Exterior House Painting — Siding and Trim Scraped, Primed, Painted
Peeling paint on the south side, chalky siding, trim that has not been touched in a decade — prepped the slow way and painted when the weather lets it cure.
JMB Builders does exterior house painting across the Twin Cities metro and north to St. Cloud: wood, fiber-cement and hardboard siding, trim, fascia, soffits, porches and doors. Every job is washed, scraped, sanded, spot-primed, caulked and painted in two coats, scheduled inside the dry, warm window Minnesota gives us. Rotted trim found in prep is replaced, not painted over. Priced per project, quoted from your photos.
- Priced per project, whole house or one side
- Washed, scraped, primed, caulked, two coats
- Rotted trim replaced by the same crew
- Painted in the dry season, not the shoulder
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
Exterior paint fails from underneath. It peels where the old paint was loose and got painted over, where a joint was never caulked and water got behind it, and on the south and west walls where the sun cooks it. A repaint that lasts is a prep job: wash the chalk and mildew off, scrape every loose edge, feather-sand the edges so they do not telegraph, prime the bare wood, and caulk the joints before the first coat.
We are carpenters first, which matters on an exterior. Scraping always finds something: a soft fascia board, a rotted window sill, a corner board that is punky at the bottom. We replace it with new material while we are there and prime it before the finish coat, instead of filling it and hoping. The pieces we replace are the same pieces we install on our trim jobs.
Minnesota gives a painting season, not a year. Paint needs the surface dry and the nights above the paint's minimum for a day or two after it goes on, so we schedule exteriors from late spring to early fall and watch the forecast for each side of the house. A wall painted in a cold fall week can look fine and fail the next summer.
What you supply
- Body and trim colors, or a photo of a house you like and we match it; a sample patch on the wall before we commit to the whole house
- Access: cars out of the driveway, gates unlocked, shrubs against the house tied back or trimmed
- Window screens pulled and set aside, or we pull and label them
- Water at an outside spigot for the wash
What JMB supplies
- Pressure or soft wash with a cleaner to remove chalk, dirt and mildew, and time for it to dry
- Scraping of every loose edge, feather-sanding, and a bonding or oil primer on bare and chalky wood
- Replacement of rotted trim, fascia, sills and siding boards found during prep, primed on all sides
- Paintable exterior caulk at trim joints, siding butt joints and around windows and doors
- Two coats of a quality exterior acrylic on siding, trim enamel on doors and trim, sprayed and back-rolled or brushed
- Masking of windows, roofing, decks, concrete and plantings
- Ladders, staging and lifts as the house needs; cleanup and paint left labeled for touch-ups
- Photos of the finished exterior in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Square footage of siding and the number of stories; a walkout or a steep lot adds staging
- Condition of the old paint: a chalky sound surface vs. heavy peeling that has to be scraped to bare wood
- Siding type: lap wood, cedar shakes, fiber-cement or hardboard each take different prep
- How much rotted trim, fascia or siding has to be replaced before painting
- Body only, or body plus trim, fascia, soffits, doors, shutters and railings
- Number of colors and whether the trim is a sharp contrast that has to be cut by hand
- One side of the house vs. the whole house; the south and west sides are usually the ones that need it
Send a photo of each side of the house and close-ups of the worst peeling and any soft trim. The quote says what gets replaced and what gets painted, no allowances.
How long it takes
A one-story house: about a week, weather allowing. Two stories or heavy scraping: two weeks. Wash, dry, prep and prime, then paint one side at a time as the forecast allows.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized quote within one business day. We only come out to measure first when the job needs a tape measure — no pressure, no games.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Whole-house repaint
Every wall, the trim, fascia and soffits, doors and garage door. The job is sequenced side by side so each wall is washed, dry, prepped and painted with the weather, not against it.
Trim and fascia only
Siding that is vinyl, brick or still sound, with wood trim that is peeling. Scraped, primed, caulked and painted in a trim enamel, with any rotted boards replaced first.
South and west sides
The two walls the sun works hardest. Painted to match the rest, with the prep those sides need, when the whole house does not.
Peeling and bare-wood recovery
Heavy scraping to a sound edge, feather-sanding, a full oil or bonding primer coat on the bare wood, then two finish coats. Slower, and the only way a badly peeled wall holds paint again.
New siding or trim we installed
Primed fiber-cement, LP or wood we put on gets its finish coats as its own line on the siding or trim quote: caulked, primed where cut, two coats.
Exterior House Painting — Siding and Trim Scraped, Primed, Painted: questions, answered
What months can you paint a house exterior in Minnesota?
Late spring through early fall, with the surface dry and the nights staying above the paint's minimum for a day or two after each coat. We watch the forecast for each side rather than the calendar. Dew, a cold night or rain in the first day can leave a coat that looks fine and peels next summer, so a job that runs into a cold week waits.
How do you prep peeling paint on siding?
Wash the wall first so the scraping is on a clean surface. Scrape every loose edge until the paint that is left is stuck, feather-sand the edges so the step does not show through, then prime the bare wood with an oil or bonding primer. Joints and cracks get caulked after the primer. Only then does the first finish coat go on. Painting over loose paint is how the last job failed.
Do you replace rotted wood before painting?
Yes. Scraping finds it: soft fascia ends, window sills, the bottoms of corner boards and trim under a leaky gutter. We cut it out and replace it with new wood, PVC or fiber-cement trim to match, primed on all sides before it goes up. Filling rot and painting over it lasts a season. It is on the quote as its own line once we have seen the photos.
Do you spray or brush exterior paint?
Both. Siding is usually sprayed and back-rolled, which pushes the paint into the grain and the laps instead of leaving it sitting on top. Trim, doors and anything next to brick or a neighbor's fence is brushed. Everything that should not get paint, windows, roof, decks, concrete and plants, is masked before the sprayer comes out.
How long does exterior paint last in Minnesota?
It depends on the prep and the wall more than the paint. A well-prepped wall with a quality acrylic holds up for many years; the south and west walls always go first because of sun, and any joint that was not caulked goes before that. Keeping gutters clear and touching up chips before water gets behind them adds years. We leave labeled paint for that.
Can you paint fiber-cement or hardboard siding?
Yes. Fiber-cement takes an exterior acrylic well once it is washed and any bare cut ends are primed. Hardboard needs a close look first: any swollen edges or soft spots at the bottom courses are water damage and get replaced before painting, because paint will not hold on a swollen board. Both get their butt joints and trim joints caulked.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed September 24, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All painting pages
Where we work
Painting near you
Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: