How do I tell a real prep job from a rushed one?

Ask three things. Did the bid list the prep on its own line? Did they name the primer per substrate? Does the climate window show up in the schedule? If they paint a Texas wall in 100°F July, the film fails on day one. We won't do that.

Will the carrier pay to repaint a whole wall for one hail run?

Sometimes. The rule is like-kind-and-quality in Texas, OAC 3901-1-54(I) in Ohio. If the new paint won't blend at the line of sight, the carrier owes the broader repaint. We shoot a sample-board photo against your wall and hand it to the adjuster.

Why does paint fail faster on south walls?

UV load. A DFW south wall takes six hours of direct sun in July. Surface temperature on dark paint hits 180°F. UV breaks the resin. North walls stay cool — same paint, longer life. We spec the higher line on the south and west walls. We won't upsell that line on a north or east wall.

How long does a real paint job last?

On prepped Hardie or LP SmartSide: ten to twelve years on north and east walls in DFW. South and west drop to seven to nine years. UV is brutal. In Ohio, the freeze-thaw cycle is what shortens the run. We plan the refresh on the south and west two years before the rest of the house.

Do you spray or roll?

We back-roll every sprayed coat. Spray alone lays paint on the wall. It does not push the resin into the grain. Back-rolling does. The film bonds. On a Hardie or brick wall in north Texas, that bond is what holds the finish past year five.

What is the warranty?

A twenty-five-year workmanship warranty in writing. The manufacturer warranty on Duration and Aura runs the life of the paint. Their language asks for a substrate check at year five. We do that walk on every job, free, and file it for the warranty.

§ 03.10Exterior painting + limewash — TX + OH

Same paint, four walls, four different jobs.

Name: RA Contracting
Address: 4521 Cedar Springs Rd, Suite 200, Dallas, TX, 75219, US
Telephone: (214) 578-9961
Price range: $$
Rating: 4.9

A south wall in DFW takes 180°F and six hours of UV. A north wall stays cooler and risks mildew. An Ohio wall cycles through sixty freeze-thaws. We spec the right product per wall, over real prep, inside the climate window.

Schedule the walk-through (214) 578-9961

25 yrworkmanship warranty

§ 01Two-coatEvery wall, every job

§ 02Duration · AuraSW + Benjamin Moore

§ 03LimewashOn stone and brick

§ 04ElastomericUV-stable caulk

§ 05DFW + OhioBoth states

§ 06In-houseW-2 painters

Inside the prep

Eight chapters before the first coat goes on.

The prep is the spec. Each line is a place a value bid saves a day. Skip one and the finish reads thin in a year. Hold all eight and the wall holds at year ten.

01TEST
Peel-test every elevation
Before the bid is written, tape lifts the failing layers and leaves the sound paint behind. The test tells us whether this is spot-scrape or full strip.
02WASH
Wash by substrate, not by hose
Soft-wash on Hardie, low-pressure on stucco, full-pressure on masonry. Skip the chalk and the new paint bonds to dust, not wall.
03SCRAPE
Scrape, then sand the laps
Carbide on the stubborn ridges. Where two paint thicknesses meet, the edge gets sanded so the new film does not telegraph the lap at year three.
04PRIME
Substrate-specific primer
Stain-block on tannin-bleed cedar. Oil-based on chalking paint. Masonry primer on alkaline brick. The wrong primer is why a two-coat job reads thin.
05CAULK
Elastomeric at every joint
Sashco Big Stretch, OSI QUAD MAX, or DAP Dynaflex Ultra at trim, window, and siding terminus. Painter-grade acrylic fails on south walls in two summers.
06WINDOW
Apply inside the climate window
Duration cures between 35°F and 90°F. Below the floor or above the ceiling the resin will not flow — the film fails on day one. We schedule to ambient + dew point, not the calendar.
07COAT 1
First finish — wet edge maintained
Cut by hand with an angle-sash. Rolled with a microfiber sleeve, wet edge held around the elevation. Walked under work-light to flag any holiday before it sets.
08COAT 2
Second finish — every wall
Two coats minimum. Every wall, every elevation, every job. We do not "one-coat where the color is close." The labor saved on coat two is deferred peeling.

Wall-by-wall spec

Four elevations. Four product calls.

A house is a four-walled climate test. South and west take the UV. North risks mildew. East takes the freeze-thaw. We spec per wall on the walk and write it in the bid.

