House Painters from Fort Worth to Dallas: What Jobs Cost, When to Paint Outside and the Lead Rules

What painters charge in Fort Worth and Dallas

Our ranges start from national cost guides and apply the Dallas-Fort Worth construction cost factor of 0.84 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is measured in Fort Worth. Labor is most of a paint job, so the lower local wage level shows up directly in the price.

Estimates for 2026, including labor and standard parts. Dallas–Fort Worth prices use the metro's construction cost factor of 0.84 (US average = 1.00) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Area Cost Factors. Your quote depends on access, materials and the condition of the home.

Local data lines up with the table. Angi's Dallas figures, updated in August 2026, put the average interior job at $2,257, with most homeowners paying $997 to $3,516. By square footage Angi uses $2 to $6, and says high ceilings, trim and accent walls push a job toward $4 to $6 per square foot. Labor is 75% to 95% of the bill (Angi).

Prep is where bids split. Angi adds $0.50 to $0.75 per square foot for patching and sanding and singles out older Dallas homes with textured walls. A popcorn ceiling taken down before painting costs $1 to $2 per square foot more.

Expect a quote near the top of the range when:

• The house has vaulted living rooms or two-story entries that need tall ladders or scaffolding
• Walls carry heavy knockdown or orange-peel texture with patches that must be blended
• The home was built before 1978 and the crew must set up lead-safe containment
• Brick is being painted or limewashed for the first time
• You want a dark color over a light one, which usually needs primer and an extra coat

The painting calculator prices your own square footage and wall condition by ZIP code, and the one below does the same on this page. Our national painting guide explains finishes and coverage.

Interior painting in DFW homes

At Dallas-Fort Worth prices, a bedroom runs $295 to $715 and a primary bedroom $545 to $1,200. A living room costs $505 to $1,700, a bathroom $125 to $335 and each interior door $63 to $125. Painting kitchen cabinets is the outlier at $755 to $3,200, because each door comes off and gets cleaned, sanded, primed and sprayed. If the cabinets are part of a bigger kitchen job, our Dallas kitchen remodeling guide covers that side.

Angi's Dallas price list breaks interior work down by surface: walls $1 to $3 per square foot, smooth ceilings $1 to $4, baseboard and trim $2 to $4 per linear foot, and hard to reach areas $5 to $8 per square foot. Paint itself is the small part, at $15 to $40 a gallon.

Where you live in the metro changes the prep. Fort Worth's homes are newer on average than Dallas's: the median Fort Worth home was built in 1998, and 48.3% of the city's housing went up in 2000 or later. In the City of Dallas the median home dates from 1983, and in Irving from 1987. Angi notes that older Dallas homes with textured walls are the ones that need the most patching and sanding. Frisco and McKinney are newer still, with median years of 2010 and 2007.

Summer changes interior work too. With July and August highs near 96°F, windows stay shut and the air conditioning runs all day, so ask which products the painter plans to use and how long each room should air out before you sleep in it.

Exterior painting and the North Texas heat

In most of the country, cold limits exterior painting. In DFW the bigger problem is heat. Normal highs at DFW Airport reach 95.6°F in July and 95.8°F in August, and the area averages 20.2 days a year at 100°F or hotter. In 2011 there were 71.

Sherwin-Williams warns that temperatures over 100°F can make the paint film dry before it has bonded to the surface, which leads to peeling later. It also advises against painting in direct summer sun, because the heat dries the paint too fast and leaves lap marks and weak adhesion. Its advice is to move around the house to stay out of the sun, so on a July job expect the crew to paint each wall while it is in shade (Sherwin-Williams).

Winter is less of a barrier here than up north, but it still matters. DFW averages 29.2 nights a year at or below freezing, most of them in December, January and February. Traditional latex needs temperatures above 60°F to cure, and the surface should stay above the dew point for about 48 hours after the last coat.

Source: National Weather Service DFW normals, 1991 to 2020. Angi's Dallas page agrees that mild spring and fall weather gives the best conditions. April, October and the first half of November are the easiest windows, and they book up first.

