Top-rated Painters in Canton, Ohio
41 prosavg 4.8industry avg $200–$600 per roomlicense & insurance verifiedupdated May 2026
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Hire a painter in Canton, Ohio. Compare local pros, read reviews from your neighbors, and request free quotes — most reply within a day.
Canton is Stark County's seat and largest city, with deep neighborhoods of pre-war and mid-century housing. Local pros service neighborhoods including Ridgewood, West End, Cherry Park. A lot of Canton's housing stock is 1920s–1960s, so jobs commonly involve cast-iron drain stacks, original knob-and-tube wiring updates, and slate-tile or asphalt roof transitions. Tell us what you need and we'll connect you with Canton pros your neighbors already hire — locally owned, license-checked, and backed by real reviews.
Typical costs for painters in Canton, Ohio.
Average price ranges reported by Stark County homeowners.
Prices are estimates based on Stark County averages. Actual costs vary by project scope, materials, and timeline.
What you should know
Hiring a painter in Stark County, without paying for paint that peels.
A paint job is 80% prep, 20% paint. The difference between a 3-year job and a 10-year job is whether the painter actually sanded, primed, and caulked — or just rolled top coats over peeling paint and called it done. Here's what to ask for, what to pay, and how to spot the difference before the check clears.
When to call.
Call now
- Exterior paint peeling in sheets exposing bare wood — moisture damage starting
- Visible mold or mildew growth on painted surfaces (especially soffits, north walls)
- Caulk failed around windows, doors, or trim letting water behind siding
- Interior paint bubbling — usually a water leak signal
- Lead paint disturbance discovered during a renovation in a pre-1978 home
- Smoke or fire damage requiring a sealing primer (Kilz, BIN, oil-based)
- Severe nicotine yellowing in a property you're trying to sell
Schedule this season
- Exterior hasn't been painted in 8+ years — preventive repaint window
- Interior walls scuffed, dinged, or last painted before kids
- Cabinets you want refinished instead of replaced
- Trim and doors yellowed or dated (especially honey-oak)
- Want to update wall colors before listing or after moving in
- Deck or fence overdue for stain or paint
DIY or call a painter.
Reasonable DIY
- One bedroom or accent wall — manageable area, low stakes
- Touch-up work where the existing paint is in good shape
- Furniture or small projects you can take to a garage
- Single interior door or trim section you're willing to take time on
- Hallways and average-condition walls if you have a weekend and patience
Call a pro
- Any home built before 1978 with paint disturbance — EPA RRP certification is federally required, not optional
- Exterior of the house — ladder work, prep, weather windows, full-house volume
- Cabinets — proper cabinet refinishing requires spraying for a factory finish; brushed cabinets look it
- Plaster repair before painting (older Canton homes especially)
- Popcorn ceiling removal — almost always also a lead/asbestos question on pre-1978 homes
- Whole-house interior repaint — 3-4 weeks of weekends, professional crew finishes in days
- Anything 16+ feet up requiring scaffold or extension ladders over solid surfaces
Lead paint is the single biggest reason to hire a pro for any pre-1978 home. The EPA RRP (Renovation, Repair, and Painting) rule requires lead-safe work practices, certified contractors, and specific containment protocols. Penalties for non-compliance reach $37,500 per violation per day. Reputable painters carry RRP certification and use it; uncertified handymen offering to paint your 1955 Canton bungalow are a real liability for you.
What it actually costs.
Mid-2026 pricing from licensed Stark County painters. Most charge a 1-room minimum ($400-600) for interior jobs. Estimates should be free and itemized — paint quality tier, prep scope, labor breakdown.
Interior repaint — average bedroom
$400-800 per room
12x14 Canton bedroom, walls + ceiling + trim + closet, premium paint (S-W Duration or similar): $550-700. Includes light prep, minor patching, 1-2 coats. Time on site: 1 day.
Whole interior — small home
$3,500-6,500
Typical 1,400-1,800 sq ft Canton ranch: walls + ceilings + trim, premium paint, full prep. Time on site: 5-8 days.
Whole interior — medium/large home
$6,500-15,000+
2,400-3,500 sq ft North Canton or Jackson Township home with multiple wall colors, accent walls, full trim. Time on site: 10-15 days. Premium paint adds 15-20% over builder-grade.
Exterior repaint — small home
$4,000-8,500
1,400 sq ft Canton ranch with average prep needs: pressure wash + scrape + sand + prime bare wood + caulk + 2 coats premium. Includes trim, doors, gutters. Time on site: 4-6 days weather permitting.
Exterior repaint — large home
$8,500-22,000+
2,400 sq ft two-story North Canton home, intensive prep, premium paint (Duration, Aura, or similar): $12,000-18,000. Time on site: 7-12 days. Multi-color schemes or detailed trim work add 15-25%.
