What painting a fence costs
Cost guides quote fence painting per linear foot, per square foot of surface, or per hour, and the three rarely line up. The calculator runs your fence through each of them side by side, then prices the paint or stain you would buy to do it yourself, so you can see where a quote sits and what the job is worth to you.
hired cost = fence length × price per foot for the fence type
DIY cost = surface × coats ÷ coverage per gallon, rounded up to whole gallons, × price per gallon
The headline uses HomeAdvisor's ranges by fence type, because the type drives the work: a shadow box has two layers of boards and every gap to reach, while a solid privacy fence is closer to painting a wall.
| Fence type | Hired, per linear foot |
|---|---|
| Picket | $2 to $5 |
| Privacy | $2 to $10 |
| Shadow box | $4 to $14 |
| Wrought iron | $5 to $12 |
Source: HomeAdvisor, which puts the overall range at $3 to $14 per foot.
Worked example
A 150 ft wood privacy fence, 6 ft high, painted on both sides with two coats:
- Hired, by type: 150 × $2 to $10 = $300 to $1,500.
- Hired, by the foot for both sides: Fixr gives $2.25 to $10 per foot for one side and says the cost doubles when both sides are done, $4.50 to $20. That is $675 to $3,000.
- Hired, by the square foot: the fence has 1,978 sq ft of surface on its two sides (6.00 sq ft per foot on the board side, 7.19 on the rail side where rails and posts stick out). At Fixr's $0.35 to $0.90 per square foot, $692 to $1,780.
- Do it yourself: Valspar lists its Barn & Fence latex at 300 to 400 sq ft per gallon, two coats. 1,978 × 2 ÷ 400 to 1,978 × 2 ÷ 300 is 9.9 to 13.2 gallons, so 10 to 14 gallons to buy. At HomeAdvisor's $20 to $80 per gallon of paint, $200 to $1,120.
The middle of the hired range by type, $900, sits $240 above the middle of the DIY cost, $660. With paint at the low end of its price range, the gap is much wider. Fixr puts painter labor at $40 to $60 an hour, so each 8 hour day you do yourself is worth $320 to $480.
Paint or stain?
Switch the finish to stain and the calculator uses Sherwin-Williams WoodScapes coverage (300 to 400 sq ft per gallon on smooth wood, 200 to 300 on rough, two coats recommended) and HomeAdvisor's stain price of $20 to $50 a gallon. It also adds Homewyse's price for one coat of semi-transparent oil stain, $1.38 to $2.76 per square foot of surface. For stain by brand, with Cabot, Behr and Thompson's coverage and a drawing of what gets stained on each style, use the fence stain calculator.
Fixr's gallon prices show why the DIY range is wide: water-based paint $30 to $90, oil-based $40 to $120, acrylic $30 to $70, and water-based stain $20 to $80. Fixr also lists primer at $20 to $70 a gallon, which the calculator leaves out.
Does it matter if you paint one side or both?
Yes, for the surface and the paint. On a solid privacy fence the rail side has about 20% more surface than the board side because of the rails and posts. On board on board and shadow box fences both sides look the same, so the calculator offers one side or both. The per foot rates from HomeAdvisor don't say whether they cover one side or both, which is why the square foot line is worth comparing: it follows exactly what you pick.
What about wrought iron?
For iron the calculator shows the hired range only: HomeAdvisor's $5 to $12 per foot and Fixr's $5 to $10 per foot for metal fences. The paint needed depends on the bar pattern, since every picket is painted all the way around, so we don't guess a gallon count.
Where to go next
If the fence isn't built yet, the wood fence cost calculator prices the installation, and the fence cost calculator covers every material. The fence calculator lists the posts, rails and boards.