How it was done
Most of a repaint happens before the colour
Four days on an exterior this size only works if the preparation is done properly and in order. Here is the order.
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The exterior was walked first
Before anything was washed, the whole exterior was gone over: siding, trim, fascia, doors, and the joints where two materials meet. That walk is what sets the amount of preparation the job actually needs, and the preparation is what the four days and the price are built on.
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Pressure washing
The house was pressure washed and then left to dry.
Paint does not bond to dirt, or to the chalky film that comes off an old coat, or to what builds up on a shaded north wall through a Northwest winter. Washing takes all of that off and hands the new coat clean, sound siding to grip. It has a second use: a wet wall hides nothing, so anything the first walk missed shows up while there is still time to deal with it.
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Preparation and repairs
With the house clean and dry, the preparation went in — caulking and sealing where it was needed, and repair of the problem areas found during the inspection.
This is the invisible half of an exterior repaint. Nobody photographs it and nobody points at it afterwards, but it is the half that decides whether the finish is still tight in five years or opening up at every joint by the second winter.
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Masking and protection
Glass, fittings, lights, roofing, concrete and planting were covered before any finish went on. The cut between siding and trim is done by hand, and a clean line there is the most visible thing about a paint job from three feet away.
Cut line between the door trim and the siding -
Two full coats
The complete exterior received two full coats.
That is not a detail worth skipping past. One coat can look right the afternoon it goes on. Two coats is what gives you a film with enough thickness to weather, hold its colour, and shed water at the places where a single coat has already thinned out — edges, arrises and the top of every board.
Side elevation after the second coat -
Final details and a walk round
Touch-ups, the last of the fittings back on, protection lifted, site cleared — then a walk round the house together before it was called done.