Cabinet refinishing — kitchen
$2,800-6,500
Standard 30-cabinet Canton kitchen: degrease + sand + prime + sprayed lacquer or alkyd finish. Includes pulling doors off-site or in-home spray booth. Time: 5-10 days. Saves $15K+ vs cabinet replacement.
Trim and doors only
$1,500-3,800
Average Canton home, switching from honey-oak stained trim to white painted: prime + 2 coats sprayed alkyd or hybrid enamel. Time: 3-5 days.
Single-room ceiling
$200-450 per room
12x14 bedroom ceiling, including patch + prime + 2 coats. Add $150-300 for stain blocking primer (Kilz or BIN) if water-damaged or smoke-stained.
Deck staining or painting
$2-5 per sq ft
200 sq ft deck: $400-900 stain (semi-transparent or solid) or paint (over previously painted deck). Includes pressure wash + light sand + 1-2 coats. Stains last 2-4 years before re-coat; paint lasts 4-6 years.
Fence painting or staining
$2-6 per linear foot
150 ft of 6-ft privacy fence: $400-900 stained or painted. Pressure wash adds $100-200. Stain is the durable choice for cedar; paint failures on fences are common because the wood movement breaks the film.
Popcorn ceiling removal + repaint
$2-4 per sq ft
200 sq ft living-room ceiling: $400-800 to scrape + skim + sand + paint. Pre-1980 homes need asbestos testing first ($50-150). Asbestos-positive ceilings need abated by licensed firm — $5-10/sq ft.
Wallpaper removal
$1.50-4 per sq ft
Average 400-sq-ft bedroom: $600-1,600 to remove wallpaper + skim coat + prep for paint. Older homes with paste-on-plaster wallpaper take longer than modern strippable.
What drives the number up or down.
- Paint quality tier
- Builder-grade interior paint (S-W ProMar 200, Behr Marquee) runs $35-55/gal. Premium (S-W Duration, Benjamin Moore Aura, Regal Select) runs $65-95/gal. Difference shows in coverage (premium hides in 1-2 coats, builder takes 2-3), washability, and resistance to scuffing. On a whole house the paint cost difference is $400-800 — small compared to labor, but premium paint adds 3-5 years to repaint life. Specify by product name in the contract.
- Prep scope
- Quality prep is the difference between a 3-year job and a 10-year job. Real prep means: pressure wash exterior, scrape every loose flake, sand transitions, prime bare wood and patches, caulk every gap, fill nail holes, sand smooth between coats. Sloppy prep means painting over peeling paint and watching it peel through the new coat in 18 months. Quotes far below the local market almost always cut prep.
- Lead paint — pre-1978 homes
- Federal RRP (Renovation, Repair, and Painting) rule requires lead-safe work practices on any pre-1978 home where paint is disturbed. Containment plastic, HEPA vacuums, certified workers, EPA-approved methods. Compliant pros add $500-1,500 to a job to cover the containment and disposal. Non-compliant work risks the homeowner and contractor with fines up to $37,500 per violation per day.
- Surface condition
- Smooth drywall in good condition is the easy case. Plaster (most pre-1960 Canton homes), cracked walls, water-stained ceilings, peeling paint, severe smoke or nicotine damage — each adds prep hours. Honest quotes itemize this. Quotes that say "paint 1,800 sq ft = $X" without site-walking the actual condition are almost always lowball estimates with up-charge surprises later.
- Color complexity
- One wall color throughout is fastest and cheapest. Multiple wall colors per room, accent walls, ceiling colors, contrast trim colors, deep dark colors (require 2-3 coats minimum) — each adds 10-25% to the quote. Dark colors over light primer especially need 3 coats and quality paint.
- Access and ceiling height
- Standard 8-ft ceilings are the easy case. 9-10 ft ceilings need taller ladders. Vaulted or two-story foyers need scaffold rental and add $400-1,200 to a job. Tight access (narrow stairs, multiple flights, cluttered rooms requiring furniture moves) adds labor.
- Spray vs brush vs roll
- Sprayed cabinets and trim look factory-smooth; brushed cabinets and trim look brushed. Sprayed work costs more (containment, masking) but is the right call for cabinet refinishing, trim repaints, and exterior siding. Brushed and rolled is appropriate for walls, ceilings, and most repaint work. A painter who quotes "sprayed cabinets" but plans to brush them produces a visibly worse outcome.
Stark County realities.
Pre-1978 housing stock is widespread in Canton, Massillon, and Alliance
Roughly half of Canton's housing stock predates 1978 — the cutoff for lead paint in residential construction. Anyone disturbing paint in those homes (sanding, scraping, demolition) is subject to the federal EPA RRP rule. Reputable Stark County painters working in older neighborhoods carry RRP certification and use lead-safe work practices. A painter quoting work in an old North End Canton home or original Massillon brick neighborhood who doesn't mention lead at all is either uncertified or unaware — neither is acceptable.
