Cost to paint LA house exterior?

$7K–$18K for 2,000 sqft single-story.

Cabinet repaint cost?

$3.5K–$7K for a 25-door kitchen.

Los Angeles Interior & Exterior Painting

LA painting — interior, exterior, cabinet refinish. Sherwin-Williams + Benjamin Moore systems, 5-year workmanship warranty.

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Scope of work.

Surface prep
Repair + caulk
Prime
Two finish coats
Cleanup + warranty

What changes about this in Los Angeles.

No permit.
Lead-safe RRP on pre-1978 homes.
HPOZ color review possible.

Los Angeles cost band — 2026

$3 – $9 / sqft interior; $4 – $11 / sqft exterior

Walls only bottom; full surface incl. trim top.

Los Angeles timeline

3–5 days interior; 5–10 days exterior.

How we think about this work in Los Angeles.

Interior remodels live or die in the rough-in. The work nobody sees — venting, framing corrections, blocking, electrical layout, plumbing slope — is what makes a kitchen feel solid in year 10. We refuse to skip a wall opening if it lets us actually inspect what's behind it.

We sequence trades around moisture and dust, not the other way around. Tile + waterproofing get their own dry day. Cabinets get installed against a perfectly plumb, perfectly painted wall — never the reverse. Floors go in after cabinets so the dishwasher doesn't trap them.

The detail that separates a $40K kitchen from a $120K kitchen is rarely the cabinet brand. It's the alignment: drawer-to-drawer reveals, perfectly equal panel returns, integrated lighting, hidden hinges, soft-closing everything. We obsess over alignment because that's what the eye reads as quality.

The schedule, written out.

Every project varies, but the cadence below holds for most interior & exterior painting jobs in Los Angeles. We publish it on purpose — the schedule is the contract.

Week 0
Measure + design intent
Laser site survey, photo as-builts, plumbing + electrical investigation, scope-of-work + budget tier alignment.
Week 1–3
Design + selections
Plans, elevations, cabinet shop drawings, tile + stone + appliance + plumbing selections locked.
Week 3–6
Permits + procurement
City permit for structural / MEP work, lead times locked on cabinets, stone slabs reserved.
Week 6–8
Demo + rough
Selective demo, framing changes, plumbing + electrical rough-in, HVAC adjustments, inspections.
Week 8–10
Drywall + paint primer
Insulation where opened, drywall, level-5 finish where appropriate, primer coat.
Week 10–12
Tile + cabinets
Waterproofing, tile, cabinet installation, counter template the day cabinets are level.
Week 12–14
Stone + plumbing + appliance
Stone install, plumbing trim, appliances installed and tested, lighting trim.
Week 14–16
Punch + close-out
Touch-up paint, hardware, deep clean, owner walk, warranty registration, manuals binder.

Materials & assemblies.

These are the defaults we write into the contract before you change a thing. They're the floor, not the ceiling — every spec can be upgraded; none should be downgraded without a serious reason.

Component	Default spec	Why
Cabinet boxes	¾" plywood, all-plywood or full-overlay framed, soft-close hardware, dovetail drawers	Particle-board boxes save 10–18% and fail in year 6 at the sink base.
Countertops	Quartz (Caesarstone, Cambria, Silestone) or natural stone with proper sealing	Quartz wins on durability; natural stone wins on character.
Plumbing supply	Type-L copper or PEX-A home-run manifold	PEX-A with a manifold is faster, freeze-tolerant, and easier to repair.
Waterproofing (showers)	Schluter-Kerdi or equivalent sheet membrane over cement board	Liquid-applied membranes work, but sheet is more forgiving on a 14-day install schedule.
Underlayment + flooring	Engineered hardwood ≥ 4mm wear layer, or porcelain tile rated PEI 4+	Solid hardwood + radiant + slab = cupping; engineered is the right choice in CA climates.
Range hood	External-vented, sized at 100 CFM per linear foot of cooktop	Recirculating hoods don't move grease or moisture — never spec them on a gas range.

Hidden costs we flag up front.

A Los Angeles project budget that ignores the items below is a budget that will go over. We surface them in the first walk-through — not after a wall is open.

Line item	Range	When it hits
Knob-and-tube or aluminum rewire	$8K–$28K	homes built pre-1970, opened walls reveal it
Galvanized supply replacement	$6K–$24K	low pressure + rusty water tells you before demo
Asbestos / lead abatement	$2K–$12K	popcorn ceilings + pre-1978 paint disturbed
Subfloor replacement	$3K–$14K	moisture damage at sink, dishwasher, or exterior wall
HVAC re-balance	$1.5K–$6K	new layout changes register count or duct geometry

Why building in Los Angeles is its own thing.

Climate & building stock

Greater Los Angeles is a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) with long dry summers, Santa Ana wind events, brushfire exposure on the WUI, and an annual rainfall window concentrated between November and March. Building stock skews to single-story stucco bungalows, post-war ranches, and 1960s–80s wood-frame on raised perimeter or slab — many of which were built before today's Title 24 envelope and ventilation rules.

