Exterior House Painting in Orange County, NY

An exterior paint job in the Hudson Valley has a harder life than one almost anywhere else in the country. Winter drives moisture into every open seam and then freezes it. Summer humidity and full south-facing sun cook the same surface for three months. That cycle is what actually kills exterior paint here — not the paint itself, but water getting behind a film that was applied over a surface that wasn't properly prepared.

That's why our exterior process is weighted heavily toward washing, scraping, priming and caulking. The coating is the last five percent of the job, and it's the only part most homeowners ever get quoted on.

Our exterior process

Wash. Every exterior starts with a low-pressure house wash to strip off chalking, mildew, pollen and the film of road grime that no coating will bond through. Low pressure matters — a contractor blasting 3,000 PSI at wood siding drives water into the substrate and raises the grain, which is a problem you'll be looking at for a decade.

Scrape and sand. Loose and failing paint gets scraped back to a sound edge and feathered so the transition doesn't read as a ridge through the new finish. Bare wood gets sanded.

Repair and caulk. Rotted trim, soft window sills, split corner boards and damaged fascia get repaired or replaced before coating. Open joints, siding-to-trim seams and nail holes get caulked with a quality elastomeric sealant that stays flexible through the freeze-thaw cycle instead of cracking out by the second winter.

Prime. All bare wood, all repairs and all stained or tannin-bleeding areas get spot-primed with the correct primer for the substrate. Cedar and redwood in particular will bleed straight through a latex topcoat without a stain-blocking primer.

Coat. Two coats of a premium 100% acrylic exterior product on siding, with trim, shutters and doors coated in the appropriate finish. Applied within the manufacturer's temperature and humidity window, not at 8pm in October because the schedule is tight.

What we paint on the outside of a house

Siding of nearly every type: cedar clapboard and shingle, HardiePlank and fiber cement, wood shakes, stucco, previously painted aluminum and vinyl (with the right heat-reflective product so panels don't warp), board and batten, and T1-11.

Trim and detail work: corner boards, fascia, soffits, frieze boards, window and door casing, brick mold, shutters, columns, porch ceilings and floors, railings, balusters, lattice, garage doors and entry doors. A front door repainted in a deep color with a proper finish is the single highest-impact hundred dollars in exterior painting.

We also stain and seal exterior wood — see deck staining and sealing for decks, railings, pergolas and fencing.

When to paint an exterior in the Hudson Valley

Our practical exterior season runs from roughly late April through late October. Modern acrylics are rated to apply down to about 35–50°F depending on the product line, but the number that matters is the overnight low, not the daytime high — a surface that drops below the minimum before the film has cured will not develop full adhesion no matter how warm it was at noon.

The best windows are late May through June and again in September, when you get warm days, mild nights and low humidity. July and August are workable but full sun on a south or west elevation can flash the paint before it levels; we work around the sun on those days rather than fighting it.

More on scheduling in our guide to the best time of year to paint a house in the Hudson Valley.

How long it should last

A properly prepped and coated exterior in this climate should give you 8–12 years on wood siding and longer on fiber cement, with trim and south-facing elevations typically needing attention first. Jobs that fail in three years almost always failed at prep — paint applied over chalk, over moisture, or over a scrape line that was never feathered and primed.

We'll tell you honestly at the estimate if part of your exterior needs carpentry before paint. Coating over rot is cheaper this year and much more expensive in three.

What's included

• Low-pressure house wash to remove chalk, mildew and grime
• Loose paint scraped to a sound edge and feathered smooth
• Rotted trim, sills and fascia repaired or replaced before coating
• Seams, joints and nail holes caulked with flexible exterior sealant
• Bare wood, repairs and bleeding areas spot-primed correctly
• Two coats of premium 100% acrylic exterior finish
• Landscaping, walkways, roofs and A/C units covered and protected
• Full site cleanup and a walkthrough before final payment

Where we work

We provide exterior painting throughout Orange County, New York — including Highland Mills, Monroe, Central Valley, Woodbury, Harriman, Chester, Warwick, Greenwood Lake, Goshen, Middletown, Newburgh, New Windsor, Cornwall & Cornwall-on-Hudson, Washingtonville, Montgomery, Walden, Florida, NY. Based in Highland Mills, most of our work is within a short drive, which means estimates get scheduled quickly and callbacks actually happen.