Pressure & Soft Washing
Low pressure, the right detergent, and no water forced up behind your siding.
See detailsMadison & Dane County
Exterior Painting
Built for a climate that swings 120 degrees a year and tests every square inch of it.
The single biggest cost driver on a Madison exterior is how much failing paint has to be scraped off first, and it is the reason two identical houses on the same street can be thousands apart on the same repaint. Substrate matters next: cedar, aluminum, fiber cement and LP siding each need a different preparation and a different coating. Wisconsin's freeze-thaw cycle is brutal on south and west elevations, and prep is the only thing standing between a repaint and doing it again in four years.
- Timeline
- Most single-family exteriors take four to eight working days of dry weather. Heavy scrape work or three-story access can push that to two weeks.
- Wisconsin timing
- Wisconsin gives roughly a 20-week exterior window, from mid-May to early October. May and September book out first. We watch the dew point, not just the high, and we will move a day rather than paint into a cold evening.
Madison exteriors fail in a specific, predictable way. The south and west elevations take ultraviolet load all summer, then the siding absorbs moisture in the fall, then that moisture freezes and expands somewhere between forty and sixty times over the winter. Paint does not peel because it was cheap paint. It peels because water got behind it and then turned into ice.
So we spend most of the job on the parts that are not painting. Wash the chalk and mildew off. Scrape every edge that is lifting, feather-sand the transitions so they do not telegraph through the finish. Prime every bit of bare wood the same day it is exposed, because bare wood left overnight in Wisconsin humidity is already a different substrate. Caulk the joints that move and deliberately leave open the ones that need to drain.
Then two full coats of a top-line 100% acrylic, which stays flexible through the temperature swing instead of going brittle and cracking at the seams. We schedule around the dew point, not just the forecast high, because a coat applied at 5 PM in September that is still soft when the temperature drops at 8 PM has already failed and nobody will know for two years.
Scope
Every kind of exterior work we take on.
Full Exterior Repaints
Body, trim, soffit, fascia, and shutters in one coordinated job, with the color layout mapped before anything is opened.
Trim and Accent Only
Sound siding with tired trim is common in Dane County. Repainting trim and doors alone is often the highest-return exterior dollar you can spend.
Front Doors and Entryways
A sprayed, hard-cured door finish in a real color. It is the smallest project on this page and the one neighbors notice first.
Decks, Porches, and Railings
Painted or stained porch floors, ceilings, columns, and rails, prepped for foot traffic and Wisconsin winter.
Garages and Outbuildings
Detached garages, sheds, and barns, including the tall gable ends that need real staging.
Fiber Cement and LP Siding
Modern engineered siding takes a different prep and a different coating than cedar. We spec each one to what the manufacturer actually warrants.
How we work
Step by step, no surprises.
You will know what is happening in your house on every one of these days before the first one starts.
- 01
Condition survey and written estimate
We walk all four elevations, probe the soft spots, and tell you what percentage of the surface needs scraping. That single number is what drives your price, and you should see it before you sign anything.
- 02
Color layout
Body, trim, sash, and door mapped out on a printed elevation, with large samples on the actual wall. Exterior color reads two shades lighter in open daylight than it does on a chip in your kitchen.
- 03
Wash and dry
Soft wash with a mildewcide, then a full dry-down. Painting over a damp substrate is the most common cause of early failure and the easiest to avoid.
- 04
Scrape, sand, and prime
Hand scraping, feather sanding, and same-day priming on all bare wood. Where a pre-1978 home is involved, containment and HEPA collection are in place first.
- 05
Caulk and repair
Failed caulk cut out and replaced with an elastomeric that moves. Rotted trim pieces replaced rather than filled, because filler is not structure.
- 06
Two finish coats, weather-timed
Applied inside the manufacturer's temperature and dew-point window, working with the sun around the house rather than against it.
- 07
Walkthrough and touch-up
We walk the property with you, from the sidewalk and up close, and fix the punch list before the equipment leaves.
Our work
More exterior photosExterior projects.
How much does it cost to paint the outside of a house in Madison?
We walk the house and quote it in writing, free. The percentage of the surface that needs scraping matters more to that number than the size of the house does, which is why an honest exterior price cannot be given over the phone or off a photo. Ask every bidder what share of the surface they expect to scrape and how they arrived at it.
When is the best time to paint a house exterior in Wisconsin?
Mid-May through early October, with late May to June and September being ideal. You want daytime highs in the 50s to 80s and, critically, overnight lows that stay above the coating's minimum application temperature. September is the sweet spot: low humidity, moderate temperatures, and no afternoon thunderstorms.
How long will an exterior paint job last in Madison?
On properly prepped wood siding with a premium acrylic, seven to ten years on the north and east elevations and five to seven on the south and west, which take the ultraviolet and freeze-thaw load. Fiber cement holds longer. A job that fails in three years failed in prep, not in product.
Do you pressure wash before painting?
We soft wash, which is not the same thing. High pressure drives water up behind lap siding and into end grain, and that trapped water is the leading cause of paint failure the following spring. We use low pressure with a mildewcide solution and let it dry fully.
Can you paint aluminum or vinyl siding?
Aluminum, yes, and it takes paint very well after a chalk wash and a bonding primer. Vinyl, yes, but only in colors at or lighter than the original, using a vinyl-safe formulation. Painting vinyl a darker color makes it absorb heat and warp, and no warranty covers that.
What happens if it rains mid-job?
We stop, cover, and come back. We do not chase a forecast to keep a crew billing. A coat that gets rained on within its recoat window has to come off, which costs everyone more than a lost day.