How Much Does It Cost to Paint a House on the Gold Coast in 2026?

Most people who ask us what it costs to paint a house want a number before they want a site visit. That’s fair. You need to know whether you’re looking at a $6,000 job or a $30,000 job before you start planning around it.

Below are the guide ranges we work from for professional repaints on the Gold Coast and Tweed Coast in 2026, and what pushes a job to the top of a range or past it. They aren’t a quote, because nobody can price your house properly without seeing it, but they’re a realistic starting point.

Quick answer

For a professional repaint with proper preparation and two top coats, these are useful starting ranges for common Gold Coast homes:

Scope	Guide range incl. GST
One bedroom – walls and ceiling	$900–$1,600
3-bed single-storey interior – walls and ceilings	$6,500–$10,000
3-bed full interior – walls, ceilings, doors, trims and skirtings	$9,000–$14,000
4-bed full interior	$11,000–$18,000+
Single-storey exterior – render/brick	$9,000–$15,000
Two-storey exterior	$13,000–$22,000+
Weatherboard / high-prep exterior	$14,000–$28,000+
Full interior + exterior repaint	$22,000–$38,000+
Door and frame, both sides	$180–$300 each
Scaffolding where required	Quoted separately, project dependent

These are guide ranges only. Where your home lands depends on its size, the preparation and repairs it needs, wall and ceiling heights, access, the paint system, the number of colours and exactly what’s in the scope. Large two-storey homes, lots of trims, high or raked ceilings, heavy preparation and significant repairs can all take a job past the top of these figures.

Roofs aren’t included in any of the above. Roof painting and restoration is priced as its own job.

Example prices for common Gold Coast homes

3-bedroom single-storey house

Think of a typical low-set brick or rendered home, the kind you see all through Robina, Mudgeeraba and Elanora, with standard ceiling heights and walls in reasonable condition.

• Walls and ceilings only, one wall colour and one ceiling colour: around $6,500–$10,000.
• Full interior, adding doors, frames, architraves and skirtings: around $9,000–$14,000.

Much of the gap between those two figures is trim work. Doors, frames and skirtings need sanding, careful cutting-in and an enamel finish that shows every mistake. Once you count wardrobe, linen and laundry doors as well as room doors, they add up quickly.

What moves a 3-bed toward the top of the range: lots of patching from years of picture hooks and wall plugs, cracked cornices, a change from a dark or strong colour to a light one, feature walls, and plenty of built-ins to cut around.

4-bedroom two-storey house

For a full interior on a 4-bedroom home, $11,000–$18,000+ is a starting guide only. Four-bedroom homes vary far more than three-bedroom ones. A compact project home in a newer estate is a very different job to a large two-storey home at Hope Island or Mermaid Beach with voids, a long staircase and raked ceilings.

A 4-bedroom interior can go well past $18,000 when it has:

• a double-height void over the stairs or living area, which needs a scaffold tower or platform to reach safely
• stairwell walls and balustrades
• ceilings of 2.7 metres or higher throughout
• extensive trims, such as wide skirtings, feature panelling, window reveals or VJ walls
• several colours, or different colours for walls, ceilings and trims
• major preparation or repairs after years without maintenance

The exterior of a two-storey home in reasonable condition usually sits around $13,000–$22,000+, with scaffolding quoted on top where it’s needed.

Interior only, exterior only, or both

For a typical home in reasonable condition, our guide range for a full interior and exterior repaint is around $22,000–$38,000+, depending on the property and the scope. Doing both together saves a little on set-up, but the main benefit is getting it done in one go.

Plenty of homeowners split the work, usually starting with the exterior because it’s protecting the building. Our guide on interior vs exterior painting covers the differences.

On exteriors, construction matters. A single-storey rendered or brick home generally sits around $9,000–$15,000. Weatherboard and high-prep homes sit around $14,000–$28,000+, because board edges generally need scraping, sanding and filling, bare timber needs priming and gaps need caulking before any topcoat goes on.

What’s included in a professional repaint

Our guide ranges assume a certain standard of work. For an interior, that means:

• protecting floors, furniture and fittings
• filling holes and cracks, sanding back and sealing repairs so they don’t show through the topcoat
• spot-priming or undercoating bare areas, stains and repaired sections where needed
• two top coats on the painted surfaces
• a clean site at the end of each day and at handover

For an exterior, it means washing down the surfaces and treating mould, scraping and sanding loose or flaking paint, filling and caulking, and priming bare timber or new render patches. Then two coats of an exterior system that suits the surface and its exposure go on.

If one quote is much lower than another, it’s worth checking whether both include these steps.

What pushes the price up

Preparation and surface condition

Preparation is usually where the biggest difference between two jobs sits. Sound walls that were painted properly last time need a sand, patch and two coats. Flaking, chalky or peeling paint, or a previous job done badly, can mean extensive scraping and sanding and sometimes a full sealer coat before any colour goes on.

Repairs

Minor filling is part of normal prep. Bigger repairs are a separate cost, including:

• cracked render
• cornices pulling away from the ceiling
• water-damaged plasterboard
• rotten timber in fascias, barge boards, window sills or deck posts

Rotten timber needs replacing, sometimes by a carpenter, because paint over rot doesn’t last. We’d rather point these out at the quote stage than find them halfway through the job.

Height, access and scaffolding

Single-storey work can usually be done from ladders and planks. Two-storey exteriors, steep blocks, areas above pools or roofs, and internal voids need scaffolding, mobile towers or an elevated work platform. Safe access for work at height isn’t optional. It’s priced to suit the site.

