Alabama's oldest city
Founded by the French in 1702, Mobile is Alabama's oldest city and was the capital of French Louisiana until 1720. Mobile is also the county seat of Mobile County. This page doesn't assume anything about the age or style of your house. It covers how a paint job gets planned, whatever you're painting.
Mobile Downtown's wet-bulb hours
In an average year at Mobile Downtown, NOAA counts about 2,410 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 3,881 hours above 67°F. Those are counts for NOAA's Mobile Downtown station.
Wet-bulb temperature climbs when the air is warm and loaded with moisture. For paint, a long count of those hours has three practical effects:
- Slower drying. Water-based paint gives up its water slowly to moist air, so recoat times on the label are the shortest wait, not the usual one.
- Dew on surfaces. Morning and evening moisture on siding and trim can mark fresh paint. Exterior work tends to happen between the two.
- Mildew. Mildew grows on surfaces that stay damp, and paint applied over it fails. Washing and treating it is part of the prep.
The walkthrough
Ask the painter to walk every surface with you before writing the proposal. Point out what you want painted and what you don't. Open closets and look up at ceilings. Outside, show them any peeling, soft wood or cracked caulk you've noticed. A painter who sees the job in person can price the preparation it needs, and preparation is where most of the difference between bids comes from. Our pricing guide explains why.
Testing colors
Colors look different on a chip, on a wall and in different light. Before committing:
- Paint sample patches large enough to judge, on more than one wall.
- Look at them in morning light, afternoon light and with lamps on.
- Outside, paint a sample on a board and hold it against the house in sun and in shade.
- Decide on sheen at the same time. Our guide to paint sheens and finishes explains how sheen changes both the look and how easily a surface cleans.
The order a crew usually works in
Outside, a typical sequence is wash, let dry, scrape and sand, repair wood, caulk, spot-prime, then finish coats from the top of the house down so drips land on unpainted areas. Inside, ceilings usually come first, then walls, then trim and doors, so that each step can cover small marks left by the one before. Knowing the order helps you plan which rooms you'll lose and when. The exterior painting and interior painting pages go through each step.
Front doors and shutters
An exterior door or a set of shutters is a small job with its own prep. Doors are often taken down, sanded and finished flat so the enamel levels without runs, then rehung once dry; shutters may come off the wall so the siding behind them can be painted too. Ask whether these are in the main proposal or priced as add-ons, and how the house is secured while a door is off.
Keeping the finish clean afterward
- Rinse exterior walls gently once in a while to clear pollen and grime before mildew takes hold.
- Keep shrubs trimmed back from siding so walls can dry after rain.
- Keep gutters clear so water doesn't spill down painted walls.
- Run bathroom fans during and after showers.
Questions for a Mobile painter
- Will you walk the whole job with me before writing the proposal?
- How will mildew be cleaned and treated before painting?
- How long do you wait between coats, and how do you decide?
- In what order will you work, and which rooms will be out of use when?
- Will you leave labeled leftover paint for touch-ups?