Professional Exterior Painters in Western Washington
A well-executed exterior paint job in Western Washington lasts eight to ten years. A poorly prepped one starts failing in eighteen months — usually on the south and west elevations first, where UV does the most damage, and at the bottom edges of siding, where ground splash wicks moisture up into the board.
The paint itself is rarely the reason. Two crews can apply the identical Sherwin-Williams product to the identical house and get a five-year difference in service life, entirely from what happened before the sprayer came out. That's not marketing — it's the single most consistent thing we see when we're called in to repaint a house that someone else painted four years ago.
Full exterior repaints in this region run $2,400 for a small rambler up to $15,000+ for a large or complex home. Here's exactly what that buys and how we sequence it.
What Pacific Northwest Weather Does to Exterior Paint
Western Washington averages 150 or so wet days a year, and our real problem isn't rainfall volume — Miami gets more. It's duration. Surfaces here stay damp for extended stretches at moderate temperatures, which is the exact condition mildew and moss want. Combine that with a freeze-thaw cycle that works caulk joints open every winter, and you get five specific failure modes:
- Moisture intrusion at joints and end grain. Caulk fails, water gets behind the coating, and paint releases from the substrate in sheets. This is the number one exterior failure we're called to fix.
- Mildew and algae growth, heaviest on north-facing walls that never see direct sun. It's a surface problem, not a paint failure, but painting over it locks it in and it grows back through.
- UV degradation on south and west elevations. Even in a cloudy climate, cumulative UV chalks and fades a coating — which is why one side of a house often needs recoating years before the others.
- Wood rot in fascia, trim, window sills, and siding bottoms. Almost always a symptom of a moisture path that's been open for years, not something a coat of paint caused or can fix.
- Moss on roofs and north walls that holds water directly against the substrate indefinitely. Removing it is part of prep, not an upsell.
Siding Types Around Puget Sound and How Each Is Handled
The right approach changes completely depending on what your house is clad in. This region has four common types, roughly by era:
- Cedar siding and shingles (1960s–80s, common across Edmonds, Seattle, and older Everett). Beautiful, and the most demanding surface we work on. Cedar's natural tannins bleed through latex primer and stain the finish coat, so it needs a stain-blocking primer on every bare or previously-stripped area. Cedar also moves seasonally, which means caulk joints need a flexible product, not a rigid one.
- T1-11 plywood siding (1980s–90s, everywhere in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, and Marysville). The failure point is always the bottom edge, where the exposed plywood end grain sits close to grade and wicks water like a sponge. It needs to be sealed properly, and if it's already delaminated, sealing it won't help — that board has to come off.
- Fiber cement, most commonly Hardie board (2000s onward, the Mill Creek, Sammamish, and Issaquah developments). Excellent substrate, holds paint eight to twelve years easily. The critical detail is the caulk joints at butt seams and trim, which need inspecting on every repaint cycle.
- Engineered wood, most commonly LP SmartSide (2010s onward). Handles paint well and is more forgiving than T1-11, but it is not indestructible — cut edges from the original install must be sealed, and often weren't.
Most of the hours go in before the first finish coat.
Our Exterior Painting Process, Step by Step
We spend 40% to 60% of the labor hours on an exterior job before any finish coat goes on. This is not a figure of speech — it's how the schedule actually breaks down, and it's the entire reason the finished job lasts.
- 01
Assessment and Written Estimate
60–90 minutes, freeWe walk the full perimeter, checking siding condition on every elevation, probing suspect fascia and trim for soft wood, inspecting every caulk joint, and noting failure patterns. Elevations facing south, west, and north each get assessed separately because they weather at different rates. You get an itemized written estimate specifying prep scope, products, coat count, and price — including any rot repair we found, quantified before you commit rather than discovered later.
- 02
Pressure Washing
1 day1,500 to 2,500 PSI, which is enough to strip dirt, chalking, mildew, and loose paint without driving water behind the siding or furring up soft wood. Higher pressure is faster and does damage you won't see until the coating fails over it. Heavy mildew and moss get a cleaning solution and dwell time rather than more pressure. Then the house dries — a minimum of 24 to 48 hours, longer if the weather is marginal. Painting damp siding is how you trap moisture under a fresh coating and guarantee blistering.
