The short answer: 35-50% gross margin on residential exterior painting. Net margin after CAC and overhead typically lands at 12-25% for established painters. Two variables dominate: prep-tier mix (premium tier lifts blended margin 5-10 points) and CAC channel (direct mail vs aggregator leads is the difference between 18% net and 8% net).
Gross margin by prep tier
| Prep tier | Gross margin range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wash + paint (entry) | 30-40% | Material is a higher share of total; less prep labor |
| Scrape + prime + paint (standard) | 40-50% | Labor share rises; material stays similar |
| Full-prep + premium product | 45-60% | Premium products (Aura, Emerald, Marquee) carry higher gross at modest cost increase |
| HOA-restricted color jobs | +2-5% over base | Less time spent on color consultations |
Three-tier upsell is the margin lever
Quoting only one tier loses both the homeowners who would have picked entry (price-shopper) and the ones who would have picked premium (quality-shopper). Always offer all three. Most homeowners pick the middle tier; ~15-25% pick premium; ~10-15% pick entry. The blended gross margin across the mix typically lands 5-8 points higher than single-tier quoting because:
- The premium-picker base lifts the high-margin tier share.
- The entry-picker base still books at the higher tier they would have walked away from.
- Premium-tier work generates referrals + neighbor-follow-up at higher conversion rates.
Net margin after CAC
| Acquisition channel | Effective CAC | Net margin impact |
|---|---|---|
| Mailed paint quotes (Jan-Mar) | $200-$400 | 18-25% net |
| Warm-follow door-hangers | $400-$700 | 15-22% net |
| Cold door-hangers | $300-$700 | 13-19% net |
| Cold Facebook ads | $300-$800 | 10-17% net |
| Angi / Thumbtack / HomeAdvisor aggregator | $500-$1,200 | 5-12% net |
Seasonal capacity utilization is the other lever
Exterior painting is brutally seasonal — March-October absorbs 75% of annual demand. The painter running 90%+ crew utilization through the prime season nets 5-8 points higher than the painter running 60% utilization with idle crew between jobs. The fixed-cost overhead (crew payroll, equipment payments, insurance, vehicle) doesn't scale down for idle weeks.
The single biggest lever for capacity utilization is mailing in mid-January through March to lock the spring + summer calendar before competitors. Mailing in May means filling leftover capacity.
What drives the upper end
- Spray-crew efficiency. Production crews on a refined process can paint 50-100% faster than brush-only crews on equivalent jobs, dropping labor share of cost.
- Premium prep-tier discipline. Always quoting three tiers + recommending the middle one drifts the mix toward premium.
- HOA neighborhoods. HOA color-restricted markets have less consultation time per job and 2-3× neighbor-follow-up conversion.
- Spring-surge capacity lock. 90%+ capacity utilization Apr-Sep is the single biggest net-margin lift.
- Neighbor follow-up automation. Same-block mailings after install convert at 8-14% vs 2-4% cold.
Target margin by year
- Year 1 (aggregator leads + entry-tier mix): 5-12% net.
- Year 2-3 (adding mailed quotes + three-tier discipline): 10-18% net.
- Year 4+ (direct acquisition + spray crews + premium mix): 18-28% net.
The fastest lift to net margin is direct acquisition + three-tier discipline.
Free account, free rendering, $1 per mailed paint quote. Average $32 in install revenue per $1 spent.
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