Art Appraisal Blog

Most “best exterior paint” lists rank products by price tier and call it a day. That breaks down fast on the Eastside, where a single block can mix cedar lap siding from the 1960s, hardie board from a 2015 remodel, and a stucco addition on the same street. The paint that performs on one surface can fail early on another, no matter how many stars it has online. The better...

Homeowners on the Eastside ask us how long does paint last almost every week, and the honest answer is: it depends more on Seattle weather than on the can. A quality exterior paint job here typically holds up for 7 to 10 years, but we’ve stripped 5-year-old paint off south-facing siding that was already chalking, and we’ve seen 12-year-old paint on a shaded north wall still holding its sheen. The difference comes...

Picking an exterior color off a fan deck at the paint store is the easy part. Picking one that still looks right on your house next February, under a flat gray Bellevue sky, is the harder problem. Learning how to choose a paint color for a Pacific Northwest exterior means working backward from the things that don’t change: your roofline, your climate, and the wall of evergreens most Eastside homes...

A fresh coat of Exterior Paint is one of the best investments you can make in your home’s curb appeal and protection. But timing and preparation are critical — a poorly timed paint job can peel, bubble, or fade within months. The Ideal Painting Window For most regions, late spring through early fall offers the best conditions. Aim for: Painting in direct sunlight can cause paint to dry too quickly,...