Find a trusted painter in Melbourne

Weatherboards, render and Melbourne weather

Melbourne’s weather wears exterior paint down quietly. Winter rain, damp mornings and a handful of harsh summer days make old paint crack and peel, especially on north- and west-facing walls and on weatherboards painted many times over. On most weatherboard homes the prep takes longer than the painting: scraping back loose paint, sanding, filling, replacing the odd rotten board and spot-priming bare timber. Check whether a quote includes replacing rotten boards or just painting over them.

Outside work also runs to the season. Most exterior paints shouldn’t go on when it’s cold, wet or likely to rain before the coat has dried, so spring through autumn is the busy stretch and good painters book out. If you want the outside done before Christmas, start getting quotes in late winter.

Period homes, lead paint and heritage colours

Victorian and Edwardian homes across the inner suburbs bring detail that slows a painter down: cornices, ceiling roses, picture rails, iron lace and turned verandah posts. Many also have lead in the older layers of paint, which is common in homes painted before 1970. A careful painter tests for it and works with wet sanding, containment and a thorough clean-up, never dry sanding or burning it off. Cracks in old lath-and-plaster ceilings also need a proper repair first, or they’ll show straight through the new coat.

If your home sits in a heritage overlay, check your council’s rules before you choose colours. Painting a surface that has never been painted, like face brick or stone, needs a planning permit under a heritage overlay, and some heritage places also control external paint colours. Many councils publish guides to period colour schemes that are worth a look.

Do Victorian painters need a licence?

Not for painting on its own. A painting-only job in Victoria needs no registration, whatever it costs. The exception is a job that mixes painting with other work, like plastering, and is worth more than $10,000, in which case the painter must be registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission. For everyday painting, look the business up on ABN Lookup, ask for proof of public liability insurance and look at recent work. Our Victoria licence checks page explains where the BPC line sits.

What painting costs in Melbourne

Melbourne prices run close to Sydney’s. Most painters charge around $65–$100 an hour or $550–$850 a day, but usually quote the whole job. Repainting a single room is typically $400–$1,000, a three-bedroom interior $3,500–$8,000, and a single-storey brick or rendered exterior $4,000–$12,000. Weatherboard and double-storey exteriors, with more prep and scaffolding, often run $8,000–$20,000.

Our painting price guide covers more jobs. Use it as a yardstick, not a quote.

One painter for your Melbourne home

You get one local painter, already vetted on insurance, ABN and reviews, so you aren’t fielding calls from half a dozen businesses. It’s free for homeowners.

Painting somewhere else? See painters across Australia, or check out other trades in Melbourne. Ready when you are: get a free quote.