Skip to content
Painting with Purpose

The proof is in the prep

Anyone can photograph a finished wall. We show the masking, the patching and the primer too, because that is the part that decides how the finish looks the day we leave, and whether it is still holding up in five years.

Interior
& exterior
PNW
Region wide
Featured jobFull exterior repaint · Board and batten siding
A long single-story ranch mid-job with bare siding, masked windows and plastic sheeting along the base of the wall
Prep & masking
The same ranch finished in deep charcoal board and batten with a warm timber porch
Finished

A long ranch from bare siding to charcoal board and batten

Both shots show the same house. The first is mid-job. Siding bare, every window masked, plastic sheeting run along the base of the wall. The yard was still down to dirt and the sawhorses were still out. The second is the finished elevation in deep charcoal board and batten. The porch timber is warmed up, the trim is cut in, and the lawn is back down.

Scope of work

  • Wash, scrape & spot-prime bare siding
  • Windows, doors & fixtures masked off
  • Board & batten sprayed in deep charcoal
  • Porch timber & trim finished by hand

More recent work

  • A stairwell before the millwork was painted, with a bare skirt board, the original stained handrail and treads stripped back
    The same stairwell mid-job, skirt and newel coated, masking paper taped along the wall line and every tread covered
    Interior

    One stairwell, before and mid-job

    The same flight from the same landing. First the original stained handrail and a bare skirt board, with the treads stripped back. Then the skirt and the newel coated, masking paper run the whole length of the wall line, and every tread still covered. The second frame is what most of this job actually looked like.

  • A two-story elevation covered in pale spot-primer patches over failed paint, with the windows masked and taped out in green
    Exterior

    What a properly prepped elevation looks like

    Every place the old coating had let go, scraped back and spot-primed. That is what the pale patches are. Nobody photographs this stage because it looks worse than when we arrived, and it is the single biggest reason the finish lays down flat now and is still sound in five years. Windows masked and taped out before any of it.

  • A covered concrete patio blotched grey-green with lichen staining, a crack in the slab and grinder hoses staged on it
    The same slab with a floor grinder halfway across it, half of it ground back to pale concrete and half still stained
    The same patio and walkway finished in a uniform light grey, under a cedar covered patio strung with lights
    Concrete

    One patio, before, mid-grind and finished

    All three frames are the same covered patio. It starts blotched grey-green where lichen had taken hold, and it finishes in a uniform opaque light grey. The middle frame is the grinder halfway across, and that line down the slab is the point. Washing gets a slab clean. Grinding gives a coating something to key into.

  • Three Benjamin Moore jugs on gravel, a finish remover, a wood restorer and a wood brightener and neutralizer
    Cedar soffit and fascia sanded back to bare pale wood, above dark stained board and batten siding and maroon window trim
    A crew member laying dark stain onto the cedar soffit with a brush on a red extension pole, maroon window trim below
    Wood restoration

    One cedar soffit, stripped back and stained

    Three frames from the same house. The first is what the restoration actually runs on: a finish remover, a wood restorer that takes off dead fiber and mildew staining, and a brightener and neutralizer. Then the soffit sanded back to bare, which is where it has to be before any stain, and the same detail getting stain brushed on from an extension pole. Stain over weathered grey cedar sits on the surface instead of soaking into it.

  • A hallway and room taped and mudded, with compound over every joint, corner and fastener head, ready for texture
    Drywall

    Taped, mudded and ready for texture

    Compound over every joint, every corner bead and every fastener head, then sanded flat. Get this wrong and no amount of paint hides it, because a raking light down a hallway finds every ridge you left.

  • A finished two-story craftsman in warm grey siding with charcoal trim, brick columns and timber garage doors
    Exterior

    Craftsman in warm grey and charcoal

    Finished elevation with the trim, the gable and the garage surrounds all picked out in charcoal against warm grey siding. The brick and the timber doors were left alone, which is its own decision and it goes on the scope in writing.

