RESIDENTIAL EXTERIOR PAINTING
Exterior painting for Tri-Cities houses that take the sun
Pressure washing, scraping, sanding, caulking and priming come before the first coat, on every siding type from lap to stucco to shakes.
Chapter 01
What Eastern Washington sun and wind do to your siding
High winds and hot sun are tough on a house, and they are tougher on the paint than on anything else you own outside. Eastern Washington's intense summer sun, dry heat and seasonal winds wear down siding, trim and every other painted exterior surface over time. Paint fades first, then chalks, then cracks and peels, and once it lets go the wood underneath is open to moisture.
Anyone who has owned a house in Kennewick, Pasco or Richland knows which walls go first. The south and west sides take the longest hours of sun and show it soonest, with bleached color, a powdery film when you rub a hand across the siding, and curling edges at the trim. Fascia and soffits, which catch sun and wind from the side, tend to go the same way.
Your house is one of your largest investments, and a fresh coat is how you protect it. Smile-A-Mile Painting has been painting Tri-Cities houses since 2011, and our estimators will walk the house with you, point at what they see, and tell you what the walls need before anyone talks about color.
Painter spraying red siding with the windows masked in paper before the coat goes on
Prep before paint: the part a neighbor never sees
It costs more to properly prepare a surface for painting than to give it a quick coat, and that is the most common reason two bids on the same house are far apart. Our prep is power washing, scraping, sanding, caulking and priming, and on most houses it is more of the job than the painting itself. The crew masks windows in plastic and paper and tapes off whatever is not being painted, down to the concrete and asphalt driveway, which one Kennewick customer noticed and wrote about.
We paint siding, trim, fascia and soffit, garage doors, shutters, gables and full exterior transformations. The siding we see around here is lap siding, T1-11 and board and batten, stucco, shakes, and brick and stone, and each one takes its own prep. Lap siding needs its failed caulk cut out at the butt joints. Stucco needs a wash that does not drive water behind it. Shakes drink primer, and brick and stone take a patient hand with masking.
Older houses get extra care with containment and safe paint practices. If we find rot or a water-damaged section when we scrape, we say so and fix it before it gets buried under new paint, which is why our construction repairs crew and our painters are the same people.
Chapter 03
The finish, the warranty and the cleanup
Most of the time we use the Sherwin-Williams line of products, with options ranging in quality, and the paint and materials are normally included in the estimate. If you found a color from another brand that you love, we can color match it into the product that works best for your project. All we need is a small color sample. If you would rather we buy from a different supplier, we will meet that request too.
Choosing the color is the fun part, and we have help for it. The free color consultation at our Victoria Ave office includes the Color Visualizer and paintable samples, and we can make a mock-up of your house in the new colors before the first coat goes on.
When the last coat dries, we clean up our materials and take our garbage with us, and we return your house to the condition we found it. The work is backed by a 2-year warranty on workmanship, under Washington contractor license SMILEP*896CW, with general liability and worker's compensation insurance behind the crew. If you want a number, ask for a free estimate, virtual or in person, or call the office at (509) 987-4774.
Licensed, bonded and insured in Washington, license SMILEP*896CW. Free estimates for Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland, and a 2-year warranty on workmanship.
Siding types, and the trim that frames them
Our crews paint siding, window trim and sills, fascia and trim, gables, garage and overhead doors, and the body of the house. The five siding types in our project showcase are lap siding, T1-11 and board and batten, stucco, shakes, and brick and stone. Look at the finished blue-grey home in the swatch for what a clean lap-siding finish looks like when the trim is cut in sharp.
The same five steps run on every job: Understanding Your Project, Estimate, Approval Process, Prep and Paint, then Smile at a Job Well Done. Approval is a 50% deposit, after which our customer care team works through color selection and scheduling with you.
Questions before you book? Write to the office or ring (509) 987-4774.