Exterior Trim Painting — Fascia, Soffit, Window Trim and Doors Only
The siding is fine, or it is vinyl or brick and never needs paint, but the fascia is peeling and the window trim has gone gray. This is the job that paints the trim and leaves the rest alone.
JMB Builders does exterior trim painting across the Twin Cities metro without painting the whole house: fascia, soffit, window and door trim, corner boards and doors scraped, sanded, spot-primed, caulked and painted in two coats while the siding stays as it is. Soft or rotted trim found in prep is replaced, not painted over. Priced per project, quoted from your photos within one business day.
- Trim only; the siding stays as it is
- Fascia, soffit, window and door trim, corners
- Rotted trim replaced before it is painted
- Quote from photos in 1 business day
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
Trim fails before siding. Fascia sits behind a gutter that overflows every spring; window trim has end grain at every corner; the bottom of a door casing sits in splash from the step. The paint on those parts is doing more work than the paint on the wall, so it goes first. On a vinyl, brick or stucco house it is the only painted wood there is.
This page is the trim-only job: the house stays its color and the painted wood gets stripped back to sound paint, primed, caulked and repainted. It is a ladder job more than a wall job, which is why it is priced by what has to be reached rather than by the square foot.
Prep finds things. Fascia that is soft behind the gutter, a window sill with a crack you can put a knife in, a corner board with a black line at the bottom. We tell you what we found, replace the piece that is gone, and paint what is sound. Painting over rot is a year of looking fine and then the same problem plus the cost of the paint.
What you supply
- The color, or a photo of the current trim if it is staying the same
- Which parts are in: fascia and soffit, windows, doors, corner boards, porch posts, shutters
- Gutters staying or coming off: we can paint behind them or leave the gutter line
- Cars out of the driveway and plantings tied back where the ladders go
What JMB supplies
- Wash of the trim to be painted; scraping and sanding of loose paint back to a sound edge
- Spot-priming of bare wood and end grain with an exterior primer, full prime on chalked or weathered trim
- Old caulk cut out and the joints at siding, glass stops and corners recaulked with a paintable exterior sealant
- Two coats of exterior acrylic, brushed on trim and rolled on wide fascia, or sprayed and back-brushed
- Masking of the siding, glass, brick and stucco along every edge
- Rotted fascia, sill or casing replaced in primed wood or PVC before painting, quoted when we find it
- Gutters detached and rehung to paint behind them when that is the plan
- Photos of the finished trim in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- How much trim: fascia and soffit only, or every window, door, corner and porch post too
- Height and access: single-story walk-around vs. a two-story with a steep grade on one side
- Condition: sound paint that scuffs and recoats vs. peeling trim that has to be scraped and fully primed
- Number of windows, since each one is four cut lines against glass or siding
- Rot found in prep and the trim pieces that have to be replaced first
- Gutters detached and rehung to paint the fascia behind them
- A color change, which takes a tinted primer, vs. the same color recoated
Send a photo of each side of the house from the yard and a close-up of the worst trim you can see, usually a fascia corner or a window sill. Count the windows and say whether the doors and shutters are in.
How long it takes
A single-story house, fascia and window trim: two to three days. A two-story with doors, corners and porch trim: three to five days, weather allowing. Rot replacement adds a day.
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
Fascia and soffit only
The roofline: fascia boards, soffit panels or boards, and the frieze under them. Most of the work is behind and under the gutter. Gutters can stay on and the paint stops at the gutter line, or they come off for a day so the fascia gets fully coated.
Window and door trim on a sided house
Brickmould or flat casing, sills and the trim around exterior doors, cut in against vinyl, LP or Hardie siding that is staying. Sills get the most sanding; end grain at the corners gets primed twice.
Trim on a brick or stucco house
The only painted wood on the house: fascia, soffit, window and door trim and sometimes porch beams. The masonry is masked and the trim gets a full prime and two coats. Loose caulk at the trim-to-stucco joint is replaced with a sealant made for it.
Shutters, porch posts and railings
Added to the trim job at your call. Wood shutters come down and get painted flat, then rehung. Porch posts and railings are scraped, primed and brushed. Vinyl shutters are painted with a bonding primer or replaced, whichever you want.
Exterior Trim Painting — Fascia, Soffit, Window Trim and Doors Only: questions, answered
Can you paint just the trim and not the siding?
Yes. That is what this page is. Fascia, soffit, window and door trim, corner boards, porch posts and shutters get scraped, primed and painted while the siding is masked and left alone. It is the normal job on vinyl, brick and stucco houses, and a fair option on wood siding that is still holding up while the trim is not.
Do the gutters have to come off to paint the fascia?
Not always. If the gutters are sound and the fascia behind them is fine, the paint stops at the gutter line and nobody ever sees the strip behind it. If the fascia is peeling behind the gutter, or the gutters are coming down for new ones anyway, we detach them, paint the whole board and rehang them. Either way we say which one we quoted.
What do you do when the fascia is rotted?
Replace it. Paint over soft wood holds for a season and then fails from underneath, so the rotted section is cut out back to sound wood and a new primed board or PVC trim goes in before anything is painted. We photograph what we found, quote the piece, and go ahead with your yes. The rest of the trim is painted as planned.
How do you get a clean line between the trim and vinyl siding?
The siding is masked with tape and paper along the trim edge, and the trim is brushed toward the siding rather than away from it so paint does not creep under the tape. Where trim meets siding there is usually a caulk joint; that gets recut and recaulked before painting so the line is a filled joint, not a crack with paint on both sides.
Can you paint exterior trim a different color than it is now?
Yes. A color change gets a tinted primer so the new color covers in two coats, and a dark color over a light one may take a third. Going from stained trim to painted trim takes a full oil or bonding primer over the stain first. Send a photo of the house and the color and we will say what it takes.
When is the trim painting season in Minnesota?
Late spring through early fall, on days when the wood stays above the paint's minimum temperature overnight and there is no rain coming that evening. Fascia in full sun is painted in the shade side of the day so it does not flash off. We work around the forecast and tell you the day before if the schedule moves.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and for the builders and dealers we sub for. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
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.
Related jobs we do
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Read morePage reviewed September 26, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All painting pages
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