Painting

Exterior Prep

Two contractors can quote the same house with the same paint and be thousands apart, and the difference is almost entirely prep hours. Prep is invisible in the finished job and it is the only thing that decides whether the paint is still on the house in six years.

• Pressure wash to remove chalking, dirt and mildew. Paint over chalking has nothing to bond to
• Scrape and sand failing paint to a sound edge, and feather the transitions
• Replace rotted trim and fascia rather than filling it. Filler over rot is a delay
• Caulk the right joints and leave the right ones open. Vertical trim joints get caulked. The bottom edges of horizontal siding laps and weep points do not, because those are drainage
• Prime bare wood and all repairs, and spot prime stains with a stain blocking primer
• Two coats. One coat over prepped substrate gives you a one coat lifespan

Texas Sun

South and west elevations take a UV load that fades and chalks paint years before the north side shows anything. Cheap exterior paint on a west wall here is a two to three year decision. Deep saturated colors, especially reds and dark blues, fade noticeably faster, so put those on trim and doors rather than a west facing field.

Peeling paint in one spot is usually not a paint problem, it is water arriving there. Peeling under a window means the window is not flashed. Peeling on a soffit means the roof edge or gutter is leaking. Because we do roofing, siding and windows, we look at why the paint failed before painting over the reason.

Painting On A DFW Schedule

Our weather sets the calendar. Midsummer surface temperatures on a sunlit wall run far above the air temperature, and paint applied to a hot surface flashes off before it can level or bond. We chase shade around the house through the day, working the east side in the afternoon and the west side in the morning, or we move the work to spring and fall.

Foundation movement shows up in interior paint as recurring cracks at door corners and along ceiling seams in clay soil neighborhoods. Taping and repainting a crack that keeps coming back is money spent on a symptom, so we tell you what we think is causing it.

Inside older houses we test ceiling texture before disturbing it, and we prime plaster differently than drywall. In HOA neighborhoods, exterior color usually needs approval first.