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.
An overview of exterior edges; which is painted what color.
This page is an extension of your estimate document.
When it comes to edges and corners, exterior painting is a bit different than painting inside. Painting the outside has more in common with production painting and its purpose is preservation of the substrate as well as adding appeal to the home. Elegant Painting follows standard procedure and applies all paint products according to manufacturer recommendation.
Corner trim
This 1×4 pre-primed spruce board is designed to hide the joint between siding pieces. In most modern homes, this piece is used to create a sealed connection between siding pieces and also serves cosmetic purposes. If your home already has plenty of trim in the front, you may avoid the “busy” look by painting the corner pieces same color as the siding.
Corner trim with downspout
When the downspout is installed directly on top the trim piece, a portion of the corner trim is visible under the downspout. This small portion is painted body color to improve precision and avoid an unsightly stripe behind the downspout.
Door Trim
Since most siding is butted right upto the door casing, and the siding is often caulked into the casing, painting only the face of the trim is the only way to produce a neat and straight line. Other options include painting door and trim same color as siding to make them all disappear a bit, or paint door and it’s trim boards all trim color to make them stand out.
Gutters
Downspouts are usually painted the same color of the surface they are attached to. If a downspout is installed on a trim piece, it should be painted the color of the trim piece, but sometimes a downspout runs down the siding and it should be painted siding color to help make it look less visible.
Posts and Pillars
Not every home has posts or pillars, but when they do, we try to ad an elegant touch by painting any trim on the surface. Painting the metal flashing the body color is one way of adding our elegant painting detail signature to any home.
Edges on Doors
How do we know which edge should be painted the interior color and which edge exterior? Here’s a simple method; Stand outside and open the door. The edge you see from the outside should be painted the exterior color. If the interior of the door is being painted, simply repeat this method from the inside; any edge visible from the inside should be painted interior color.
Elegant Painting offers exceptionally low bids on homes with fiber cement Siding
What is fiber cement siding? Fiber cement siding is a type of popular artificial siding that can withstand all kinds of climates, including our damp Northwest weather. Currently 5.5 million homes in America are being protected by this type of materials. Fiber cement boards are made of sand, cement and cellulose fibers. Complete with artificial texture, this siding resembles wood siding and even imitation shingles. Once installed and painted, the exterior fiber cement boards require very little maintenance, and is not susceptible to termites or rot.
Do fiber cement boards need to be painted? Yes. James Hardy of Hardieplank siding recommends painting the siding using a 100% acrylic exterior paint, such as the Benjamin Moore Exterior SuperSpec used by Elegant Painting. If fiber cement boards are not painted when a paint job is due, the moisture content of the substrate falls bellow normal levels, and they may warp, bend, and crack.
Does it cost more to paint a house with fiber cement siding? No. Elegant painting bids are lower for homes that have fiber cement siding. Fiber cement boards take and hold paint extremely well, and are less labor intensive when it comes to back-rolling the paint, resulting in lowered labor and paint costs, which are handed directly down to home-owners.
Does it need caulking? Yes. Per manufacturer recommendation, joints and gaps will be caulked to prevent moisture and wind driven rain from entering the walls. We also caulk around windows, doors, eaves, and other edges to make to prevent leaks. Using our premium flexible, rubber based calking called Sika, which is manufactured by The Sika Group of America. This is not ordinary caulk. This material dies into a hard yet flexible rubber that is similar to materials used in car tires. It remains strong and flexible well after it is dried and cured. Failing caulk on previously caulked joints are removed and a fresh coat is applied.
How does Elegant painting apply paint on fiber cement siding?
After our standard preparation procedures, paint is applied with airless sprayers, and the surface is back-rolled before the paint dries. Back-rolling is absolutely essential on all exterior siding. This method forces the paint into the substrate and produces a very even finish. Back-rolling adds 3-5 years to the life of our already durable paint job.
