Painting costs, Cape Town
What really goes into the cost of painting your house.
We do not publish rates, because every house is different. Every job is priced after a site visit, as one fixed price for the whole job. You will find cheaper quotes. This page explains exactly what you give up to get them.
Most painting price pages on the internet are written by companies that sell your details to whoever pays for them. The rates are pitched low because a low rate gets the click, and the contractor who arrives has to find the difference somewhere: fewer coats, no wash, cheaper paint, no primer.
So here is what a proper repaint includes, and why each part matters.
What goes into the price
What a proper job includes, line by line.
Interior repaint, walls and ceilings
Furniture moved and covered, cracks cut out and filled, ceilings cut in by hand, two full coats of Plascon over a bonding coat.
Exterior repaint, plaster
High-pressure wash, chalk and loose coating removed back to sound plaster, cracks opened and sealed, plaster primer, then two full coats.
Exterior repaint, face brick and textured walls
Textured and porous surfaces drink paint. The coverage rate drops and the coats have to be built properly or it flashes within a season.
Trim, doors, windows and fascias
Sanded, primed and finished in enamel. Priced on what is actually there, not averaged into the wall rate.
We do not publish rates. Every property is different. We give you one fixed price for the whole job after we have looked at it properly and written down what we found.
Why the cheap quote is cheap
The savings all come out of the same place.
The wash gets skipped
A Cape Town exterior wall carries years of dust, salt and chalk. Paint over it and you are gluing a new coat to a powder. It looks perfect on handover day and peels in sheets after the first serious winter.
The primer gets skipped
Primer is invisible when the job is done, which makes it the easiest line to delete from a quote. It is also the only thing holding your topcoat to the wall.
Two coats become one and a bit
Thinned paint spreads further and covers well enough to pass a walk-around. Film thickness is what gives you years, and a thin film gives you seasons.
Nobody writes down what was agreed
Without a written specification there is nothing to hold anyone to, so there is nothing a guarantee can mean.
What we check before we price
So your fixed price stays honest.
- Plaster repairs beyond hairline cracking, quoted separately once opened up
- Structural or damp causes behind failing paint, diagnosed first and quoted on their own
- Roof work, which is priced on the roof, not in the wall rate
- Colour changes decided mid-job that need extra coats to cover
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Get your own number
Guidance only goes so far. Let us look at the property.
We come out, get onto the roof and the walls, photograph what we find, and send you one fixed price for the whole job.