Exterior paint for a 2,000 sq ft house
9 gallons + 1 quart of exterior paint covers a one-story 2,000 sq ft house in two coats, if the siding is smooth. The same house in stucco wants 13 gal, because rough surfaces cover at 250 sq ft per gallon instead of 350. Stories and surface move this number more than anything you can measure.
| House | Siding area | Smooth | Wood / fiber cement | Stucco / brick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One story | 1,610 sq ft | 9 gal + 1 qt | 11 gal | 13 gal |
| Two story | 2,163 sq ft | 12 gal + 2 qt | 14 gal + 2 qt | 17 gal + 2 qt |
All rows are two coats. The model walks a square footprint (the tightest possible perimeter), stands it 10 ft per story to cover the rim and eave bands, and knocks off 10% for doors, windows, and the garage. A long ranch or an L-shape carries 10 to 15% more perimeter than the square math, so lean on the high side if your house sprawls.
Questions people ask
Why does the two-story house need more paint, not less?
Because height beats footprint. A two-story 2,000 sq ft house sits on half the footprint but carries 19 ft of painted wall height against 10, and the math nets out to about 553 sq ft more siding. Two-story houses are taller than they are compact.
What about the gables and dormers?
Add them: a gable is its width times its rise, divided by 2, and most houses have two. Dormers run 40 to 80 sq ft each with their cheeks. Or do what estimators do and round the body color up a gallon on any house with a complicated roofline.
Does this include trim and shutters?
No, body color only. Fascia, soffits, corner boards, and window trim usually add about 10% of the body area in a separate color: roughly 1 gal for the one-story version of this house, two coats. Shutters and the front door are quart territory.
Other house sizes
Know your actual wall measurements? The exterior calculator takes length, width, and real door and window counts instead of modeling them.