Each of our pressure washing outfits consists of two machines. A 13 horsepower Dewalt with a Honda motor, and a small 6.5 horsepower machine as a backup. We avoid losing time due to equipment malfunction by always having two machines on the job site. The larger machine has a drain plug while the 6.5 Honda requires us to get creative in order to remove the oil. Let’s talk about how to change motor oil on a Dewalt pressure washer. Buy this washer on amazon
How often should you change the oil in a pressure washer?
We change ours every 6-8 houses. Each house takes an average of 5-6 hours, so the oil in our machines is changed after every 30-40 hours of use. The machines in the photos are 6 and 10 years old and they have both worked flawlessly the entire time, with minimum maintenance.
What type of oil to use in pressure washers?
We use automotive 10W-30, and as I mentioned we have had great results for several years.
What you need: Wrench to undo the drain Container to hold the used motor oil Motor oil 10W-30 (automotive engine oil) Funnel PVC pipe for the machine with no drain Cleanup rags
As a professional painting company, we take care of our clients, our employees and our painting equipment. We use sprayers, ladders, and paint brushes. Like many other businesses, the current economic conditions have taught us to be more efficient with our equipment and minimize waste. The problem with paint brushes is keeping them clean and efficient for long periods of time. If your paintbrush is worn out and out of shape, it will not produce straight lines, and it will hold smaller amounts of paint, resulting in increased labor costs. Paying a team member to clean brushes on daily basis can be costly, so we came up with a quick and effective method of cleaning paint brushes and keeping them in good shape. Some of the paintbrushes in the photos bellow have been used by Elegant Painting crew for seven plus years!!
With this method, you do not need any special paint brush cleaning chemicals, there is little to no muscle involved, and your brushes come out clean as new.
This old brush has been in service for over 7 years and was ready to be retired. After cleaning, it may not be suitable for any precise interior work, but it can be used for exterior projects for a few more years.
What you need:
Wire brush driver attachment
Power drill or screw driver
4 in. Drill Mount Quick-Strip Wire Brush. Available at Home depot $17.00
Empty 5 gallon bucket with some water
Carpenter’s clamp
18 Volt Ryobi driver with wire brush attachment.
Clamp the brush inside the paint bucket
Start by filling up your 5 gallon paint bucket about 3/4 with clean water. You will be using this water to hold your bucket in place as you work, and also for rinsing as you wire brush. Now clamp your brush on the inside of the brush. You can also simply hold the brush in place, if you have strong hands and use protective gloves, but keep in mind the wire brush can slip and get your hands!
With your driver set in reverse, approach the brush from the right side. Use both hands, and wire brush bristles, and the heel of bristles. You can also adjust your clamp and wire brush the handle of the brush. You may need to stop and use a putty knife to scrape away more stubborn layers of dried paint.
Make sure the driver is set to reverse, and is rotating counter clockwise.
Wire brush the edges of the paint brush, stop often and dip the brush in water.
All too often house painting companies skip this very crucial step when painting exteriors. Unsuspecting home-owners can not tell the difference between a well prepared and primed surface, and a paint job that produces substrate protection for only a short period of time. It is important that you hire only reliable and established painters who have proven themselves over time. Drive by and see some of their model homes, contact references, and learn how long the painting company has been around.
House painting and wood rot
Raw wood is constantly trying to return to nature (rot). Wood surfaces breath and have a natural humidity of ten to fifteen percent. This humidly level fluctuates based on air humidity. When exposed to high humidity, dead wood will capture some water from the air. Living plants have microscopic pockets of water, but in dead wood, these pockets are consumed by fungai, and the walls between the pockets open up. This allows more moisture to be absorbed in the wood, providing more humid wood, which is more favorable to rapid growth of fungi, thus accelerating the decay of the wood.
Role of Primer in Exterior House Painting
Priming is mandatory for exterior surfaces in our damp climate. Primer acts as sealant. It covers water stains, oil stains, and any other material that be be present on the substrate. Wihtout primer, your wood siding is exposed to the elements. Primer is an under-coat applied before painting. Priming improves adhesion, increases durability, and is an excellent protector for exterior substrate. As paint dries, it undergoes chemical reactions. Water evaporates from paint as it cures. Primer controls the curing pace of finish paint and allows it to cure slowly while the chemical reaction is taking place.
