Average cost of painting the exterior of your home

Unlike interior painting, an exterior painting quote is dependent on a limited number of factors. In this article, we explain our price formula which has been fine tuned over the last decade and proven to produce the most satisfied clients, as well as sustain ELEGANT PAINTING® as a successful local employer.

#1 factor: condition of current paint

Allowing paint to chip and peel before requesting the services of a professional painter comes with two complications;

1) Increased labor costs Removing loose paint is costly. Peeling layers must be manually removed and primer must be hand painted to ensure proper adhesion. This is old fashioned manual labor and it will cost you.

2) Decreased durability. Once your current coat of paint stops being protective, your substrate begins to deteriorate. Even with proper preparation you still run the risk of the new paint job failing prematurely. You also run the risk of ending up with a painting company that does not perform a proper preparation service.

#2 factor: Height

A three story house will always cost more to paint. Roofing, gutter cleaning and window cleaning will all cost more if you own a three story house. Another factor is the amount of trim to be painted on your three story house.

#3 factor: Roof pitch

If there are surfaces only reached by walking on the roof, then the pitch of your roof comes into question. Most Northwest homes have roof pitch of bellow 12/12 which can be walked on with OSHA approved safety gear. Roof pitch 12/12 (not common) cannot be walked on and require ladder hooks.

#4 factor: Slope of your lot

Has your home been built on a steep slopes? Most homes are on semi-level lots and are easily painted using ladder leveler. We have encountered a few dozen projects where a ladder-trench had to be dug in order to secure our ladder legs.

#1 factor: Siding type

There are only a few common siding types on Northwest homes

1) Beveled cedar siding. The most common type of siding used on homes constructed prior to the 1990’s. While this material is still in use, it has been widely replaced with Hardie Board siding. You can expect to pay a bit more to paint your house if you have rough-cut cedar siding. The roughness of this surface is what makes it a durable product as it holds on lots of paint and also cools down faster. Back-rolling or back-brushing is an absolute must with this type of siding. Paint must be pushed into the texture to ensure a strong bond.

2) Hardie board siding. Used on nearly all new homes, this material is easy to maintain, fairly inexpensive to paint, and it holds on to paint for many years. It is crucial that Hardie Board siding is painted using spray & back-roll method to ensure enhanced adhesion and an even spread of paint.

3)Tongue and groove siding. Less common cedar siding that general costs more to paint d

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Sammamish WA Exterior painting – Columbia Neighborhood – Sammamish, WA

Starting Date: July 15th, 2013

Completion Date: July 19th, 2013

Our most recent project in the beautiful Columbia neighborhood of Sammamish, WA. We are thrilled to have 10 or more clients in this neighborhood.

Colors

Preparation

We masked windows, concrete patios, power outlets, front rocks, etc. We also caulked all imperfections on the wood trim, and all butt-joints on the fiver cement siding boards.

Protecting the neighbor’s plants, while spraying the fence.

Paint Application

As always, we Apply two coats and back-roll both coats to ensure the material is being rubbed into the surface, as supposed to a quick one day spray job.

Finished Product

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Power Washing and Color Selection

Power washing a house is all about using the right materials and equipment. We soaked any visible mildew with our exterior bleach and TSP solution, allowed 5-10 minutes for the cleaner to activate, and power washed to remove fairly large amounts of mildew and other green growth from the siding, eaves, gutters, and back side of gutters.

Some Gutter damage

We will attempt to fix these issues that seem to have been developing for some years. These front gutters have been filled with water and are handing down with the weight of the water. We will attempt to push them back in place before painting. In the back of the house, above the sliding glass door, we have rusted gutters that are leaking. We have a spray product that can seal these holes from the inside and provide a 1-2 year seal. Looks like the little pines or needles from the nearby evergreen trees are filling up these gutters, blocking water from draining down the downspout, causing sitting water in the gutter, and the weight of this water is causing the gutters to come loose.

Possible Color Choices

Colors

Day 1 – Preparation

Friday July 26 – Estimated completion date: Monday July 29th. We started by masking windows to prevent any over spray, caulking any gaps, cracks, nail-holes, etc. We also removed some loose paint from the south side but there is still some scraping/priming to do on Monday. We were also able to apply both coats on about 70% of the house, and get started on the trim.

White Lightning caulking material was applied to all corner joints, and sides of windows, doors, etc.

Proper masking allows us to work fast without having to worry about making a mess!

Back-Rolling

As always, both coats are back-rolled to force the paint into the grain, and to make sure the paint is evenly spread.