The exterior paint window in Northeast Ohio is May through October
Quality exterior paint requires 50-90°F temperatures, surfaces dry, and 48 hours of no-rain forecast after application. That window opens around May 1 in Canton and closes late October. Painters working in November on exteriors are usually rushing the season — paint that gets wet or freezes within 8 hours of application doesn't cure properly and will fail early. Spring (May-June) and early fall (September-October) are the best windows; July-August can work but humidity slows curing.
Sherwin-Williams is the regional default and the products are good
Sherwin-Williams is headquartered in Cleveland — 50 miles north of Canton. Most established Stark County painters spec S-W products by default (Duration for exterior, Cashmere or Emerald for interior, ProClassic for trim). The products are genuinely high-quality and S-W stores serve contractor accounts at significant discounts not available to retail customers. Benjamin Moore (premium-positioned) and Behr (Home Depot's exclusive) are the other common choices. Avoid Valspar exterior — well-documented adhesion problems on Northeast Ohio siding over the last decade.
Honey-oak trim repainting is the most-requested Canton interior project
Roughly 60% of Canton homes built 1985-2005 have honey-oak stained trim, doors, and cabinets — once standard, now visually dated. Repainting to white (typically Sherwin-Williams Pure White or Benjamin Moore Simply White in semi-gloss) is the highest-ROI interior project for these homes, both for resale and livability. Done correctly: sand to dull the gloss + deglosser wipe + bonding primer + 2 coats alkyd or hybrid enamel sprayed. Done incorrectly (skipping primer, brushing latex straight onto oak): paint peels off the trim within 2 years.
Hardie board and vinyl siding aren't paintable forever
Vinyl siding can be painted — but only with vinyl-safe paint (limited dark-color options because dark colors absorb heat and warp the siding) and only when the original color hasn't faded badly. Fiber-cement siding (James Hardie product) is paintable but the factory-primed/painted color usually outlasts repaints. Aluminum siding paints well with the right products. Many Stark County painters will pressure-wash and paint vinyl as a budget alternative to replacement; the result lasts 5-7 years if done right, less if rushed.
How long it takes.
A whole-house interior repaint is the canonical residential painting project. Here's how a typical 1,800-2,400 sq ft Canton home runs from first call to last brush.
- 1
Initial estimate visit
30-60 minutes on site, free
Painter walks each room, measures, notes prep needs (patches, water stains, trim condition), asks about colors, paint preferences, schedule. Should take photos and ask about kids, pets, schedule constraints.
- 2
Written quote
2-7 days
Itemized estimate naming paint product (brand + line), prep scope per room, labor breakdown, payment schedule, warranty terms, timeline. Should specify how many coats, what trim work is included, who moves furniture.
- 3
Color selection + scheduling
1-2 weeks
Painter often provides paint samples or fan decks. Some include a color consultant in the quote ($150-400). Schedule a start date usually 2-4 weeks out (peak season can stretch to 6-8 weeks).
- 4
Site prep day
Half-day on small homes, full day on larger
Furniture moves to room centers and gets plastic-covered. Floors get drop cloths or rosin paper. Trim and outlets get masked. Patches get spackled. Sanding happens.
- 5
Painting — ceilings first
1-2 days for a typical home
Ceilings always first (drips go down). Then walls. Most rooms get 2 coats; deep colors and high-traffic areas may need 3. A good crew runs 2-4 painters and finishes rooms in parallel.
- 6
Painting — trim, doors, casings
2-4 days for a typical home
Trim work is detail work and takes longer per square foot than walls. Sprayed trim looks better but requires more masking. Brushed-and-rolled trim is fine on standard profiles. Doors come off the hinges for proper finishing.
- 7
Touch-ups + walk-through
Half-day
Crew walks the job with you, identifies and fixes any issues — missed spots, paint on hardware, drips, line wobbles at color transitions. Hands over leftover paint labeled by room for future touch-ups. Final payment due.
Walk away from these.
Bad-actor patterns repeat — these are the ones to recognize.
01Door-to-door pitches offering a discount because "we have leftover paint from a job nearby"
02Cash-only or large up-front deposits (>30%)
03No mention of lead paint on a pre-1978 home
04"One coat covers anything" pitches
05Quote far below market (more than 25% under others)
06No written contract or change-order process
07Pressure to skip the primer coat
When to schedule.
Spring
March to MayInterior season peaks. Painters book 4-8 weeks out by mid-April. Exterior season opens May 1 in most years. Schedule interior projects in February-March if you want the best crews for spring. Pricing is steady — not the bargain season.