That’s why we quote scaffolding separately. Tight side access, common on narrow beachside blocks around Mermaid Beach and Broadbeach, can also add time.

Ceilings, doors, trims and detail work

Ceiling height makes a real difference. Anything above a standard height, or raked, means more time on planks or platforms. Detail adds up too:

• bulkheads and cornices
• VJ panelling and Queenslander fretwork
• balustrades and louvre doors
• shutters and timber window frames

A flush door is much quicker to paint than a panelled or louvred one.

Colours and colour changes

Every extra colour means more cutting in and more changeovers. Walls, ceilings and trims all in different colours take noticeably longer than a two-colour scheme. Going from a dark or strong colour to a light one can need a primer or an extra coat to cover properly.

Coastal exposure

Homes close to the beach, such as around Palm Beach, Currumbin and the Tweed Coast, need more attention. Salt has to be washed off thoroughly before painting or the new coating may not bond properly. Corroded metal needs rust treatment and the right primer. Strong UV breaks paint down faster on north and west-facing walls. Mould on shaded walls and eaves needs treating, not just painting over. Choosing the right exterior system matters here, which we cover in the best exterior paint for the Gold Coast climate.

What can keep the cost down

There are sensible ways to reduce the price without cutting corners:

• Keep the scope tight. If your doors and skirtings are in good condition, walls and ceilings only may be enough.
• Limit the number of colours. Keeping trims and ceilings consistent saves time.
• Clear the rooms. Moving furniture, taking down pictures and removing curtains before we start saves labour.
• Stage the work. Do the exterior now and the interior later, or the living areas first.
• Don’t leave it too long. Repainting while the existing paint is still sound is much cheaper than stripping failed paint and replacing weathered timber. Our guide on how often you should paint your house explains the signs to look for and typical repaint windows.
• Settle your colours before the job starts. Changes partway through cost time.

What we wouldn’t recommend is cutting preparation or dropping to one coat to save money. The finish generally won’t last as long, especially outside.

Does paint quality change the price much?

Usually less than people expect. On most repaints, labour and preparation account for more of the price than the paint itself, so stepping up to a better-quality paint tends to change a quote less than changes to the prep or the number of coats would. What often matters more is the right product for the surface: mould-resistant coatings in bathrooms, washable finishes in kitchens and hallways, and an exterior system suited to the substrate and exposure.

Why painting quotes vary so much

It’s common for two quotes on the same house to be thousands of dollars apart, and often it’s because they cover different scopes. One quote may allow for more preparation, repairs, trims or an extra coat, while another is based on a narrower scope of work. Before comparing the final price, check what each quote actually includes. Our guide on why house painting quotes are so different goes through this in more detail.

It’s also worth checking that the painter is licensed for the work (QBCC in Queensland, and a NSW contractor licence over the border) and carries public liability insurance.

For a broader checklist covering licensing, insurance, preparation, coating systems, scope and communication, see our guide on how to choose a house painter on the Gold Coast.

What to send when you ask for a quote

The more we know up front, the more useful the first conversation is. When you request a quote, it helps to include:

• your suburb
• whether it’s interior, exterior or both, and which rooms or areas
• the size of the home: bedrooms, single or two-storey, and any high or raked ceilings
• what you want painted: walls, ceilings, doors, trims, skirtings, eaves, fascias, decks or fences
• photos of each room or side of the house, plus close-ups of problem areas like cracks, peeling paint, mould or rot (the form takes up to six)
• whether you’re keeping the same colours or changing, and roughly how many colours
• timing and anything that affects access, such as tenants, pets, a pool, a steep block or a sale date

If you’re trying to plan the job around work, family, tenants or a move, our guide to how long it takes to paint a house gives realistic working-day ranges.

From there we’ll inspect the home, talk through what’s needed and give you a clear written quote before any work starts.

FAQs

How much does it cost to paint a 3-bedroom house on the Gold Coast?

For a single-storey 3-bedroom home, a professional interior repaint of walls and ceilings is typically $6,500–$10,000 incl. GST. Including doors, trims and skirtings, it’s typically $9,000–$14,000. Condition, ceiling height, colour changes and repairs decide where your home sits in that range.

How much does it cost to paint the outside of a house?

As a guide, a single-storey exterior is around $9,000–$15,000 and a two-storey exterior around $13,000–$22,000+. Weatherboard homes and homes needing heavy preparation are around $14,000–$28,000+. Scaffolding is quoted separately where it’s needed.

Can a 4-bedroom house cost more than $18,000 to paint inside?

Yes. Large two-storey homes with voids, high or raked ceilings, extensive trims, several colours or significant repairs can go well past $18,000. The guide range suits a typical 4-bedroom home in reasonable condition.

Is it cheaper to paint the inside and outside at the same time?

Slightly, because there’s one set-up and one colour plan. The saving isn’t usually large. Many homeowners stage the work instead, starting with the exterior.

Is scaffolding included in these prices?

No. Scaffolding depends on height, wall length, ground conditions and how long it stays up, so we quote it separately for each project.

Can you give me a price over the phone?

We can give you a rough idea based on photos and the scope. A firm price needs an inspection, because preparation, repairs and access are hard to judge from a description.

Getting a price for your home

If you’d like a price for your own place, send us some photos and a rough scope through our quote form, or call Nathan on 0412 544 377. We service the Gold Coast and Tweed Coast, and we’re QBCC licensed (15402463), NSW licensed (455009C) and carry $20 million public liability insurance.

You can also read more about our interior painting, exterior painting and residential painting services.