Brick, siding and how often to repaint

If your house is brick with painted trim, soffits and fascia, the trim is most of the labor. HomeGuide's national prices per square foot are $1.50 to $5 for wood, $2 to $5 for stucco and $2.50 to $5 for brick, before the DFW factor. Whitewashing or limewashing brick costs $2.50 to $6 and lasts longer than paint (HomeGuide).

HomeGuide's repaint cycles by surface:

South and southwest walls wear fastest, which in North Texas means the sides that take the afternoon sun. Painting brick is a one-way decision: once it is painted, it needs repainting on that schedule. A typical exterior job takes 4 to 5 days. If hail recently hit your area, have the roof, gutters and siding checked before you paint; our Dallas roofing guide explains the claim rules.

Lead paint in older Dallas and Fort Worth homes

Lead paint was banned for homes in 1978. In the City of Dallas, 46.1% of homes were built before 1980, by the Census Bureau's 2024 count. Fort Worth's share is lower, at 31.5%, but older neighborhoods on both sides of the metro hold a lot of them.

Source: Census Reporter, ACS 2024.

How the rules work in Texas

Texas has not set up its own renovation lead program. EPA administers its Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule directly in Texas, while the Texas Department of State Health Services handles lead inspections, risk assessments and abatement under state rules (Texas DSHS).

For a painting job, that means:

1. Anyone paid to disturb paint in a home built before 1978 must work for an EPA-certified firm, with a certified renovator assigned to the job.
2. The rule kicks in when the job disturbs more than 6 square feet of paint in a room or more than 20 square feet outside.
3. The firm gives you EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet before work starts, seals off the work area, and cleans up with HEPA vacuums and wet wiping.
4. Burning paint off with an open flame is banned, and so is power sanding or grinding without HEPA dust collection.
5. A certified renovator may test the parts being painted with an EPA-recognized swab kit. A full lead inspection of the house is different: under Texas rules it takes a state-certified lead inspector or risk assessor.

You can look up a firm with EPA's lead-safe firm locator. For questions, EPA's lead line is 1-800-424-5323, and its Region 6 office in Dallas is at 1-214-665-7577.

Lead-safe prep takes extra time for plastic sheeting, cleanup and testing. Ask each painter to list it as a separate line so you can compare bids fairly.

Paint VOC limits

A federal cap covers house paint sold anywhere in the country, Texas included. Since 1999, house paint made for sale in the United States may not exceed 250 grams of volatile organic compounds per liter for flat finishes and 380 for nonflat finishes such as eggshell, satin and gloss (40 CFR 59, Table 1). Each product's data sheet lists its VOC figure. If someone at home has asthma or you are painting a nursery, ask the painter for a low or zero VOC line and check that number before work starts.

Do you need a permit?

No building permit is needed to paint a house anywhere in the metro, but some neighborhoods have their own review.

• Fort Worth: the city's residential permit page says permits are not required for cosmetic work such as wall coverings, cabinets and counters (City of Fort Worth). Replacing exterior doors or windows does need one, so a paint job that grows into new windows changes the answer.
• Dallas: nonstructural interior work that adds no floor area and does not change exterior doors or windows needs no building permit (City of Dallas).
• Arlington: the city lists painting, papering, tiling, cabinets and countertops as work exempt from permits.
• Plano, Irving, Frisco, McKinney and Denton run their own building departments; painting is finish work, but check with the city if the job includes carpentry or siding replacement.

Historic districts

Fort Worth's historic districts are overseen by the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, created in 1981. In the Fairmount/Southside district guidelines, paint is on the list of work that does not need a Certificate of Appropriateness. The exception is masonry: painting brick or stone that has never been painted does need one (Fort Worth). Other Fort Worth districts have their own guidelines, so check yours.

In Dallas, a property in a Landmark District needs a Certificate of Appropriateness before any work begins, and each district ordinance sets its own criteria (City of Dallas). Call the Office of Historic Preservation before you pick colors.

If your home is in an HOA, check whether it has a color list or an architectural review step, and get the approval in writing before the painter orders paint.

Areas we cover

GOLDGCP painters take interior and exterior work across Dallas-Fort Worth:

• Fort Worth
• Dallas
• Arlington
• Irving
• Plano
• Frisco
• McKinney
• Denton

Enter your ZIP code to see painting prices for your part of the metro and get matched with painters near you.