Progress Photos

Final Product

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exterior painting Sammamish

Exterior Painting – Seattle

Complete Exterior Painting – Seattle, WA

Colors

Step 1 – Power Washing

Pressure washing was completed on Tuesday May 28th. We removed some mildew from siding and gutters, spider webs, bee’s nests, etc. As with all our cedar siding projects, we allow plenty of drying time.

Step 2 – Preparation and painting

July 1st, 2013

We started with masking windows and covering up plants, walkways, front porch, rear deck, etc.

What we’ve done so far:

Apply 2 coats on siding, two coats on spindles front and back. 1st coat on Garage retainer walls, 1st coat on about 30% of the trim and windows.

Application started with spraying, and back-brushing 2 coats of Benjamin Moore Solid Oil based stain on cedar shakes. Why not use paint on the shakes? If paint ever fails (chips) on shakes, then they would need to be replaced. Paint is never recommended for exterior cedar shakes. The correct product for shakes is solid stain, which looks like paint but it does not chip or peel. Next time, the shakes simply need to be washed, and re-stained.

Getting into tight spots

We had to get a little creative to get behind all the plants to paint every square inch of the siding.

A fully protected plant was gently peeled away from the house and covered up. Once paint is dry, it will simply be pushed back into place.

An extension pole was used to push a covered plant away from the surface while the paint dries.

Application

We spray and back-roll or back-brush to add 3-5 years to an already durable Benjamin Moore paint job. Manufacturer recommends “knocking out” the sheen seen in this photo to improve durability.

Second coat

As always, we apply two coats, and back-roll both coats to increase adhesion, and produce an even layer.

Before

After

Exterior Painting – Seattle

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Gray exterior paint colors

Gray exterior paint colors are classic colors that work with any color scheme and combination. Gray works with white trim, darker gray trim, red doors, and pretty much any color configuration you could think of. Gray can be cool and classic, or daring and bold with a deep hint of blue. We recommend a lighter shade of gray for smaller homes. A light gray can take years off the look of an older rambler and give it an updated clean look that appeals to any taste.

List of exterior grays and houses painted by Elegant Painting®

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Light Gray exterior paint colors

A light gray with warm undertone can create a classic and calm finish. It is perfect for large or small exteriors in The Northwest setting. If you are looking for that perfect, clean look, this might be the color for you. Gray siding limits your trim choices to pure white or very light shades of gray.

You may also be interested in our Exterior Photo Gallery

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See photos of houses we’ve painted in these classic favorite gray colors:

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Woodinville painters – Color Chemistry and house paint

How to choose paint colors that reflect your lifestyle

By Elegant painting® – Woodinville Painters

Exterior house painting is not something you think about often. Unlike interior painting, most home-owners consider exterior house painting when the current condition of the paint-job is poor, and not when they get bored with the color. While a fresh paint-job offers great protection and preserves your exterior surfaces, it also communicates your character, taste, and your lifestyle.

Before choosing colors, here are a few questions every home-owner should consider:

Why are you painting the house?

Are you just bored with the color? Is your current paint in poor shape? Do you need fresh coats to protect the siding against the elements? Is your home being prepared to go on the market? How happy are you with our current paint colors?

House painting as resale preparation

Exterior colors play an important role in preparing a house for resale. Keep in mind tastes vary. What appears absolutely beautiful to you, might be so unpleasant to a potential buyer that they even may walk away from the property. Most buyers decide on a house at first sight and color effects our cognition in unpredictable ways.

When choosing house colors, in preparation for placing a house on the market, it is important to choose neutral colors that appeal to every taste. Here, the idea is not to attract buyers with your unique custom colors, but to try and avoid repelling anyone due to taste variation.

Choosing paint colors that appeal to you

If you have no intentions of selling the house, then you are free to choose colors based on your very own personal taste. all paint brands produce most of their paints in thousands of different colors. So where do you begin?

Whats your favorite color?

Everyone has a favorite color. Take a quick trip to your local Benjamin Moore store and check our their swatches. Try to narrow it down to 5 colors, and grab some swatches. Spend a few days looking at them. Be sure to look at the swatches in different lighting conditions. We recommend looking at the swatches in the shake and keeping in mind that we have very few sunny days.

Swatches can be deceiving

Paint swatches are produce via printers and they are on paper. It is always best to see the actual paint, on the actual surface that will be painted. If you are working with Elegant painting, narrow down your search to 5 colors, and email them to us. We would be happy to stop by and paint large patches of your chosen colors on the siding or trim. We may also have have recommendations on colors similar to your choices, but more suitable for exterior.

Please feel free to call, email or text us with any house painting questions. We are not just a business, We are here to help!

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