Roofing & Exterior
Different Siding, Different Job. One Coat Doesn't Fit All.
Repainting fiber cement, engineered wood, cedar, and vinyl with Sherwin-Williams coatings chosen for the material underneath — and the wash, prime, and caulk that decide whether it lasts eight years or three.
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Signs to watch
Is this you?
Factory color that's chalked or faded out
Fiber cement and engineered wood come with a baked-on finish that eventually chalks and dulls in PNW sun and rain. When a wipe of your hand comes back with color on it, the coating is spent and it's time to repaint — not re-side.
Mildew and green film on the shaded elevations
North walls and anything under trees grow a biological film here almost yearly. Painting over it feeds it under the new coat. It has to be washed and killed first or the fresh paint fails from behind.
Cedar that's graying, bleeding tannin, or cupping
Real wood siding moves, weathers, and bleeds tannin through the wrong primer. Cedar wants a specific prep and a stain-blocking base or you get brown streaks ghosting through a brand-new coat within a season.
Peeling or blistering in patches
When paint lets go in spots while the rest holds, it's almost never the paint — it's moisture in the board or a coating that was put over a dirty or damp surface last time. We find out which before we recoat.
Your options
The coating matched to your substrate
Every siding material takes paint differently, and we match the Sherwin-Williams product and prep to what you have. Fiber cement (Hardie) and LP SmartSide want a suitable primer on bare and cut edges and a flexible acrylic topcoat. Cedar needs a stain-blocking primer so tannin doesn't bleed through, and tighter attention to end-grain. Vinyl can be painted, but only with coatings made to flex and kept within a safe color range so panels don't warp in the heat. Across all of them the job is the same three things done right: a wash that kills mildew and lifts chalk, priming exposed substrate, and caulking the joints where our rain gets in.
The method
How we do it
- 01
Identify the substrate and read the surface
We confirm what your siding actually is, check for chalk, mildew, moisture, and failing caulk, and match the coating system to the material. We'll tell you honestly if a wall needs board or flashing repair before any paint — painting over rot just buries it.
- 02
Wash, prime, and seal the joints
Pressure or soft wash to kill biological growth and strip chalk, let it dry, then prime bare board and cut edges with the primer that substrate needs and re-caulk the seams, butt joints, and penetrations that leak in wet season.
- 03
Topcoat and walkthrough
Sherwin-Williams topcoat applied at proper film thickness, clean lines against trim and windows, grounds masked and swept, then a walk of the whole house together. Timing depends on square footage and the drying window — usually several days to a week, weather permitting.
Straight numbers
What repainting siding actually costs
It's priced on prep, material, and access far more than on paint. What moves the number: square footage and stories, the substrate — cedar and heavily chalked fiber cement take more prep than clean engineered wood — how much caulking and spot-repair the walls need, the texture and profile of the siding, and how reachable the elevations are. A house that just needs a wash and a coat prices very differently from one fighting years of chalk, mildew, and open joints, and we'll show you which one yours is before we quote.
Where we do this work
Siding Painting: straight answers
Can you paint over the original factory color on Hardie or LP?
Yes. Factory-finished fiber cement and engineered wood are designed to be repainted once the original coating chalks or you want a new color. The keys are a thorough wash to remove chalk, priming any bare or cut edges, and a quality acrylic topcoat — done that way, a repaint bonds and lasts.
Should cedar be painted or stained?
Both work, but they're different commitments. Solid paint gives the widest color range and the longest interval between coats but needs a stain-blocking primer so tannin doesn't bleed. Stain shows the wood and is easier to refresh but comes due sooner. We'll walk the trade-offs for your specific walls and exposure.
Can vinyl siding really be painted?
It can, with the right product. Vinyl expands and contracts a lot in heat, so it takes coatings formulated to flex, and you generally can't go much darker than the original — a dark color absorbs heat and can warp the panels. We'll tell you honestly whether painting or replacing is the smarter call for your siding.
How long will a siding repaint last in the Northwest?
With real prep and quality Sherwin-Williams product matched to the substrate, typically several years to close to a decade, depending on material, sun and rain exposure, and how well the last coat was done. The biggest variable isn't the paint — it's whether the wall was washed, dried, primed, and caulked before the coat went on.
Do you deal with rotten boards before painting?
We flag them and fix them first, or we don't paint that section. Coating over a soft or rotting board is money down the drain — the paint fails and the rot keeps spreading underneath. If we find damage, you'll see it in photos and we'll price the repair before any paint touches the wall.
Get the siding painting conversation started.
Free 20-minute inspection. Photo report you keep either way. Zero pressure.