Seismic & soils

LA sits on the Newport-Inglewood, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and Sierra Madre fault systems. Soft-story apartments and pre-1980 cripple-wall single-family homes are the two biggest seismic liabilities; the Soft-Story Mandatory Retrofit Program (Ordinance 183893) is the framework most multifamily clients deal with, and FEMA P-50 / Brace+Bolt is the standard for single-family.

Code & amendments

City of LA uses the 2023 California Building Code / CRC / CMC / CPC / CEC + 2022 Title 24 Part 6, layered with LA-specific amendments and the LA Green Building Code. ADU rules follow LAMC §12.22 A.33 plus statewide AB 671 / SB 9 / SB 1211 updates current for 2026.

Jurisdictions we permit in

City of Los Angeles — LADBS (most of the basin)
LA County Public Works — Building & Safety (unincorporated)
Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank — independent building departments
Long Beach Development Services + South Bay coastal cities
Hillside Ordinance review for many Westside / Hollywood Hills parcels

Plan-check turnaround: 8–14 wk standard, 3–4 wk Express
Building-permit fee basis: ≈ 1.1–1.6% of valuation
School-facility fee (Level 1): $5.17 / sqft residential — 2026
Sewer-capacity charge: $3,800–$7,200 per new unit
Typical ADU all-in: $320K–$520K

What the city charges before we lift a hammer.

Fee / soft cost	Range	Trigger
Building permit + plan check (LADBS)	$4K–$14K	scales with construction valuation
School-facility fee (LAUSD or local)	$5.17/sqft new conditioned area	additions + ADUs only
Sewer-capacity charge (LASAN)	$3.8K–$7.2K per new dwelling	new unit creating a sewer connection
DWP service upgrade (200A → 400A)	$6K–$22K	heat pump + EV + ADU combined load
Arts development fee	0.4% of project cost	≥ $500K valuation, single-family
Geotech / soils report	$3.5K–$9K	hillside, expansive soils, deep additions
Surveyor for setbacks / ALTA	$2.5K–$6K	close-to-line ADUs, lot splits

Los Angeles — inspection cadence

From permit to occupancy.

1.Pre-construction: permit issued, NOC posted, dust + erosion control set
2.Underground: plumbing + electrical + grounding before slab pour
3.Foundation: rebar + hold-downs + anchor bolts before concrete
4.Framing: rough framing + shear nailing + strap inspection (often combined)
5.Rough MEP: rough electrical, plumbing top-out, mechanical, T-24 envelope verification
6.Insulation + drywall: HERS verification of duct leakage + envelope tightness
7.Final: building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, planning — same-day clustering preferred

Los Angeles — how locals fund this

Financing instruments.

HELOC against primary residence — most common ADU funding (60–80% CLTV)
Cash-out refinance — preferred when current first mortgage rate is above market
Renovation construction loan (one-time-close 7/1 ARM)
RenoFi / ADU-specific second loans — based on after-completion appraisal
Property-tax-assessed PACE financing for HVAC, panel, envelope upgrades

cheaper alternatives & their tradeoffs

What we'd consider — and what we wouldn't.

Cabinet refacing
30–45% cheaper, but boxes still date the kitchen and you can't change the layout.
IKEA + third-party fronts (Semihandmade etc.)
Good budget play under $50K total, but limited depth + lead times can derail the schedule.
Big-box installer
Cheaper labor, but subs rotate weekly — punch lists never close cleanly.

pitfalls — what we fix on takeover jobs

Mistakes to avoid.

Demoing before permits are in hand — a stop-work order resets the schedule by 4–8 weeks
Locking finishes after demo starts — every selection change becomes a change order
Skipping a moisture meter on the subfloor — laying new flooring over 18%+ moisture guarantees a callback
Under-spec'ing the range hood — California gas-cooktop ventilation requirements are stricter than most installers think
Skipping a soils report on hillside lots — Hillside Ordinance triggers caissons and import fill that double foundation cost
Under-sized service panels — most pre-1990 homes are 100A, not enough for ADU + heat pump + EV
Mis-reading R1 vs R1V1 zoning — height + FAR rules vary by hillside designation
Ignoring the LADWP separate-meter rule when renting the ADU long-term
Building over a sewer easement — requires LASAN encroachment letter before plan check

In short.

Cost to paint LA house exterior?: $7K–$18K for 2,000 sqft single-story.
Cabinet repaint cost?: $3.5K–$7K for a 25-door kitchen.

Los Angeles areas we cover.

More of what the Los Angeles studio builds.

Got a Los Angeles project in mind?

Send us the address. We’ll pull zoning, setbacks, and feasibility before you spend money on drawings — and the inquiry routes straight to the Los Angeles desk.

Start a Los Angeles project →