RH Painting
Coastal exteriors fail from the weather side first. We prep back to sound material, prime what’s exposed, and build the finish from there.
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Paint on the Monterey coast works harder than paint almost anywhere else. Salt carries inland on the wind. Fog holds moisture against the siding for hours after sunrise. South and west elevations take UV all afternoon while the north side stays damp.
The result is that exteriors here rarely fail evenly. One elevation chalks and fades while another holds its color. Trim lets go at the joints before the field coat shows anything at all. A house can look fine from the street and be failing on the side you don’t walk past.
Most of the difference between a repaint that lasts and one that doesn’t is decided before any color goes on — how much of the failed coating comes off, how the bare material gets sealed, and whether the surface was actually dry when the first coat went down. That’s where the work is.
A repaint is mostly preparation. Here is what we actually do, in order.
We walk the whole house with you, including the elevations you don’t see from the street. We look at the condition of the existing finish, the trim joints, the fascia and eaves, and anywhere water has been sitting. Then we talk through colors and what the project involves. You get a detailed estimate based on what’s actually there.
The house gets washed to remove salt, dirt, cobwebs and any loose chalk from the old finish. Nothing bonds to a dirty surface, and on the coast the film of salt alone is enough to cause a finish to let go early.
Wherever the old coating has failed, it comes off. We scrape and sand back to sound material and feather the edges so the transitions don’t telegraph through the new finish.
We re-caulk joints, fill and patch small damage, and reset loose trim. If we find dry rot or siding that needs replacing, we show you before we cover it up — see the questions below.
Every bare or repaired surface gets primed before any finish coat. Different substrates take different primers, and the choice matters more on the coast than almost anywhere.
Two full finish coats, applied when conditions allow it. On this coast that means watching the moisture, not just the calendar — we don’t put a coat down on a surface that hasn’t dried out from the morning fog.
We pull the masking, clean up the site, and walk the house with you. Anything you want addressed gets addressed before we call it finished.
Every photo is a real RH Painting project.
From the coastlines of Carmel and Pebble Beach to homes throughout Monterey, Pacific Grove, Salinas, and beyond — we bring premium exterior painting craftsmanship to every project.
Most homes take one to two weeks depending on size, how many stories, how much prep the existing finish needs, and the weather. Prep is the part that varies most — a house whose last paint job is still sound moves much faster than one that needs scraping back across several elevations. We give you a timeline before we start.
We show you. We handle caulking, filling and small patches as part of the job, but we’re painters, not carpenters — structural rot and siding replacement are somebody else’s trade. If we find it, we’ll point it out, tell you what we think it needs, and either bring in someone we trust or work around a carpenter you choose. What we won’t do is paint over it and let you find out in two years.
Two finish coats over primer on any bare or repaired surface. Some colors and some substrates need more, and we’ll tell you if yours is one of them rather than finding out at the end.
No. Most of our exterior clients aren’t home during the day. We’ll need access to water and to the areas around the house, and we’ll agree on that before we start.
We cover and protect what’s next to the house before anything gets sprayed or washed. If there’s anything you’re particularly attached to, tell us at the assessment and we’ll plan around it.
On the coast, less than the can says — that’s just the reality of salt, fog and UV. How long you get depends much more on preparation and exposure than on the brand of paint. Elevations that take the weather will always show wear before the sheltered sides do, and a house that gets washed occasionally holds its finish longer than one that doesn’t.
Yes. Several of the communities we work in have color approval processes, and we’re used to working within them. Bring us the approved palette or the submission requirements and we’ll work from it.
It comes down to the size of the house, how many stories and how hard the access is, the condition of the existing finish, and how much trim and detail there is. Two houses with the same square footage can be very different jobs once you look at the prep. That’s why we don’t quote exteriors over the phone. The free assessment is where we walk it and give you a real number.
Free assessment, no obligation.