ft single-story with vinyl windows, no walk-out basement
Base $3,675. No additions. Roughly $3,675, or $2,675 to $4,675 once you allow the ±$1,000.
A 2,800 sq ft two-story with vinyl windows, no walk-out basement
Base $4,990. No additions. Roughly $4,990.
A 2,000 sq ft single-story with wood windows and a walk-out basement
Base $3,675 + $630 for wood windows + $683 for the walk-out. Roughly $4,990.
A 3,400 sq ft two-story with wood windows and a walk-out basement
Base $5,775 + $683 + $735. Roughly $7,195 — about the top of our exterior range.
Not sure about your numbers?
- Square footage is on your Larimer County assessor record, and usually on your home’s Zillow or Redfin listing. Use the above-grade finished area.
- Window type is easy to check from outside. Vinyl frames are smooth, uniform, and usually white or tan, with welded corners. Wood windows are painted or stained, show grain, and have visible putty or glazing lines where the glass meets the frame.
- Walk-out basement means a basement with a door leading directly outside at ground level, typically on a sloped lot.
Garage doors are priced separately: roughly $137 for a single and $168 for a double.
What pushes a project to the top of the range
- Surface condition. A home with sound paint that’s simply due for a refresh is at the bottom of the range. Chalked siding, peeling, bare wood, or failed caulk all add prep hours — and prep is where a paint job is actually won or lost.
- Two stories versus one. Height means staging, ladder work, and slower production on the same square footage.
- Trim and detail. Homes with heavy trim profiles, shutters, corbels, or multiple accent colors take longer than simple siding runs.
- Substrate. Stucco, fiber cement, and wood all behave differently and need different prep and product.
Interior Painting Costs in Fort Collins
Interior pricing works per room. These figures assume standard rooms of roughly 10×12 and cover walls only — see below for what a realistic whole-home project actually runs once ceilings and doors are included.
| Rooms | Same color | Color change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 room | $400 – $435 | $645 – $700 |
| 3 rooms | $1,205 – $1,305 | $1,940 – $2,105 |
| 4 rooms | $1,607 – $1,740 | $2,584 – $2,809 |
| 6 rooms | $2,410 – $2,610 | $3,875 – $4,215 |
| 8 rooms | $3,213 – $3,480 | $5,170 – $5,620 |
What a Whole-Home Interior Actually Costs
Most people repainting a whole house want the ceilings done too, and the doors usually need attention at the same time. Here’s the realistic version for an eight-room home with ceilings and six doors included:
| Eight-room home | Walls only | With ceilings & 6 doors |
|---|---|---|
| Same color | $3,213 – $3,480 | $4,229 – $4,737 |
| Color change | $5,170 – $5,620 | $6,548 – $7,559 |
Individually, ceilings run roughly $87 to $117 per room and doors about $54 each. You can add either to your own estimate below.
Still not included in any of the figures above: baseboards, door frames, window trim, and cabinets. Those are real work and get priced separately — we’d rather tell you here than surprise you at the estimate.
Cabinet Painting
Cabinet painting is priced per project rather than per square foot, because the variables are the door count, the existing finish, and whether the boxes are sprayed in place or the doors taken offsite. For most Fort Collins kitchens it lands well below the cost of replacing cabinetry — usually a fraction of it. Learn more about cabinet painting or request an estimate and we’ll price yours specifically.
Why the Cheapest Bid Is Usually the Most Expensive
If you collect three bids in Fort Collins, one will likely come in far below the others. It’s worth understanding what’s being removed to get there, because the gap is almost never the labor rate — it’s prep.
- Skipped caulk replacement. Front Range freeze-thaw cycles pull sealant away from trim, windows, and siding joints every winter. Painting over failed caulk looks fine for one season and lets water behind the paint for the next five.
- Painting over chalked surfaces without priming. At just over 5,000 feet, Fort Collins takes considerably more UV than most of the country. South and west elevations chalk first. New paint over chalk doesn’t bond — it peels.
- One coat instead of two. Especially noticeable on a color change, where it shows up as patchy coverage within a year or two.
- Builder-grade product. Cheaper per gallon, shorter service life in this climate.
A quality exterior in Fort Collins should give you roughly 7 to 10 years. A job that skipped prep often needs attention in half that — which means the cheaper bid cost more per year of service.
You Might Not Need a Full Repaint Yet
Not every home that looks tired needs a complete exterior repaint. A few situations where we’ll tell you to wait or do less:
- Only one elevation has failed. If your south or west wall is chalked but the rest is sound, a single-elevation repaint is a legitimate option and costs a fraction of the whole house.
- The problem is caulk, not paint. Sometimes re-caulking and spot-priming buys you several more years.
- Trim only. Trim and fascia weather faster than siding. Refreshing just the trim can make a home look repainted for far less.
We’d rather do the smaller job now and the full repaint when it’s genuinely due than sell you something you don’t need.
Get a More Specific Number
The tables above will get you in the right neighborhood. If you want a closer figure for your own home, our estimator asks a few more questions and gives you a tighter range in under a minute — no contact information required.
Fort Collins House Painting Cost FAQs
How much does it cost to paint a 2,000 square foot house in Fort Collins?
For a single-story home with vinyl windows, roughly $3,675. The same square footage on a two-story runs about $4,200, since height means staging and slower production. Wood windows add $630 to $685 for the extra prep, and a walk-out basement adds $525 to $735 of additional surface. Allow ±$1,000 from those figures depending on surface condition, paint selection, and how many colors are in your scheme.
Why does changing colors cost more?
A color change generally needs additional coverage to fully hide the existing color, particularly when going from dark to light. The prep is the same; the coverage isn’t.
How much does it cost to paint the interior of a whole house?
For a typical eight-room home with ceilings and doors included, expect roughly $4,229 to $4,737 in the same color, or $6,548 to $7,559 for a color change. Walls only, without ceilings or doors, runs $3,213 to $3,480 and $5,170 to $5,620 respectively. Baseboards, window trim, and cabinets are priced separately.
Is it cheaper to paint in the off-season?
Exterior work in Northern Colorado is genuinely weather-dependent — paint needs surface temperature and an overnight low that allows it to cure, which limits us to roughly late spring through early fall. Interior work runs year-round, and scheduling interiors in winter is often easier because our exterior crews are less booked.
Do these prices include materials?
Yes. Our estimates cover labor and materials. They don’t include any current promotions, so your actual quote may come in lower.
How accurate are these numbers?
They’re ballparks drawn from the same tool our estimators use, and they’re accurate for typical homes in average condition. A final quote follows an on-site inspection, where we can see the actual surface condition — which is the single biggest variable.
Get Your Free Written Estimate
We’ll walk your property, tell you honestly what it needs, and give you a written estimate with no pressure and no obligation. Call or text (970) 599-9614, or schedule your free estimate online.
Serving Fort Collins, Timnath, Windsor, Loveland, Greeley, and throughout Northern Colorado.
