The condition
Where the job starts
Paint lifting in sheets and bare wood underneath. By this point the coating has stopped protecting the wood, and the wood has started taking water.
Why exterior paint peels
Dayton Painting Services
Exterior House Painting in Dayton, Ohio
A repaint is mostly preparation. Seven of the nine steps happen before anyone opens a can of paint.
- Serving Dayton since 2012
- Fully insured
- AlphaOne Advantage Warranty
- Free exterior assessment
2012
Serving Dayton since
150+
Five-star Google reviews
9
Steps, seven before paint
FREE
Assessment, no obligation
Whole-house repainting
Exterior house painting in Dayton
A house is not one surface. It's siding, trim, fascia, soffit, brick, a front door and a set of shutters, and each of those wants something different from a coating. A crew that treats the whole thing as one job is why some repaints look tired within a few seasons while others still look right years later.
What decides that is preparation, and preparation is invisible once the job is done. That's why it's the first thing dropped from a cheap quote.
We paint exteriors throughout Dayton, Kettering, Centerville and Beavercreek.
- 01 Whole-house exterior painting
- 02 Trim, fascia and soffit
- 03 Doors, shutters and railings
- 04 Porch ceilings and columns
- 05 Garages and detached buildings
- 06 Pressure washing
- 07 Wood repair before coating
- 08 Caulking and sealing at openings
One house, four surfaces
What each surface needs
Four surfaces meet at almost every corner of a house, and only one of them is a simple decision. Select each to see what it needs.
Paint with confidence
Siding: wood, fiber cement, vinyl. The largest area on the house and the most forgiving, provided it's clean, dry and sound before any coating goes on. Each material has its own prep, and wood siding is where most of that prep happens.
Repair, then paint
Trim, fascia and soffit. Fails first, every time. It's the most exposed, it moves the most, and it's where water finds the end grain. Expect some of it to need repair before it's coated.
Sometimes the answer is don't
Brick and masonry. Painting brick isn't wrong, and done well it can look good. But it is close to irreversible: once masonry is coated, getting back to bare brick is difficult, and the coating needs maintaining from then on. On some wall assemblies, paint also traps moisture that used to escape through the brick. That makes brick a conversation before it's a quote, and sometimes our advice is to leave it alone.
Different product
Doors, shutters and railings. High-touch, high-wear, small area. These fail from hands as much as weather, and they usually want a different product from the walls.
Signs
Is it time to repaint?
Paint rarely fails all at once. These are the signs that a coating has stopped protecting the surface underneath it.
Peeling paint
Chipping
Fading colour
Cracking
Exposed wood
Moisture stains
Wood rot
Failed caulking
Mould or mildew
Blistering
The prep
The part you never see
Masking, washing, scraping and repair. None of it shows in the finished photo, and all of it decides how long the finish holds.
See all nine steps
The result
One house, finished together
Siding, trim and door done as one project, so every surface ages from the same starting point.
What drives the costLocal conditions
Why exterior paint fails in Ohio
Freeze-thaw
UV exposure
Humidity
Wind-driven rain
Temperature swings
Moisture intrusion
Southwest Ohio moves a house through a full range of expansion and contraction every year, and a coating has to move with it. It also narrows the window when application conditions are actually right. Surface temperature and dew point matter as much as the forecast, which is why we schedule around weather rather than through it. For what happens at the surface when paint lets go, see why paint fails on siding.
Process
Seven of the nine steps happen before the paint
Only steps eight and nine involve a finish coat. Everything before that is preparation.
01
Complete exterior inspectionEvery elevation, every surface, before anything is quoted.
02
Pressure washingDirt, chalking and mildew off, with pressure matched to the surface, then time to dry.
03
Scrape loose paintBack to sound, well-bonded edges. New paint is only as good as what it sits on.
04
Repair damaged wood or sidingSoft wood, split boards and failed trim are repaired or replaced before any coating goes near them.
05
Sand rough areasFeathering scraped edges so the finish reads as one surface, not a patchwork.
06
Caulk gaps and openingsAround windows, doors, trim joints and penetrations, where water gets in.
07
Prime exposed surfacesBare wood, repairs and stains get a primer suited to the substrate.
08
Apply premium exterior coatingsFinish coats chosen for the surface and its exposure.
09
Final walkthroughWe walk the house with you and put right anything that isn’t.
Steps one through seven are the entire difference between a repaint that holds and one that doesn't, and not one of them is visible in a finished photograph. When two quotes differ by thousands, this is usually where.
Surfaces
The surfaces we paint
A whole-house repaint usually touches most of these. Some have their own pages, and our exterior painting services page covers everything we paint.
- 01 Wood siding. What this page is mostly about. Prep-dependent, and repaintable again and again if it’s maintained.
- 02 Vinyl and aluminum siding. Both can be painted, with real constraints on colour and preparation. We cover those on our professional aluminum and vinyl siding painting page.
- 03 Fiber cement. Holds a finish noticeably better than wood, and repaints cleanly when the time comes.
