Exterior Painting by Siding Type: Hardie, Stucco, Wood & Brick in Idaho

Two homes the same size can cost very different amounts to repaint — and the biggest reason is what they're made of. Fiber cement, stucco, wood lap, T1-11, and brick each drink paint, hold paint, and need prep at their own pace. Here's how each common Treasure Valley siding type changes the prep, the primer, the paint, and the price.

Why siding type matters more than square footage

A square foot of smooth fiber cement and a square foot of rough-sawn cedar are not the same job. Rough and porous surfaces soak up far more paint and take longer to coat properly, while dense or glossy surfaces need the right primer or the topcoat won't grip. When we build an estimate, siding type adjusts two things at once: how fast the crew can move, and how much paint the surface will actually absorb. Get either one wrong and you've either underbid the job or left it under-protected.

Fiber cement (James Hardie, LP SmartSide)

The most common siding on newer Treasure Valley homes, and one of the friendliest to repaint. It's dimensionally stable, doesn't rot, and holds paint well.

• Prep: Wash to remove chalk and dirt, scrape and spot-prime any failing areas, caulk gaps at trim and joints.
• Primer: Usually only needed on bare or repaired spots — factory-primed Hardie takes topcoat directly once clean.
• Paint: A quality 100% acrylic exterior (we lean on Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint or Duration). Two coats on a color change or sun-faded surface.
• What drives cost: Mostly straightforward — the cost lives in trim detail and prep, not the field. This is typically the lowest cost-per-square-foot body to repaint.

Stucco

Common on Mediterranean and Spanish-style homes around the valley. Durable, but its texture and porosity change the math.

• Prep: Wash, patch cracks (hairline cracks are normal; wider ones need a flexible patch), and let any new patch cure before coating.
• Primer: A masonry/alkali-resistant primer on bare or patched stucco; fresh stucco needs to cure before paint goes on at all.
• Paint: Elastomeric or a high-build acrylic that bridges fine cracks and breathes. Heavy texture can cut coverage dramatically — sometimes half of what smooth siding gets per gallon.
• What drives cost: Texture. The rougher the finish, the more paint and time it takes to cover, even though stucco often needs only one heavy coat.

Wood lap siding

Found on older and custom homes. Beautiful, but it moves with the weather and demands the most upkeep.

• Prep: The big one. Scrape loose and peeling paint, sand edges smooth, spot-prime bare wood, replace any rot, and caulk thoroughly. On a weathered wood home, prep is the majority of the labor.
• Primer: Oil or bonding primer on all bare wood; stain-blocking primer over knots and tannin bleed (common on cedar and redwood).
• Paint: A flexible 100% acrylic that expands and contracts with the wood. Two coats.
• What drives cost: Prep condition. A sound, recently-painted wood home is reasonable; a heavily peeling one can easily double the labor.

T1-11 and panel siding

The grooved plywood/OSB panels on many homes built from the '70s through the '90s. Functional, but thirsty and prone to edge swelling.

• Prep: Wash, scrape, sand swollen or delaminating edges, and seal those edges well — that's where water gets in and panels fail.
• Primer: Bare or repaired areas get primed; previously painted panels in good shape may not.
• Paint: The rough, grooved face and porous OSB drink paint, so plan on real coverage. Spraying-and-back-rolling pushes paint into the grooves where a roller alone skips.
• What drives cost: Porosity and the linear footage of grooves and edges to seal.

Brick and masonry

Painting brick is a one-way door — once it's painted, it needs to stay painted — so it deserves the right products from the start.

• Prep: Thorough cleaning, repair of any failing mortar, and full curing of repairs. The surface must be bone dry.
• Primer: A masonry/alkali-resistant primer is essential for adhesion and to block efflorescence (the white mineral haze).
• Paint: A breathable masonry or high-quality acrylic so trapped moisture can escape. Heavy mortar texture cuts coverage roughly in half.
• What drives cost: Surface area is deceptive — all those mortar joints mean more paint and time than the flat dimensions suggest.

Mixed-material homes

Plenty of valley homes combine materials — Hardie body with a stucco accent wall, or brick to the beltline with lap siding above. That's normal. A good estimate prices each material on its own terms rather than averaging the whole house, which is how you avoid both overpaying for the easy sections and under-prepping the hard ones.

The fastest way to spot a rushed exterior bid: a flat per-square-foot price with no questions about what your home is made of. Siding type is the first thing that should come up on the walkthrough.

How we handle it

On every walkthrough we note the siding type (or types) and grade the surface condition before we put a number on it. That's what lets us hand you one fixed, all-inclusive price that's actually built from your home's real surfaces — not a guess averaged across houses that look nothing like yours. If your home is a mix, you'll get a price that respects that.