An exterior staining project we finished in Minneapolis
The photo on this page is from that job. The house is a modern design on a sloped, wooded lot: white metal panels on most of the walls, with bands of horizontal wood siding on the long side wall, across the back, around the screen porch off the patio and on the posts at the front. We stained all of the wood. Wide, flat boards like these are harder to stain well than rough-sawn siding, because a smooth face shows every lap mark. Each board gets worked end to end and kept wet until it is finished, then the next one, so the color comes out even across the whole wall. Stain belongs on the wood and nowhere else, so the glass doors, the light fixtures, the stone patio and the metal panels next to the siding are masked and covered first. More photos from this project are on our work page.
Painting older wood-sided homes and newer builds in Minneapolis
Much of Minneapolis was built before the Second World War: bungalows, foursquares and Tudors with narrow wood lap siding or stucco, and far more trim than a newer house has. Wide window casings, crown at the eaves, porch columns and brackets are what make those houses look right, and all of it is brush work. We paint the trim by hand and keep the lines between body color and trim color straight, because on an old house those lines are the paint job. Mixed in with the older homes are newer infill houses like the one we stained, with wood siding next to metal or fiber cement panels. On those, the wood is the part that needs regular care. Stained siding should be recoated before it turns gray and patchy, while it can still be cleaned and restained instead of stripped.
Painting on tight city lots and near the lakes
A Minneapolis lot is nothing like the acreage we paint closer to home. The neighbor's house can be ten feet away, the garage sits on the alley, and cars are parked along the street. We plan for that. Near a property line we brush and roll instead of spraying, and anything that cannot be moved gets covered. Ladders and equipment stay on your side of the line, and the alley stays open. Around the city lakes, from Bde Maka Ska and Lake Harriet to Lake of the Isles, mature trees keep the north sides of houses shaded and damp. Those walls grow mildew and hold moisture longer, so we wash them, let them dry fully and paint them in the driest part of the day.
Scheduling a painting job in Minneapolis
Once a Minneapolis job starts, the crew is on your house every working day until it is done. Exterior painting and staining season is about May to the middle of October, when the surface and the overnight air stay above roughly 50 degrees. Interior painting and cabinet work run all winter. The walkthrough and the written estimate cost nothing, and sending photos first speeds up the estimate.
Exterior painting in Minneapolis
In Minneapolis we take whole-house exterior repaints and wood siding staining, the jobs where careful prep and brush work make the biggest difference. Trim-heavy older homes and stained wood on newer ones both reward a crew that takes its time. Our exterior painting page covers the process, the season and what drives the cost. How an exterior repaint goes, and what moves the cost.
Interior and cabinet painting in Minneapolis
Interior work in Minneapolis often means plaster walls and wide painted trim in an older home, or a kitchen where the cabinets get sprayed in enamel. We patch, sand and prime before paint, work one area at a time and clean up every day. See interior painting and cabinet and trim enamel.
Painting and repair services in Minneapolis
Painting
Exteriors and build
Questions we hearCommon painting questions in Minneapolis
Do you take painting projects in Minneapolis?
Yes. We take exterior repaints, wood siding staining and full interior painting projects across the city. Call or send photos to set up a walkthrough and a written estimate.
Can you stain the wood siding on a modern Minneapolis home?
Yes. We recently stained the horizontal wood siding, the screen porch and the entry posts on a modern home in Minneapolis. Smooth, wide boards show lap marks easily, so each board is stained end to end and kept wet until it is done. Glass, metal panels and stone next to the wood are masked first.
How do you paint a house on a tight Minneapolis lot?
With more brush and roller work and less spraying. When the neighbor's house, cars or an alley are close, we brush and roll near the property line, cover what cannot be moved, and keep ladders and equipment on your lot. It takes a little longer than spraying an acreage home, and it keeps paint where it belongs.