A trim-only job
Sometimes the siding is fine and only the trim looks tired: window casings, sills, fascia, corner boards, door surrounds and the doors themselves. Painting just those parts can freshen a house for a fraction of the effort of a full repaint, but trim is detailed, slow work, and windows in particular can take longer than people expect. This guide explains what moves the price of a trim, door and window job in Barnstable. It quotes no figures.
NOAA's figures for Otis ANGB
NOAA's engineering weather data comes from Otis ANGB, about 12 miles from Barnstable. At that station, NOAA counts about 161 hours in an average year with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 795 hours above 67°F. For Otis ANGB, near Barnstable, the same data lists a 50-year basic wind speed of 120 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 2.5 inches per hour and about 54 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year. These are the station's numbers, given on the two cards below.
For trim, the freeze-thaw count is the one to keep in mind. Trim joints and sills are where water collects, and each freeze can open them further.
How trim is measured
Painters often price trim by linear feet or by piece:
- window casings and sills, counted per window;
- door surrounds;
- fascia and rake boards, in linear feet, with height adding cost;
- corner boards and frieze boards;
- decorative brackets, dentils and moldings, which are slow.
Have a count of windows and doors ready, and ask how each is priced.
Windows: the slow part
A window can mean just the outside casing and sill, or the sashes too. Painting sashes involves scraping, sanding, spot-priming and cutting in against the glass, sometimes after reglazing loose putty. Double-hung sashes may need to be freed so they don't paint shut. Each window with sashes is a small job of its own. Decide which you want and get it listed separately.
Doors
Front doors get close looks. A good job means removing or masking hardware, sanding the old finish, filling dents, priming bare spots, and two coats of a hard enamel, with the door left open or propped until the edges are dry. Steel, fiberglass and wood doors each need different primers. Our paint sheens and finishes guide covers enamels.
Caulk and end grain
Before painting, failed caulk around casings and at joints is cut out and replaced. Exposed end grain at sill ends and board ends is primed, because it soaks up water far faster than the face. Ask which joints the painter will caulk and which they'll leave open to drain.
Drying and recoating
Enamels used on trim and doors take longer to dry than wall paint. On damp days, a door can't be closed against its frame until the edges are firm. Ask how long each door will be out of use, and whether the painter will work on one entry at a time.
Color on the trim alone
Repainting only the trim is also a chance to change the scheme without touching the siding. A crisp white, a deeper accent on the door, or a darker sash color can change how the house reads from the street. Bring the existing siding color into the decision: test samples against it in daylight on more than one side of the house. If you change the trim color, every piece of trim has to be covered fully, including the parts you rarely look at, such as the undersides of sills and the backs of brackets, so expect the labor to rise.
Comparing Barnstable trim proposals
Check that each lists the windows, doors and linear trim included, whether sashes are part of the job, caulk and glazing repairs, primer and enamel products, sheen and color by surface, and how long doors will stay open. The exterior painting page and the pricing guide cover the rest.