- 03
Scraping and Sanding
1–3 daysEvery loose or failing area scraped back to a sound edge, then feather-sanded so the transition doesn't telegraph through the finish. Glossy surfaces scuff-sanded for adhesion. On homes built before 1978 we follow EPA lead-safe RRP practices — containment, HEPA vacuums, controlled debris capture. That's not optional and it isn't a line item we skip to win a bid.
- 04
Wood Repair and Replacement
Varies with conditionSoft or rotted fascia, trim, sills, and siding boards are replaced, not filled. Epoxy consolidant has its place on small localized damage in otherwise sound wood, but a rotted board is a rotted board and paint over it is money burned. We also find and address the moisture path that caused it — a failed gutter, a missing kickout flashing, a downspout dumping against the wall — because fixing the wood without fixing the cause just resets the clock.
- 05
Caulking and Sealing
1 dayEvery joint, seam, and penetration inspected and re-caulked with a high-grade elastomeric that stays flexible through freeze-thaw. Window and door perimeters, trim-to-siding transitions, butt joints, penetrations for hose bibs and vents and electrical. This is the least visible step on the job and the one that most determines whether water gets behind your paint. One deliberate exception: the bottom edge of lap siding is left uncaulked so any moisture that does get in has a route back out.
- 06
Priming
1 dayEvery bare wood surface primed — full stop. Stain-blocking primer on cedar and redwood for tannin bleed, on any knots, and over water staining. Bonding primer over chalky or glossy existing coatings. Full prime coat when going dramatically lighter, or over any substrate with questionable adhesion. Spot priming bare wood and calling it primed is one of the most common shortcuts in this trade.
- 07
Finish Coats
2–4 daysTwo finish coats of premium exterior acrylic. Sprayed and back-rolled or back-brushed on the first coat, which forces the coating into the grain and texture instead of letting it sit on top — this matters enormously on cedar and rough-sawn surfaces. Trim, fascia, and doors cut in by hand. We paint between 50°F and 90°F with no rain forecast for 24 hours after application, which in this region means a real May-through-October window and a willingness to reschedule.
- 08
Walkthrough and Cleanup
Final half dayWe walk every elevation with you, in daylight. Landscaping uncovered, hardware and fixtures reinstalled, the site cleaned, all debris hauled. Touch-up paint labeled by color and location and left with you. Anything you point out gets fixed before the truck leaves.
Lifts, ladders and staging — whatever the elevation needs.
Exterior Painting Costs in Western Washington (2026)
These reflect full exterior repaints — pressure washing, scraping, sanding, caulking, priming, and two finish coats of premium product. Significant wood rot repair is quoted separately because it can't be estimated honestly from the curb.
| Project Scope | Typical Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Small rambler, under 1,500 sq ft | $2,400 – $4,500 | Single story, simple rooflines, good access |
| Average home, 1,500–2,500 sq ft | $4,500 – $7,500 | The most common project we run |
| Larger home, 2,500–3,500 sq ft | $7,500 – $10,000 | Two-story, more trim, staging requirements |
| Large or complex, 3,500+ sq ft | $10,000 – $15,000+ | Steep grade, three stories, or heavy detail |
| Trim and accents only | $1,200 – $3,000 | Fascia, soffit, trim, doors — siding untouched |
| Deck or fence, separate scope | From $600 | See deck staining and sealing |
What Moves the Number
- Existing paint condition. This is the biggest single variable. A sound surface needing a wash and two coats prices very differently from one that's 30% failed and needs days of scraping.
- Story count and site access. A three-story elevation over a steep slope may need scaffolding or a lift. Sammamish and Issaquah hillside lots hit this constantly.
- Siding type. Cedar needs more prep and stain-blocking primer than fiber cement. Rough-sawn surfaces consume noticeably more material.
- Rot repair. Quoted separately and honestly. We can't see behind trim from the driveway, and we'd rather tell you that than pad the bid.
- Color change severity. Going from dark to light, or covering a saturated color, can require a full prime coat plus two finish coats.
- Trim detail. Craftsman homes with heavy trim packages, corbels, and multi-piece window casings take significantly longer than a simple rambler of the same square footage.