  • A bathroom mid-renovation with freshly painted walls and ceiling above white subway tile, a walk-in tub and hex floor tile
    Interior

    Bathroom, walls cut in around new tile

    Walls and ceiling finished above fresh subway tile, with the walk-in tub still open and the plumbing still live. Cutting a clean line against tile that somebody else set the day before is the part that takes the time.

  • A cedar deck washed back to clean timber and sealed, with the grain and knots showing through
    Decks

    Deck boards washed back and sealed

    Washed down, left to dry properly, then sealed. The color in the boards is the wood coming back rather than a stain sitting on top of it, which is what you want on a deck that gets walked on wet nine months a year.

  • An aggregate driveway half washed, with Painting with Purpose written into the clean concrete
    The same driveway finished, clean aggregate concrete with pink brick banding running through it
    Pressure washing

    One driveway, mid-wash and finished

    Both frames are the same aggregate driveway. The wand wrote our name into it on the way past, which is the difference a wash makes in one pass. The second shot is the whole run once it was done.

  • A single-story ranch in pale blue siding with white trim before repainting
    The same ranch after repainting in deep grey
    Exterior

    Pale blue ranch, now dark grey

    Same elevation, same angle. Pale blue siding with white trim to start, deep grey with the trim picked out to finish.

  • The kitchen masked for spraying, with paper over every cabinet front, the range hood bagged and the windows taped out
    The same kitchen finished, warm white cabinets around a deep navy island under a granite worktop
    Cabinets

    One kitchen, masked and finished

    The same room from the same corner. Every door front papered off, the range hood bagged, the counters and the island covered, and the windows taped out. Finished, the perimeter is warm white and the island is deep navy.

  • A kitchen fully masked for spraying with plastic over the cabinets and island and drop cloths across the floor
    Interior

    Floor-to-ceiling protection

    Plastic over every cabinet run and over the island, drop cloths wall to wall, all of it done before a single door comes off.

  • A hallway and stairs with a carpet runner and a full-height textured feature wall
    Interior

    Full-height feature wall

    A textured wall carried the whole way up the stairwell, cut clean against the runner and the dark wood floor.

  • A gambrel-roofed house in tired cream siding with tan trim, streaked from weathering
    The same house finished in sage green with crisp charcoal window trim
    Exterior

    Gambrel repaint, cream to sage

    Tired cream siding with tan trim, streaked where the weather had run down it. Finished in sage green with charcoal trim, every sash masked and every line cut by hand.

  • A gable end with paint peeling off in sheets and a ladder against the wall
    The same gable end finished in slate grey with white trim
    Exterior

    A gable end that had lost its paint

    Paint coming off the gable in sheets, down to bare board in places. Washed, scraped, spot-primed and finished in slate grey with white trim.

  • An interior window sill with old paint cracked and lifting away and staining in the corner of the frame
    The same sill finished in white with masking tape still along the glass
    Trim

    One window sill, close up

    Old paint cracked and lifting off the sill in sheets, with rot starting in the corner of the frame. Sanded back, primed and finished in white. The tape is still on in the second frame, because that shot was taken before the cut lines were pulled.

  • Side by side of one front door, weathered oak before and terracotta with white trim after
    Doors

    One front door, before and after

    Stripped and weathered oak on the left, the same door in terracotta with white trim on the right.

  • A large white built-in media wall with shelving under a coffered ceiling
    Interior

    Built-in wall and coffered ceiling

    Shelving, the built-in surround and the coffered ceiling above, all finished in the same white so the wall reads as one piece.

  • A workshop shed painted deep brown with bright red trim and a white door
    Exterior

    Workshop in brown and red

    Deep brown body, bright red trim, white door. The outbuildings get the same prep as the house.

Want your house in here?

Free written estimates across Everett, Marysville, Arlington, Lake Stevens and the rest of Snohomish County, plus North King County.

Request a Free Estimate702-339-4746