Interior and exterior painting in Missoula

Prep is most of the job

A gallon of premium paint over unwashed, unsanded, unprimed substrate will look worse in three years than a mid-grade paint over properly prepared walls. We patch the nail pops and drywall damage, sand the transitions flat, caulk the gaps that should be caulked, spot-prime the repairs and any stains, mask properly, and then paint. It is the least interesting part of the description and it is where the result comes from.

On our Dearborn Avenue remodel we painted the interior throughout as part of the job — walls, ceilings and trim — alongside the carpet, framing, bathroom and basement work.

Exterior painting in this climate

Western Montana is hard on exterior coatings: intense high-altitude UV all summer, then repeated freeze-thaw that works moisture into every unsealed joint. Exterior work here means washing properly, scraping and feathering failed coatings, treating bare wood, priming, caulking the joints that move, and using a coating actually rated for this exposure. South and west elevations take the beating and are worth checking first when you are deciding whether it is time.

We fix it before we paint it

Because we are carpenters, we can repair the thing causing the paint problem instead of coating over it. Rotten trim, a failed sill, a soffit that has been leaking, drywall damage behind a leak — those get repaired first. Painters who only paint will roll straight over that, and you will be looking at it again next year.

Cabinets, trim and the fussy stuff

Cabinet refinishing, trim and door enamel, and stained or clear-coated interior woodwork all need different products and a much higher standard of surface prep and dust control than walls do. We are happy to do them, and we will tell you when spraying beats brushing and when it is not worth the masking.

Painting work we do

• Full interior repaints — walls, ceilings and trim
• Single rooms, accent walls and color changes
• Drywall patching, nail-pop repair and texture matching before paint
• Stain-blocking priming for water marks, smoke and tannin bleed
• Trim, door and cabinet enamel, brushed or sprayed
• Exterior repaints, including siding, trim, soffit and fascia
• Scraping, feathering and priming failed exterior coatings
• Rot and trim repair before painting, done by our own carpenters
• Deck and fence staining and sealing
• Caulking and joint sealing as part of exterior prep
• New construction and remodel paint-out