What We Put on Your House
Product selection is driven by substrate and exposure, not by what's on sale.
| Application | Product | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exterior body and trim | Premium 100% acrylic exterior | Stays flexible through freeze-thaw, resists chalking and fade, and holds an 8–10 year service life here |
| High-exposure and severe-weather elevations | Top-tier exterior acrylic | Better resin package and more mildewcide — worth the upcharge on south and west walls |
| Bare cedar and redwood | Stain-blocking exterior primer | Tannins bleed straight through latex primer and stain the finish coat within months |
| Chalky or glossy existing coatings | Bonding primer | New paint over chalk has nothing to grip; it will peel in sheets regardless of quality |
| All joints, seams, and penetrations | High-grade elastomeric caulk | Cheap caulk goes rigid and splits in one freeze-thaw cycle, opening the exact path we sealed |
| Bare or previously stained decks and fences | Penetrating semi-transparent stain | Lets the wood release moisture instead of trapping it — film-forming products fail here |
We buy Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore exterior lines. Product line matters far more than manufacturer; both companies sell excellent coatings and budget coatings under the same logo.
Exterior Painting Services We Offer
Our own crew, our own equipment, photographed mid-job.
What's Included in Every Exterior Estimate
- Free on-site assessment and itemized written estimate
- Color consultation and sampling on the actual house
- Full pressure washing and mildew treatment
- Scraping, sanding, and feathering of all failing areas
- Complete caulking of joints, seams, and penetrations
- Priming of all bare wood and problem substrates
- Two finish coats of premium exterior product
- Landscaping, walkway, window, and fixture protection
- Daily and final cleanup with full debris haul-off
- Labeled touch-up paint and a written workmanship warranty
Quoted Separately
- — Wood rot repair and siding replacement — quantified at the estimate, priced by actual scope
- — Roof and gutter moss removal beyond what prep requires
- — Gutter replacement, flashing, and other moisture-path repairs
- — Lead-safe RRP containment on pre-1978 homes where required
- — Deck and fence staining — see our deck staining and sealing service
- — Scaffolding or lift rental on severe-access sites
How Long Exterior Painting Takes
| Project Scope | Typical Duration |
|---|---|
| Small rambler, good condition | 3–4 days |
| Average home, 1,500–2,500 sq ft | 5–7 days |
| Larger or two-story home | 7–10 days |
| Heavy prep or significant rot repair | Add 2–5 days |
| Trim and accents only | 2–3 days |
Weather is the one thing we can't schedule around. We monitor forecasts daily and will stop work rather than paint into rain or below 50°F — a day lost to weather costs you nothing, while a coat applied in the wrong conditions costs you the whole job. Booking April or May generally gets you the best position in the season.
What's Included
Trim, fascia and every awkward edge, cut by hand.
Exterior Painting Across Snohomish and King County
We're based in Lynnwood and run exterior work across three counties. Housing stock, exposure, and the resulting prep load vary noticeably from city to city:
T1-11 siding on the 1980s–90s stock, and it fails at the bottom edge without exception. Sealing that end grain properly is the difference between an eight-year job and a three-year one.
Waterfront and Bowl-area homes take salt air along with the rain. Marine exposure accelerates coating breakdown and corrodes fasteners, so product selection and prep both get upgraded here.
Hilltop and Sound-facing properties get the region's harshest combination — wind-driven rain, salt, and full UV exposure on the same elevation.
Craftsman and Tudor homes with cedar siding and heavy original trim. Tannin bleed and pre-1978 lead-safe practices apply on a large share of this work.
Larger homes with more elevations, more trim detail, and frequent access challenges on sloped lots. Staging drives cost more than square footage does.
Newer fiber cement on steep hillside lots. The substrate is forgiving; the access is not. Many of these homes need lift or scaffolding time.
We serve 24 cities across Snohomish, King, and Pierce County. Find your city for local detail and recent work.
Why Choose Paint Gunners for Exterior Painting?
We use professional airless and HVLP spray equipment for factory-smooth finishes that no brush or roller can match.
We spend the majority of our hours on prep — cleaning, repairing, priming, and protecting — because that is what determines how long the finish lasts.
Commercial-grade coatings selected per surface and per exposure — not whatever was cheapest at the counter.
We don't leave until you're happy. Full walkthrough inspection with touch-ups included on every project.
