How to Prepare for Your Exterior Painting

& Wood Rot Repair Project

Your project is coming up, and we’re looking forward to getting started! A little preparation before our crew arrives can make a big difference. The information below will help us work safely and efficiently, reduce delays, protect your property, and avoid misunderstandings once work begins. 


Please review this page before your scheduled project start date.


Your estimator will review the important items with you again during the Project Kickoff Meeting on the morning your project begins.


1. Finalize Your Paint Colors

Please have your final paint color names and/or numbers in writing and ready for the Project Kickoff Meeting.

You can provide your selections using:

  • Sherwin-Williams color chips or fan deck
  • A written or printed color list
  • An existing paint can
  • Other written documentation showing your selections

Please do not rely on verbal color selections. Written confirmation helps ensure we purchase and apply exactly what you selected.


What Paint Finish Do We Use?

Our standard exterior finish is SATIN.

Flat or Gloss may also be available depending on the product and color selected. Not every color is available in every sheen, and the overwhelming majority of the homes we paint use a satin finish.


Changing Colors?

We strongly recommend applying samples directly to your home before the project begins.

Exterior colors can look significantly different outdoors and on a large surface than they do on a small paint chip.

If approved samples are not already on the house when we arrive, our crew may need to purchase and apply samples for your approval before ordering the full quantity of paint.

This can add a little time to the process, but it’s much better than discovering you don’t like a color after the entire home has been painted.


Matching Your Existing Color?

If your goal is to match an existing color, we can remove a painted sample and have Sherwin-Williams create a custom match.

Please understand that a custom-matched color will normally be identified simply as “MATCH” rather than by the original manufacturer’s color name or number.


2. Trim Landscaping Away From the House

Please trim bushes, shrubs, vines, tree branches, and other vegetation approximately 2–4 feet away from the home wherever reasonably possible.


Our crews need adequate room to safely use ladders, scaffolding, tarps, painting equipment, and carpentry tools.

Vegetation touching or growing against the home can prevent us from properly preparing, repairing, or painting an area. It is also at greater risk of incidental damage while our crews are working.


If adequate access is not available, that portion of the project may need to be delayed until the vegetation is trimmed.

If you would like our crew to perform some trimming, please discuss it with the crew leader. If they have the time and ability to perform the work, any additional cost will be discussed before the work is performed.


3. Remove Fragile Items From Interior Walls

This is especially important if your project includes wood rot repairs or exterior carpentry.

Please remove pictures, mirrors, decorations, and other fragile or valuable items from the interior side of walls where exterior repair work will occur.


Wood rot repairs can involve hammering, sawing, cutting, prying, scraping, nailing, and other normal construction activities. These activities create vibrations that can transfer through the exterior wall and into the interior of your home.

Because we have no way of knowing the existing condition, installation quality, or structural integrity of your interior walls, drywall, trim, or moldings, Home Pros Painting cannot be responsible for damage resulting from normal construction vibrations associated with exterior repair work.

This can include:

  • Drywall cracks
  • Nail or screw pops
  • Separation of interior trim or molding
  • Cracking at drywall joints or corners
  • Damage to pictures, mirrors, or decorations left hanging on the wall


These issues are uncommon, but they can occur even when exterior repairs are performed properly and with reasonable care.

In many cases, we can repair these interior issues if they occur. However, because these repairs are outside the original exterior project scope, there will be an additional charge.


4. Test Your Exterior Water Faucets & Provide Water Access

Our crews will need access to an exterior water source during your project, particularly for pressure washing, cleaning, and other preparation work.

Before we arrive, please turn your exterior water faucets on and off and check for:

  • Leaks
  • Loose fixtures
  • Existing damage
  • Other operating problems

Please make sure at least one functioning exterior water faucet is available and accessible to our crew for the duration of the project.


Testing your faucets beforehand also helps identify any pre-existing problems before our crew begins using them.

If there is a known problem with an exterior faucet or water will not be available during your project, please let us know before your scheduled start date.


5. Test Your Exterior Electrical Outlets

Please test your exterior electrical outlets before the project begins.


Our crews use standard power tools, and occasionally a breaker or GFCI outlet may trip during normal use.

Exterior outlets sometimes share circuits with kitchens, garages, bathrooms, or other interior areas.


