Twin Cities Painting FAQ

Most interior painting projects are priced per room or per square foot of floor area. Walls alone typically run about $2 to $6 per square foot, so a standard 12×12 bedroom commonly lands somewhere between $400 and $1,000. Ceilings, trim, and doors are usually separate line items on top of that.

What moves the price: wall height and stairwells, the number of doors and trim runs, how much patching and prep the walls need, big color changes from dark to light (those take extra coats), furniture moving, and which paint tier you choose. Two quotes that look very different on paper almost always differ in prep depth and product quality, not just labor.

It starts with a walkthrough and a written estimate that lists exactly what’s included: scope, prep steps, products, and coat count. Colors are confirmed before anyone picks up a brush.

Before work begins, you’d remove valuables and wall hangings. Prodigy Painting moves furniture to the center of the room and covers it, then protects your floors. The prep phase comes first: patching holes, sanding, caulking gaps, spot priming bare areas, and masking everything that isn’t getting painted. Then two coats, cut in and rolled. You’ll get a final walkthrough at the end, and leftover paint is labeled by room so you have it for future touch-ups.

A typical room takes about one to two days including prep and two coats. A whole-house interior usually runs a crew about three to seven working days depending on the size and scope.

Latex paint is dry to the touch in roughly an hour and ready for a second coat in about two to four hours. Full cure takes two to four weeks, so clean walls gently and keep furniture away from them until then. If there’s heavy drywall repair involved, that adds time because the compound has to dry completely before it can be sanded and primed.

Sheen choice matters more than most homeowners realize, and it depends on the room. Flat or matte is the right call for ceilings and low-traffic walls because it hides surface imperfections well, though it’s the least washable. Eggshell is the go-to for most living areas and bedrooms: it balances washability with a forgiving look. Satin is better for kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, and kids’ rooms where walls take more abuse. Semi-gloss is standard on trim and doors because it’s durable and easy to wipe down.

One thing to keep in mind: higher sheen is more washable, but it also shows wall texture and roller marks more. Bathrooms benefit from a mildew-resistant formula in addition to the right sheen level.

A typical single-family exterior in the Twin Cities commonly runs about $3,000 to $10,000 or more, or roughly $1.50 to $4 per square foot of painted surface. What drives that range: how many stories the house is, what kind of siding you have, how much prep is needed (scraping, wood repair), the amount of trim and detail work, whether you’re doing a full color change, and lead-safe requirements on homes built before 1978.

Trim, doors, shutters, decks, and fences are usually separate line items. When a quote comes in significantly lower than others, the difference almost always comes down to prep depth and paint quality.

Exterior paint typically lasts seven to ten years on most siding materials. Painted wood siding tends to land in the five to ten year range, fiber cement closer to ten to fifteen. South- and west-facing walls usually show wear first because of heavier sun exposure.

The single biggest factor in how long a paint job lasts isn’t the paint itself: it’s how well the surface was prepared before the first coat went on. Proper washing, scraping all loose paint, sanding edges, spot priming bare wood, and allowing adequate dry time make the difference between a job that holds for a decade and one that peels in two or three years.

Yes, always. Washing removes dirt, chalking, mildew, and loose paint so the new coat has a clean surface to bond to. Painting over chalk or surface contamination is one of the most common causes of early peeling.

After washing, the siding needs to dry fully before any paint goes on, usually 24 to 48 hours depending on weather. Too much pressure can damage wood or force water behind siding, so the right technique matters. On homes built before 1978, washing can loosen lead paint: paid work that disturbs more than 20 square feet of exterior painted surface falls under EPA RRP rules, which require ground covers and containment. Prodigy Painting is an EPA Lead Certified Contractor, so that’s handled correctly.

Professional cabinet painting in the Twin Cities typically runs about $3,000 to $8,000 for a full kitchen, with per-unit pricing often landing around $100 to $200 per door or drawer front including the frames. What moves the number: how many doors and drawers you have, whether there’s an island or built-ins, the cabinet material and condition, the color change involved, and whether spray application is used for a factory-smooth finish.

Painting is almost always a fraction of the cost of refacing or full replacement, and it makes sense when your cabinet boxes are structurally solid and the layout works for you. If the boxes are water-damaged, swollen, or you need to change the layout for new appliances, that’s when replacement becomes the right conversation.

Doors and drawer fronts come off first and are labeled so everything goes back exactly where it was. Hardware is removed and bagged. Doors are typically sprayed in a dedicated area for a smooth, even finish while the cabinet boxes are masked and the kitchen is sealed off.

The sequence: degrease with TSP or equivalent, light sand or chemical deglaze, fill any dings, apply a bonding primer, then two finish coats of a hard-wearing enamel, spray applied. That’s why a proper cabinet painting job takes a minimum of three to five days on-site, and when doors are finished off-site, the full project can span one to two weeks. The enamel is hard enough to handle within days, but full cure takes about two to four weeks. Close doors gently and avoid harsh cleaners until then.

Yes, but it takes extra steps. Oak has an open grain that reads as texture through paint if it isn’t addressed. For a smooth, grain-free result, that grain gets filled with a grain filler or several high-build primer coats that are sanded between applications. It’s additional labor and cost, so it should be part of the conversation before the job is quoted.

Some homeowners actually prefer the visible grain texture under paint, so there’s no wrong answer. What’s important is deciding beforehand. Oak also has tannins that can bleed through lighter paint colors without a stain-blocking primer, so that step isn’t skippable regardless of the look you’re going for.

Homes built before 1978 commonly have lead-based paint. When paid work disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface per room indoors or more than 20 square feet on the exterior, federal EPA RRP (Renovation, Repair, and Painting) rules require the work to be done by a certified firm following lead-safe practices: containing the work area, using proper methods (no open-flame burning or uncontrolled power sanding), and cleaning up thoroughly afterward.

Prodigy Painting is EPA Lead Certified, which means you don’t have to take anyone’s word for it. If your home was built before 1978, you’re covered. If you’re not sure whether your home has lead paint, we can talk through it during your estimate.

A little goes a long way. For interior work, remove valuables, wall hangings, and small items from the rooms being painted. The crew handles moving larger furniture to the center of the room and covering it, and they protect your floors.

For exterior work, clear items away from the walls, trim back any shrubs or plants that are close to the siding, and make sure spigots and exterior outlets are accessible. You generally don’t need to be home during the work, but access to water and power is needed. If there’s anything specific to your home worth knowing before we start, your walkthrough is the right time to flag it.