Applying Exterior Primer
Primer should never be sprayed on. Having a thin, sprayed layer of primer sitting on the surface offers little to no protection. Brush and roll method is recommended to ensure proper penetration, even spread, and better adhesion.
Please feel free to call, email, or text us if you have any questions about our procedures, or any of our do-it-yourself articles. We are not just a business, we are here to help.
never before painted surfaces – Because this home was previously stained, applying primer to the entire exterior is the only durable option.
PaintingPreparation is key to a durable, professional paint-job that can withstand our damp Northwest climate. Elegant Painting uses the following professional Preparation techniques to prepare exterior surfaces for painting. This process removes any loose or chipping paint and mildew, leaving the substrate ready for primer & paint.
Steps:
Power washing
Washing is the first step in any painting job. After moving items, such as patio furniture, planters, garbage cans, etc. a safe distance away, we wash they house by first soaking each wall, then we apply a mixture of TSP and bio degradable house bleach to any visible mildew and water-stains. The solution is then allowed sixty seconds to activate and washed using Honda power washers. The tip of the wand is kept a safe distance away from siding to prevent damage. Windows and doors are rinsed from an even further distance to prevent water entering the house. After the wash, we rinse all exterior surfaces to remove any debris before they dry.
One of our painters uses a disk sander to remove lose paint from a verge board in Sammamish, WA
Sanding & Scraping
After allowing sufficient drying time, our painters remove any peeling or chipping paint. We start by using Makita disk sanders to remove not only paint that is currently peeling, but also anything that we feel might peel anytime in the future. The Makita disk sanders remove loose paint as well as any early stages of dry-rot that might be developing underneath, leaving the substrate ready for primer.
Masking and cover-up
Elegant Painting gurantees, in writing, that our painters will complete a thorough masking and cover-up job and will not slop paint on any surfaces; windows, plants, walkways, driveways, patio furniture, deck, etc.
Primer before caulk
AFter all the sanding dust has been removed, KILZ oil based primer is applied using brush and rollers. We used brush and rollers to ensure proper penetration into the substrate.
Caulking
Caulking is done after the primer has dried. Much like paint, Caulking materials adhere best to primer. We caulk all gaps, cracks, nail-holes, and joints.
Deck Staining – While painting the entire outside of a house might be impossible for most home-owners, staining a deck is a project that can be done in one weekend, and save you a good amount of cash. First time home-buyers are often unaware of the costs associated with maintaining a cedar deck. The majority of the cost is in labor, so by doing it yourself you save roughly 80%!
This article will explain in step-by-step detail, procedures we use to produce a professionally refinished decks that can battle our damp Northwest climate. We will also point out three areas where things can go wrong so you can be prepared.
What you need:
Pressure washer.A reliable machine can be rented from the local hardware store for about$60.00 per day.
BEHR Premium 2-In-1 Deck Cleaner. Available from the hardware store. $20.00. This is the only BEHR product we use for this, or any other project.
Empty 5Gallon bucket, carwash brush, or a garden sprayer. This is used to apply the deck cleaner. There are no specific methods here. The idea is to get the material on all surfaces, however you can.
Makita GV5010 5-Inch Disc Sanderavailable at the local Home Depot for $89.99. This is the only power sander that will work for this project. What will NOT work for this project: Belt-sanders, palm-sanders, and hardwood floor sanders.
Sanding disks for your Makita sander. How many you need will depend on the size of your deck. Each disk will provide roughly 20 minutes of sanding. The average 400sqft deck will use up about 10 disks at $3 each.
Garden Blower
TWP Fence and Deck StainAvailable from the local Dunn Lumber store. $40 per gallon. The average 400sqft deck will use up about 3 gallons of stain. This stain comes in a few different colors, but most of our clients prefer TWP 101 Natural Cedar Tone.
Stain brush. We recommend purchasing the largest meanest brush you can find. Keep in mind stain brushes are not designed to produce straight lines. $15.00
Clean-up rags. You can use any old clothing or towels.