Please make sure we can access the appropriate breaker or that someone can assist us if power needs to be restored.

Our crews have no way of knowing the condition of your home’s electrical system. If normal use of an exterior outlet reveals an existing issue involving an outlet, GFCI, circuit, breaker, wiring, or another portion of the electrical system, that would be considered a pre-existing condition rather than damage caused by our work.


6. Inspect Your Gutters & Gutter Guards

Please take a quick look at your gutters and downspouts before work begins and note any existing:

  • Dents or scratches
  • Loose sections
  • Loose or missing fasteners
  • Missing screws
  • Other visible damage


Have Gutter Guards or Gutter Helmets?

Please let us know at the kickoff meeting.


We generally cannot remove gutter protection systems because doing so may affect the manufacturer’s or installer’s warranty.

If wood rot or another repair is located behind a gutter protection system, the guards may need to be removed and reinstalled by the original gutter company or another qualified contractor before we can complete that portion of the repair.


7. Check Your Storm Windows

If your home has storm windows, please inspect them before work begins for cracked glass, loose frames, missing screws, rusted fasteners, deteriorated components, or other existing damage.


Older storm windows can become extremely fragile after years of exposure to the weather.


We will use reasonable care when working around or removing them. However, age, deterioration, rusted fasteners, or previous installation methods can sometimes cause a storm window or its components to become damaged during normal removal.


If damage occurs because of negligence on our part, we will take responsibility. If the damage occurs just because they are in bad shape then we will not be liable for replacement or repairs.


8. Check Operable Windows Being Painted

This applies only if we are painting the actual window sash or other moving portions of your windows, not simply the exterior window trim. Before work begins, please confirm that each affected window opens and closes properly.


After painting is complete, please check those windows again before the crew leaves.


Fresh paint can occasionally create a temporary paint seal between moving window components. If this happens, our painters can carefully break the paint seal while they are still on site.


9. Inspect Your Shutters

If your project involves removing or painting shutters, please inspect them for existing cracks, brittleness, loose or missing fasteners, previous repairs, or other visible damage.


Older shutters can become brittle after years of exposure to sunlight and weather.


Even when reasonable care is used, deteriorated shutters can occasionally crack during normal removal or reinstallation because of their age, previous installation methods, or deteriorated fasteners.


10. Close Windows, Doors & Garage Doors

Before pressure washing begins, please make sure:

ALL WINDOWS, EXTERIOR DOORS, AND GARAGE DOORS ARE COMPLETELY CLOSED.


Please continue checking these throughout the project whenever pressure washing or exterior cleaning is scheduled.

Pressure washing uses a significant amount of water, and even properly functioning windows and doors are not designed to remain completely watertight when subjected to pressurized water.


What Happens If We Find Additional Wood Rot?

We do our best to identify visible wood rot and damaged material during your original estimate.

However, not all wood rot is visible from the exterior.

Once deteriorated siding, trim, fascia, or other materials are removed, additional deterioration may be discovered underneath or behind the original repair area.

If that happens, we will not simply perform the additional work and surprise you with a bill.

Our normal process is to:

  1. Document the additional damage, typically with photographs.
  2. Review what was discovered.
  3. Explain the additional repair that is needed.
  4. Provide pricing for the additional work.
  5. Obtain your approval before proceeding with work outside the original scope.


What If You Want to Add Something to the Project?

Our crews are not authorized to independently add work or change the agreed scope of your project.


If you decide you would like something added, removed, or changed, please let your crew leader know and contact your estimator or Home Pros Painting.


We’ll review the request and any additional pricing before the work is performed.


One Last Thing Before We Arrive

Before your project begins, please make sure you have:

☐ Finalized your colors
☐ Trimmed landscaping away from the house
☐ Removed fragile items from applicable interior walls
☐ Tested your exterior water faucets
☐ Made sure our crew will have access to water
☐ Tested your exterior electrical outlets
☐ Inspected gutters and gutter guards
☐ Checked storm windows, if applicable
☐ Checked operable windows being painted, if applicable
☐ Inspected shutters, if applicable
☐ Reviewed your proposal and scope of work


Have a question or see something you’re concerned about? Please ask us.


We would much rather address a question before work begins than discover a misunderstanding after your project is underway.

Thank you for choosing Home Pros Painting. We appreciate the opportunity to work on your home and look forward to getting started!