Exterior House Painting Painting Companies

The Prep Sequence That Decides Your Paint Job's Lifespan

Prep is the product in exterior painting. The sequence is fixed, and every skipped step subtracts years.

Washing: paint will not bond to a dirty wall

Pressure washing strips dirt, mildew, and chalked pigment. Paint applied over chalk peels in sheets because it bonded to powder, not siding. Walls also need a day or two to dry before any coating.

Scraping and sanding to a sound, feathered edge

Failing paint gets scraped back to edges that hold, then sanded smooth so old borders do not telegraph through the new film. On weathered wood this is the longest line item on the job - and the most valuable.

Priming: bare wood, stains, and chalky surfaces

Primer is adhesion insurance. Bare wood, tannin-staining species like cedar, rusty nail heads, and chalky spots each call for spot-priming or a full prime coat. A bid that says spot-prime as needed should say who judges the need.

Caulk and patch: sealing water out before sealing color in

Open joints at trim, windows, and siding butts are water's doors. Fresh caulk and patched checks close them - paint alone never will.

Weather Windows: When Exterior Painting Actually Works

Most acrylics want surface temperatures between roughly 50 and 90 degrees and recoat windows measured in hours, not wishes. Dew is the quiet killer: paint applied late on a humid afternoon can flash-fade or streak overnight. Good crews chase the shade around the house, following the sun's trailing side so paint never cooks on hot siding.

Your Siding Changes the Job

Wood is the maintenance-hungry classic - it moves, checks, and rewards thorough priming. Stucco and masonry want breathable coatings and a check for efflorescence before anything else. Fiber cement holds paint beautifully but factory finishes need scuffing and the right primer for adhesion. Aluminum paints well once chalk is washed off. Brick is usually the answer don't - once painted, it is painted forever, and trapped moisture can spall the face.

Spray, Brush, or Roll: How Pros Apply Exterior Paint

Spraying with back-rolling is the modern standard: the sprayer delivers volume, the roller drives it into the surface. Spray-only on rough siding leaves paint sitting on the high spots. Hand-brushing still wins on trim, sash, and detail work where control beats speed.

Pre-1978 Homes: Lead-Safe Scraping in Practice

Homes built before 1978 can carry lead paint, and disturbing it is regulated by the federal RRP rule. On site that means plastic containment, wet scraping, HEPA cleanup, and no open flame or power-sanding without extraction. Verifying a firm's certification belongs on your hiring checklist.

An Exterior Job, Start to Finish

A sound single story typically runs 3 to 5 crew days; a weathered two story can run 7 to 10, and rain days stretch either. The rhythm is predictable: a day or two of pure prep, then masking - windows papered, roof edges shielded, fixtures bagged, plantings pulled back and sheeted - then color moving around the house with the shade, body first, trim behind it.

What the crew should protect

Sprayers throw mist, and mist travels. Cars leave the driveway, patio furniture gets grouped and covered, and anything that cannot move gets masked. A crew that starts spraying before the masking walk is finished is telling you how the rest of the job will go.

The final walkthrough

Walk the house in raking evening light, when thin spots, missed caulk lines, and lap marks show. Bring painter's tape, flag anything that needs attention, and hold the final payment until the flags come down. Good crews expect exactly this and build the touch-up hour into the schedule.

How Long It Lasts - and What Shortens It

Well-prepped acrylic on wood runs 7 to 10 years, on fiber cement 10 to 15, on stucco 8 to 12. South- and west-facing walls age fastest - UV is relentless - and are often one repaint ahead of the rest of the house. If paint is already failing in patterns, the peeling-paint diagnosis guide reads the cause before you repaint over it.

Between Repaints: The Annual Walk-Around

Once a year, walk the house and touch up early: caulk that has split, sills going gray, hairline checks on the sun side. An hour of touch-up defers a full repaint by seasons. Choosing a new color while you are at it is its own decision - a free color consultation beats guessing from a two-inch swatch - and when you are ready to buy the job, get the prep spec quoted in writing by three crews from the top-rated painting companies.