- 04 Stucco. Its own repair and coating considerations. See our stucco painting and repair service.
- 05 Brick and masonry. See the note above. Largely irreversible, so it’s a decision to make deliberately.
- 06 Trim, fascia and soffit. Fails first, and often needs repair before it’s coated.
- 07 Decks and fences. Usually stained rather than painted. If it’s your deck or fence that needs attention, that’s its own job.
- 08 Commercial properties. Scheduled around your operating hours. See commercial exterior painting.
Paint or stain
Painting or staining?
Neither is better in general. They do different jobs on different surfaces.
Paint
Sits on the surface as a film, offers far more colour choice, and protects longer on siding and trim. It's the right answer for most of a house.
Stain
Penetrates the wood, keeps the grain visible, and wears away rather than peeling. It's usually right for decks and fences, which is why we handle those as deck and fence staining.
Products
Choosing a paint system
We use premium exterior coating systems from Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore. How long a finish holds comes down to four things: the exposure, the surface, the quality of the prep, and the grade of the coating.
01PrimerMatched to the substrate: bare wood, repairs, stains and previously painted surfaces don’t all want the same one.
02Finish coatsEnough film build to protect the surface, applied within the conditions the product calls for.
03SheenFlat hides surface flaws on siding; satin and gloss clean more easily on trim and doors.
04Paint qualityPremium exterior lines hold colour and resist cracking and chalking better than contractor-grade paint.
05Colour retentionDarker and brighter colours fade faster in direct sun. Product choice and exposure both matter.
06UV resistanceSouth and west elevations take the most sun, and that’s usually where a finish shows wear first.
Why AlphaOne
Why homeowners choose AlphaOne
01Seven of Nine Steps Are PrepThe work that decides how long a finish holds gets the most time on the job, not the least.
02We Repair Before We CoatSoft wood and failed trim are fixed first. Paint over rot only hides it for a season.
03We’ll Tell You Not to Paint the BrickWhen painting masonry is the wrong call for your house, we’ll say so before we quote it.
04Premium Coating SystemsSherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore exterior lines, chosen by surface and exposure.
05Warranty-Backed WorkmanshipOur work is covered by the AlphaOne Advantage Warranty.
06Local Since 2012We’ve painted Dayton-area homes since 2012, and we plan to be here when your next repaint comes round.
Financing options are available through Synchrony, and every project is covered by the AlphaOne Advantage Warranty.
Exterior House Painting FAQs
There isn’t an honest single number. It depends on how much sun and weather each side of the house takes, what the surface is, how well it was prepared last time, and the grade of coating that went on. Trim and doors usually need attention before the walls do. We’d rather look at your house and tell you what we see than quote an interval.
Generally late spring through early autumn, when surface temperatures stay within the range the coating manufacturer specifies and dew doesn’t settle on fresh paint before it sets. We schedule around those conditions on the day, not just the season.
It depends on four things: exposure, the surface underneath, the quality of the preparation, and the grade of the coating. South and west elevations and horizontal trim wear first. Preparation is the one of those four a contractor controls most, which is why seven of our nine steps are prep.
Not properly. Paint applied over peeling paint bonds to a coating that is already letting go. Loose paint is scraped back to a sound edge, rough areas are sanded, and bare spots are primed before any finish coat goes on.
Yes, on every job. Dirt, chalking and mildew are washed off with pressure matched to the surface, and the house is given time to dry before any coating goes on.
Yes. It’s step four of our process. Soft or rotted wood is repaired or replaced before it’s primed and painted, because paint over rot hides it for a season and then fails with it. We’ll show you what we find and include it in the written estimate.
Premium exterior lines from Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore. The specific product depends on the surface and its exposure: siding, trim and doors don’t always want the same coating.
It can be done, and done well it looks good. But it is close to permanent: getting back to bare brick later is difficult, and a painted brick wall needs maintaining like any other painted surface. On some wall assemblies, paint also traps moisture that used to escape through the brick. It’s a decision worth making deliberately, and we’ll talk it through with you before we quote it.
Usually, yes, with constraints on colour and preparation. Our vinyl and aluminum siding painting page covers what’s involved.
Often, if the siding itself is sound. It needs specific preparation first. See our vinyl and aluminum siding painting page for the details.
It depends on the size of the house, how many surfaces are involved, how much repair we find, and the weather. We’ll give you an expected timeline once we’ve assessed the house.
Every exterior coating lists a minimum application temperature for both the air and the surface, and conditions need to stay above it while the paint cures, overnight included. We follow the manufacturer’s stated minimum for the product we’re using rather than a rule of thumb.
Rain on paint that hasn’t set yet can streak or mark the finish. We watch the forecast and the dew point and don’t coat a surface when rain is expected before the paint can set. If a surface does get caught, we inspect it and put it right.
Yes. Our workmanship is covered by the AlphaOne Advantage Warranty. The warranty page sets out what’s covered.
Most of a good repaint happens before the paint
A free exterior assessment, an honest read on what needs repair first, and a written estimate that accounts for the prep.
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