Prep is most of the job
A paint job fails at the surface long before it fails at the coating. Most of what you are paying a painter for happens before any colour goes on: scraping what is loose, sanding what is proud, patching what is open, and caulking the joints that will otherwise telegraph a crack through a brand‑new finish within a season.
On interiors that means covering floors and furnishings, filling nail holes and drywall dings, sanding patched areas flat, and cutting clean lines at ceilings, trim and corners. On exteriors it means washing off chalked oxidation and mildew, scraping failing film back to a sound edge, feathering those edges so the transition does not read through, and priming every bare spot before topcoat.
What Kansas City weather does to a finish
The metro swings through a wide annual temperature range and cycles above and below freezing repeatedly through winter. Siding, trim and caulk joints expand and contract with every cycle. A coating that cannot move with the substrate cracks at the joint, lets water behind the film, and lifts.
That is why exterior work here is scheduled around surface temperature and dew point rather than the calendar, why we use flexible elastomeric sealants at moving joints, and why bare wood gets a primer suited to it instead of a self‑priming topcoat doing double duty. South and west elevations take the most UV and typically show wear first — worth knowing when you are deciding whether to do the whole house or start with the sides that need it.
Older homes and pre‑1978 surfaces
A large share of the metro housing stock predates 1978, particularly in the older Johnson County suburbs and the Kansas City, Missouri urban core. Those homes often have plaster walls rather than drywall, and painted surfaces that may sit over lead‑based coatings.
Plaster takes patching differently than drywall and shows a skim coat if it is rushed. Disturbing pre‑1978 painted surfaces calls for containment practices rather than open sanding. If your home is from that era, tell us at the walkthrough — it changes the prep plan and the quote, and it is much better handled up front than discovered mid‑job.
Common questions
- How long does painting a house take?
- A single interior room is typically a day or two. A whole‑home interior usually runs several days to a couple of weeks depending on square footage, ceiling height and how much trim and patch work is involved. Exteriors are weather‑dependent — we schedule around surface temperature and dew point, not just the forecast.
- Do I need to move out?
- Almost never. We work room by room, protect and seal off active areas, and plan the sequence around how you actually use the house. Kitchens and primary bathrooms get scheduled to minimise the days they are out of service.
- Do you supply the paint?
- Yes. Material is included in the written quote, with the product and sheen specified per surface so you know what is going on your walls before we start.