Summer
June to AugustPeak exterior season. Interior work continues but most attention is exteriors. Hot humid weeks (mid-July to mid-August) slow paint curing — quality painters work mornings only on the hottest days. Schedule exteriors well in advance; cancellations open up but are rare.
Fall
September to NovemberLast call for exterior work — paint needs to be on the wall by mid-October for proper curing before cold weather. September-October weather is the best of the year for exterior painting. Interior demand picks up as people get ready for holidays. Sometimes 5-10% off peak summer pricing.
Winter
December to FebruaryInterior-only season. Many crews have reduced schedules — winter slow weeks are real. Often the best pricing of the year on interior work (10-15% under peak). Cabinet refinishing and trim work fits well in winter when crews can spray indoors and homeowners aren't entertaining as much. Schedule January-February for the best deals.
Frequently asked.
The questions Stark County homeowners actually ask before signing a contract.
How long does interior paint last in Stark County?
Is my Canton home likely to have lead paint?
Should I paint my honey-oak trim and cabinets white?
When is the best time to paint the exterior of my house?
How many coats of paint do I actually need?
Spray, brush, or roll — which is right for my project?
Does the paint warranty actually matter?
What questions should I ask before hiring a Stark County painter?
Painters in Canton.
How much does interior painting cost in Canton?
Interior painting in Canton runs $200 to $600 per room (10x12 average), including patching, two coats, and trim. Cabinet painting is $1,000 to $3,000 for a typical kitchen. Whole-house interior repaints run $3,000 to $8,000 depending on square footage and ceiling height. Premium paint (Sherwin-Williams Emerald, Benjamin Moore Aura) adds $200 to $500 to the total.
How much does exterior painting cost in Canton?
Full exterior repaint in Canton runs $2,000 to $6,000 for a typical 1,800 sq ft home. Cost depends heavily on prep — scraping, sanding, priming bare wood, caulking gaps. Brick and stucco need specialty paints and primers, adding 20 to 40 percent. The job typically takes 3 to 7 days depending on weather. Schedule late spring or early fall in Canton for the most stable paint conditions.
Do I need to prep before the painters arrive?
Move smaller furniture and breakables out of the rooms being painted. Take down wall art and curtains. Painters will cover floors, baseboards, and remaining large furniture with drop cloths. For exterior jobs, trim shrubs back 2 to 3 feet from the house and move outdoor items. A good Canton painter will walk through with you before starting.
How long should a paint job last in Canton?
Interior paint with quality prep and premium paint lasts 7 to 10 years in low-traffic rooms, 5 to 7 in hallways and kitchens. Exterior paint on a well-prepped Canton house lasts 7 to 10 years on wood siding, 10 to 15 on aluminum, 15+ on brick. Most reputable Canton painters offer a 2 to 5 year warranty on workmanship.
Should I paint cabinets or replace them?
Paint if the cabinet boxes are solid and you like the layout — $1,000 to $3,000 for a refresh that lasts 8 to 12 years. Replace if the boxes are damaged, the layout is wrong, or you want different door styles ($8,000 to $25,000 for new boxes and doors). Painting cabinets is a 3 to 5 day job; do not DIY unless you have spray equipment.
How do I find painters in Canton, Ohio?
Browse painters on StarkPros who serve Canton and the surrounding Stark County area. Each listing includes reviews from past customers, service details, and a direct quote request form — so you can compare options before reaching out.
How much do painters in Canton typically cost?
Rates depend on the job — things like project size, materials, and timeline all factor in. The best way to get an accurate number is to describe your project and request quotes from a few Canton painters so you can compare.
How do I know if a painter on StarkPros is licensed?
Businesses on StarkPros can earn a verified badge once we confirm their license and insurance status. Look for the badge on their profile. If a listing doesn't have one yet, you can always ask the pro directly before hiring.
What happens after I request a quote from painters in Canton?
Your request goes directly to the pro you selected (or to painters in your area if you used the general form). They'll reach out to discuss your project, timeline, and pricing. It's free, and the decision to hire is always yours.
Not finding what you need? Describe your project and we'll connect you with available painters in Canton.
painters guide for Stark County.
Everything you might want to know before hiring.
Hiring tips
- 1.Ask if the estimate includes paint and materials
- 2.Check their prep work process (sanding, priming, taping)
- 3.Ask about the number of coats included
- 4.Request to see color samples on your actual walls
- 5.Clarify cleanup and furniture moving responsibilities
Typical costs
From single rooms to full exteriors
When to call a pro
- →Exterior painting (especially multi-story homes)
- →Lead paint concerns in older homes
- →Large rooms with high ceilings
- →Cabinet or trim refinishing
- →When you need a professional finish for selling