Spec attribute	South elevationTX worst case	West elevationTX afternoon load	North elevationTX shade · OH freeze-thaw	East elevationMorning sun · winter ice
Load	180°F surface · 6 hr direct UV	High UV + storm-driven rain	Cooler, mildew prone in shade	Moderate UV · OH freeze-thaw cycling
Primer	Stain-block on bare wood; oil on chalk	Substrate-matched, full coverage	Bonding primer on chalking metal	Substrate-matched
Topcoat	Sherwin-Williams Duration	Sherwin-Williams Duration	Sherwin-Williams Resilience	Benjamin Moore Aura on premium jobs
Why	UV cooks the resin. The higher-line topcoat is not optional here — it is the chemistry.	Same grade as south. Storm-driven rain hits west walls hardest in DFW.	Less UV; the risk is mildew growth, not photo-degradation. Resilience handles it.	Aura earns its line on dark or saturated colors that fade fast — and on Ohio walls that swing through 60+ freeze-thaw passes.

The chemistry changes wall to wall. The bid changes wall to wall.

L/Limewash callout

Limewash on stone and brick. Mineral. Breathable.

Limewash is slaked lime plus pigment. It bonds to stone, brick, and real stucco. It breathes, so the wall cycles moisture. It will not peel — there is no film to fail. It weathers the way stone weathers. Lasts 7 to 15 years. A refresh is a one-day visit; nothing to strip.

Right substrate: stone, brick, real lime stucco
Wrong substrate: vinyl, fiber-cement, anything sealed
Color is opaque on the first coat, deepens with weathering
Refresh by re-coat — no scraping, no priming

I/Insurance integration

Color-match on partial-claim repaints.

When hail wrecks trim or fascia paint, the carrier funds the repaint on the roof claim. No second deductible. We pull the closest match from the maker's palette. We document the gap against your wall on a sample board. We push the broader-elevation argument when partial won't blend at the line of sight. Texas runs on like-kind-and-quality. Ohio runs on its fair-claims rules.

Filed under the same claim number, no new deductible
Sample-board comparison shot for the adjuster file
Discontinuation letter when the original color is gone
Broader-elevation argument when partial will not match at line of sight

§ 12Continue the manual — related to this page

¶ In this trade

Five pages homeowners read next.

See all 12 in Remodeling →

§ 03.11Remodeling

Rotted wood + trim repair

Source first. Trim second.

Rot is a water problem, not a wood problem. We meter the wood, fix the upstream detail (kickout, drip edge, sealant pan), then rebuild the trim in PVC, Hardie, or primed wood per the run.

Read →

§ 03.08Remodeling

Siding

The board you see is one of seven layers.

Vinyl, LP SmartSide, and James Hardie — scored against your wall, your climate, and how long you plan to own. Sheathing first, wrap and tape next, rainscreen behind LP, then board, trim, and finish.

Read →

§ 03.12Remodeling

Stucco repair

Hairline cracks are not remediation.

A moisture meter, a probe, and a read of the crack pattern before we write a number. Patch, partial, or full repair only when the wall is genuinely failing. Texas + Northeast Ohio.

Read →

§ 01.06Roofing

Roof inspection

A second opinion you can audit.

Seven-checkpoint walk, photos with the report, severity 1–5 on each finding, plain-language scope. Written PDF inside 24 hours. We won't turn the report into a sales call.

Read →

§ 04.02Programs

Pre-listings

One PM, one number, listing-day packet.

A pre-listing partner that owns the whole exterior. Walk-through on the agent's cadence, written scope, listing-day packet (before/after photos, materials, permits, warranty letter) handed off in time for MLS.

Read →

This page is 03.10 in the manual · part of Remodeling · 12 services

Open the Remodeling hub →

§ 06Reach the dispatch desk

Real prep, real spec — on the wall, not the brochure.

The crew lead who would run the paint job walks every elevation, runs a peel test, and brings color decks plus sheen samples into your light. You leave with a real bid: line-itemed prep, primer-by-substrate, two-coat finish, climate window. We won't sell a coat you don't need.

(214) 578-9961

Same paint, four walls, four different jobs.

Peel-test every elevation

Wash by substrate, not by hose

Scrape, then sand the laps

Substrate-specific primer

Elastomeric at every joint

Apply inside the climate window

First finish — wet edge maintained

Second finish — every wall

Limewash on stone and brick. Mineral. Breathable.

Color-match on partial-claim repaints.

Five pages homeowners read next.

Rotted wood + trim repair

Siding

Stucco repair

Roof inspection

Pre-listings

Real prep, real spec — on the wall, not the brochure.