Three painting quotes for the same house can come back far apart, and the gap is rarely about one painter being generous and another being greedy. It is usually that the three estimators measured different things, planned different prep, and wrote different amounts of it down. Comparing quotes means putting them on the same footing first and looking at the price second.
Here is how to do that, line by line.
Start with the scope, not the total
Read each proposal for what it actually lists. Walls, ceilings, trim, doors, closets, the garage, fascia and soffits, shutters, the fence: every surface being painted should be named, and anything you expected that is not included should be named too. A quote that says "paint interior" and a quote that lists every room with ceilings and trim are not the same job, even if the totals are close. If one painter left out the ceilings and another included them, that explains a lot of the gap before you look at anything else.
If something is missing from one quote, call and ask. Most estimators will add it in writing. If a painter will not put it in writing, assume it is not included.
Count the coats and name the product
Ask for the number of coats on each surface and the exact product line and sheen, not just the brand. Every major manufacturer sells several tiers, and the entry tier from a good brand covers and wears differently from the top one. A proposal that names only the paint store leaves the choice to whoever picks up the order that morning. One that names the line, the sheen, and two coats over primed repairs gives you something to hold the painter to.
On a North Texas exterior the tier matters more than it does indoors, because the south and west walls take the most sun. Ask what each painter recommends for those elevations and why.
Prep is where quotes diverge the most
Prep is the labor you cannot see once the paint is on, and it is where a low quote usually finds its savings. Compare what each proposal says about:
- Washing, scraping, and sanding paint that has failed
- Caulking seams, window frames, and trim joints
- Patching nail holes and drywall damage, and blending the texture around each repair
- Priming bare wood, patched areas, and stains
- Protecting floors, furniture, fixtures, landscaping, and anything else that stays in place
"Prep as needed" is not a line item. Ask what the estimator saw on the walkthrough and what they plan to do about it. If your house has peeling fascia or hairline cracks in the stucco, a quote that does not mention them will either skip them or charge for them later.
Who does the work, and what covers them
Ask whether the crew is employed by the company or subcontracted, who your point of contact will be while the work is underway, and how you reach them. Then ask for a certificate of insurance issued to you by the insurer, showing general liability and workers’ compensation. Texas does not license painting contractors at the state level, so the insurance certificate is the document that protects you if a ladder goes through a window or someone is hurt on your property.
What the warranty actually covers
Every quote should state the warranty in writing: how long it runs, what counts as a defect, and how you make a claim. Peeling, blistering, and flaking are the usual covered failures; damage, normal wear, and settling cracks usually are not. Ask whether the warranty transfers if you sell. Alliance Painting backs interior work with a Lifetime Interior Warranty and exterior work with a 5-Year Exterior Guarantee, both transferable, with the terms set out in the written proposal before any work begins. Whatever another painter offers, ask for it in the same form.
Timeline, weather days, and payment terms
Compare start dates, the expected number of working days, and how each painter handles rain or heat on an exterior. Then look at the payment schedule. A deposit to hold the date is normal; most of the money up front is not. The final payment should follow your walkthrough and punch list, checked in daylight.
Put the quotes side by side in a table
The simplest way to compare is a short table with one row per item: surfaces, coats, products, prep, who moves furniture, insurance, warranty, timeline, payment. Fill it in from each proposal. The gaps become obvious, and so does which estimator measured the house and which one gave a number from the driveway.
For orientation only, published Dallas–Fort Worth cost guides dated 2022 to 2026 put a typical exterior repaint with siding and trim at $3,500–7,000 and most whole-home interiors at $6,000–12,000. Those are market figures, not a price list, and where your house lands inside a range depends on the items above.
The lowest number is not automatically a bad choice and the highest is not automatically the best. The quote worth taking is the one that describes the work clearly enough that you could hold the painter to every line of it.
The comparison works the same way for Interior Painting or Exterior Painting in Colleyville, Southlake or Grapevine, and a free in-home estimate from Alliance Painting is written out so that it can be compared.