Should you paint your own house or hire a painter?

Updated November 10, 2026 · KeystoneProGuide editorial team

Can you paint your own house?

Yes, and nothing in Pennsylvania law stops you. The questions are which parts are safe for you to do, and which are better left to someone trained and equipped for them. Three things decide it: the age of the house, the height of the work and what is already on the walls.

When is painting a reasonable do-it-yourself job?

When the house was built in 1978 or later, the work is within reach from the floor or a stepladder, and the surfaces only need light cleaning and patching. Interior walls and ceilings in a newer house are the classic case. HomeAdvisor's cost guide puts supplies for a do-it-yourself interior at $200 to $300, against the labor that makes up most of a painter's price.

Even then, the Environmental Protection Agency's advice on paints and solvents applies to you as much as to a painter: increase ventilation, meet or exceed the label's precautions, and keep products away from children and pets.

What changes in a house built before 1978?

The rules for paid painters stop applying, but the hazard does not. The EPA says its Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule generally does not apply to homeowners working on their own pre-1978 homes. It does apply if you rent out all or part of the home, run a child care center in it, or buy, renovate and sell homes for profit.

The EPA still recommends hiring a lead-safe certified contractor for such work. If you go ahead yourself, it sets out lead-safe steps for do-it-yourselfers:

1. Find out whether lead paint is present, or assume it is if you cannot establish the home's age.
2. Set up safely: remove furniture, rugs, curtains and food from the room, cover the floor with plastic sheeting, close and seal doors, and turn off forced-air heating and cooling and cover the vents.
3. Protect yourself: the EPA lists a disposable N-100 respirator, disposable coveralls, a painter's hat, shoe covers, eye protection and gloves, and says not to eat, drink or smoke in the work area.
4. Minimize dust: mist surfaces before sanding, scraping, drilling or cutting, use wet-dry sandpaper and a HEPA vacuum, keep any heat gun below 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, and use power tools only with HEPA vacuum attachments.
5. Leave the area clean, control the waste, and clean one more time.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is stricter on heat: it says never use a heat gun or torch to remove lead paint, because heating puts the lead into the air, and never to dry-sand or dry-scrape. Keep everything wet.

Is there anything you should not do yourself in an older house?

Removing lead paint. The EPA says do not attempt to remove lead-based paint yourself, and it describes removing, sealing or enclosing lead paint to deal with it permanently as abatement, work that often involves techniques most residential contractors do not use. Stripping a whole room of old trim to bare wood is that kind of job.

Small repairs are a different matter. The EPA's advice for damaged lead paint under 6 square feet is to fix it as soon as possible without sanding, or to wet the area first if sanding cannot be avoided, and to clean up thoroughly.

What about ladders and second stories?

Ladders are where do-it-yourself painting most often turns dangerous. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says many ladder injuries happen at home, that in about 40% of cases the cause is the ladder sliding out at the base because it was set at the wrong angle, and that extension ladders should be set at about 75 degrees. It names overreaching and carrying things while climbing as improper use.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, giving painting as an example, says to put the ladder's feet on solid, level ground, have another adult on site as a spotter, and keep ladders away from power lines.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's rules bind employers, not homeowners, but they show where the professionals draw the line. OSHA says falls are the leading cause of death in construction, and that workers six feet or more above a lower level are at risk of serious injury or death and need fall protection and the right ladders and scaffolds. Second-story siding, eaves and dormers are well above that.

Which strippers and solvents are off the table?

Methylene chloride paint strippers. The EPA banned their sale for consumer use after November 22, 2019, because of deaths linked to them. The EPA's indoor air page explains why solvents need care in any case: during and for several hours after paint stripping, levels of organic chemicals indoors may reach 1,000 times outdoor background levels.

What if the walls or ceilings might contain asbestos?

Leave them alone until they are tested. The EPA says you generally cannot tell asbestos by looking, that taking samples yourself is not recommended, and that you should not saw, sand, scrape or drill material that contains it. Textured paint and patching compounds in older homes are among the places it lists.

So when should you hire?

Hire when the house predates 1978 and the job means disturbing more than a little old paint, when the work is high, when a textured surface may contain asbestos, or when you rent the property out and the lead rule applies to you. Signs your house needs painting helps you judge what the job really is, the cost guide shows what hiring costs, and how to choose a painter covers the checks. Painters are on the painters directory page.

Sources

1. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
2. Lead-Safe Renovations for DIYers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
3. Reduce the Risk of Lead Exposure at Home, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
4. Lead Poisoning Frequently Asked Questions, Pennsylvania Department of Health
5. Consumers Should Spring into Safety with the New Normal, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
6. Ladder Safety, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIOSH
7. Fall Prevention Campaign, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
8. Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
9. Protect Your Family from Exposures to Asbestos, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
10. Final Rule on Regulation of Methylene Chloride in Paint and Coating Removal for Consumer Use, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
11. Lead Abatement, Inspection and Risk Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
12. How Much Does It Cost to Paint the Interior of a House in 2025?, HomeAdvisor